More than 800,000 people attended evangelistic meetings last week in Numan, Nigeria, with several thousand reportedly making decisions for Christ during the five-day crusade.

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda of Florida-based Christ for All Nations (CFAN) said the meetings were marked by signs and wonders, with a woman who had been blind for two years regaining her sight and a man who had been paralyzed from a stroke being miraculously healed.

"Many of the local pastors already reported that their churches were flooded with new converts this morning and an entire city has been impacted by the power of the gospel in a profound way," Kolenda wrote in an update Sunday from Numan, located on Nigeria's eastern coast. "This is every soul-winner's dream."

Some 45,000 people also attended the ministry's Fire Conference, which teaches indigenous church leaders about evangelism and the power of the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit fell, touching the thousands of people [and] church workers that packed the stadium to capacity," Kolenda said.

During the crusade, which ended Sunday, Kolenda said a Muslim man was healed of chronic back pain. "He announced to the crowd that Jesus had healed him and unashamedly said, 'Thank you, Jesus,'" Kolenda reported.

He said another woman who had been unable to have children testified that she had given birth to a baby boy after receiving prayer during a crusade two years ago. She said she named the child Reinhard, after CFAN founder Reinhard Bonnke.

Kolenda, who has been ministering with Bonnke for the last several years, reported numerous other testimonies—of blind men and women receiving sight; a woman who had been deaf for seven years being able to hear; and lame men suddenly being able to walk.

"We saw many incredible miracles ... but the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of salvation," Kolenda wrote Saturday. "Though we have seen millions of people receive this miracle, it never gets old. ... It is always remarkable and we thank God on our knees."

Bonnke has been leading mass crusades throughout Africa for more than 30 years, at times drawing more than a million people to one event. CFAN reportedly has seen 52 million people come to Christ in the last decade.

CFAN's next crusade will be held in Takum, Nigeria, in the next four weeks.

QUOTE: "I became vividly aware that our circumstances in life can change drastically and without any kind of warning. Even though my circumstances changed, the God that I know did not change. In my profound darkness I still felt His goodness and His love, and I saw His faithfulness. I went to the pit. God was in that pit. He was right there in that pit with me. There is hope in chaos. There is peace in the middle of the storm, and there is joy in spite of our circumstances." —Cindy Winters, wife of slain pastor Fred Winters, who spoke on the anniversary of his death at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill. [abpnews.com, 3/8/10]

QUOTE: “The count can [and] will really determine the funding for many agencies in this city who benefit from federal funding in many ways.” —Rudy Rasmus, pastor of St. John’s Downtown in Houston, who was one of a number of Houston-area pastors discussing the importance of church members participating in the census on Sunday. The federal government uses census data to allocate about $400 billion of aid money, and many church ministries, such as Rasmus’ Bread of Life, rely that aid. [kvue.com, 3/8/10]

QUOTE: "It will be a matter of great concern if our government can successfully force us to stop proclaiming the full counsel of God. ... But when we put the shackles on our own arms—that is a matter of great sadness. That is a matter of great unbelief. Because if we don’t believe in the power of the gospel, what other power do we have available to us, especially those of us who have been called to proclaim it?” —Frank Wright, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, at the opening session of the 67th Annual Convention & Exposition in Nashville, Tenn. Wright referenced a number of public Christian broadcasters and leaders who shied away from speaking about the more exclusive aspects of Christianity in the mainstream press. [christianpost.com, 2/28/10]