Ten thousands of people have gathered at the crusade field in Kasama Zambia. CfaN organized five crusades in different places called ‘Operation Decapolis’. In every city teams of evangelists are stationed to prepare the ground and preach the gospel. Hannes Jakobi is one of these evangelists and he shares his story with Revive.
‘Europe doesn’t have plenty of fulltime evangelists. Working as a pastor in a church is considered as a normal job, but doing the work of an evangelist is not yet considered a real job.’ Hannes doesn’t let this influence his ministry and preaches the gospel every day and everywhere he goes. Two or three times a year he travels to Africa to share the gospel, but he focuses on Germany. Together with his friend Yannick he preaches the gospel on the streets, activates churches in evangelism and disciples elderly in elderly homes. Yannick and Hannes started to share the gospel in their high school. ‘We shared about Jesus in our class and students got born again. Recently when we did a training in the church. A classmate came and we found out she is now a Christian.’
When I look at my generation I see that God is not looking for professional preachers, but for people who are available. Normal people in Europe receive the anointing. God doesn’t need the big man of God, He is looking for people who are willing to step out’
Hannes Jakobi
Three years ago Hannes received the call to be an evangelist, soon after he joined the CfaN evangelist bootcamp. The urgency to reconcile people with God started earlier. At a youth service he had an encounter with the Lord that marked him. The preacher invited people to come to the front if they wanted to give their lives to Jesus. ‘I had never seen anything like this before. Someone I know responded to the altar call and I felt the love of the Father. There was such a strong presence and glory in the room. I encountered God and He gave me His heart for the lost. Since then I experienced the urgency to preach the gospel.’
Currently Hannes is 19 years old and does what he is born to do. He believes it is important for Europeans to know they can share about God as well. When people are around him, they grasp something from his heart for the lost. ‘When I look at my generation I see that God is not looking for professional preachers, but for people who are available. Normal people in Europe receive the anointing. God doesn’t need the big man of God, He is looking for people who are willing to step out.’
With a team of three evangelist Hannes shares the gospel in Zambia. They are seeing extraordinary miracles: ’We were on our way somewhere and when we passed the market, we felt to put down our speakers. People came from everywhere to hear what we had to share. I preached the word to about two hundred people. It was different than normal, I felt God put such authority on my words. When I invited them to receive Jesus, more than a hundred people ran to the front. It wasn’t me, it was God who marked them. People are craving the heart of the Father. It was a marking moment.’
Do you think Germany needs to see what you experienced in Africa?
‘The difference between Africa and Germany is the hunger for God. This morning I walked at the crusade field and saw people who slept there, just to be sure they had a good spot. I believe this hunger is stirred up in Germany and the rest of Europe as well. We will see similar things happening in the coming two or three years.’ For this to happen Hannes mentions that it is God’s heart to see revival in Germany. He gives us two things he believes are necessary to see God’s desire fulfilled. ‘Germany needs intimacy with God. We have so much knowledge about God, but we need to spend time in the secret place. When we look at Jesus, we will receive more revelation about the heart of God. Also, we need to be filled with the power of God and go out. The second one is unity between denominations. We need to lay down some differences to be able to work together. When christians are going to grasp this, we will see revival happen in Germany and Europe.’