Reinhard Bonnke

== Early life ==
Reinhard Bonnke was born on 19 April 1940, in [[Königsberg]], [[East Prussia]], Germany,<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Pent. Dict.">{{cite book|last=Synan|first=H. Vinson|title=The new international dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements.|year=2002|publisher=Zondervan Pub. House|location=Grand Rapids, Mich.|isbn=0310224810|edition=Rev. and expanded|editor=Stanley M. Burgess|pages=438–439|chapter=Bonnke, Reinhard Willi Gottfried}}</ref> the fifth son of Hermann Bonnke, an army logistics officer in the Reichswehr who fought on the Eastern Front; his paternal grandfather was August Bonnke, the owner of a windmill in Trunz, East Prussia (now [[Milejewo]], Poland), who was healed of an unknown ailment by the evangelist Luis Graf in 1922, but died during the evacuation of East Prussia in 1945. His mother was Metaa Bonnke (née Scheffler). Bonnke had six siblings: Martin, Gerhard, Jurgen, Peter and Felicitas, his only younger sibling and his only sister. 

With his mother and siblings, he was taken to Denmark during the [[evacuation of East Prussia]] and spent some years in a displaced persons centre before settling in [[Glückstadt|Gluckstadt]], West Germany.<ref>Watt, C. ''Reinhard Bonnke: A Passion for the Gospel''  1978  pp19-27  {{ISBN|0860657736}}</ref><ref name=":1" />  After his own war service, his father became a pastor in the village of [[Krempe]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gordon|first1=Tamar|last2=Hancock|first2=Mary|date=2005-11-01|title="The crusade is the vision": branding charisma in a global pentecostal ministry|journal=Material Religion|volume=1|issue=3|pages=386–404|doi=10.2752/174322005778054023|s2cid=194083307|issn=1743-2200}}</ref>  
He became a [[born-again Christian]] at the age of nine after his mother spoke with him about a sin that he had committed.<ref name=fire_book>{{cite book|last=Bonnke|first=Reinhard|title=Living a Life of Fire: an Autobiography|date=2009|publisher=E-R Production|location=Orlando|isbn=9781933106816}}</ref> He sensed a call from [[God]] to serve as a missionary in Africa from the age of 10 and said that he had the experience of [[baptism in the Holy Spirit]]. 

Bonnke studied at the [[Bible College of Wales]] in [[Swansea]], Wales, UK, where he was inspired by the director, [[Rees Howells|Samuel Rees Howells]]. In one meeting Howells spoke of answered prayer; after this meeting, Bonnke prayed, "Lord, I also want to be a man of faith. I want to see your way of providing for needs."<ref name=maton>{{cite book|last=Maton|first=Richard|title=Samuel Rees Howells : a life of intercession.|date=2012|publisher=ByFaith Media|isbn=9781907066139|page=81}}</ref> Passing through London, he had a chance meeting with the preacher [[George Jeffreys (pastor)|George Jeffreys]], who prayed for the young student.<ref>Watt, C. ''Reinhard Bonnke: A Passion for the Gospel'', 1978, pp. 66-67 {{ISBN|0860657736}}</ref> After graduation, he pastored in Germany for seven years, including establishing a congregation in [[Flensburg]] which met in a former rum factory.