By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
More than one million people are expected to converge on Calabar, Cross River State, in November for a four-day gospel crusade organisers say will transform lives and inject fresh economic activity into the state.
The Great Gospel Crusade Campaign Calabar 2026, organised by Christ for All Nations (CFAN), will hold from November 12 to 15 at the Calabar International Conference Centre grounds, with Evangelist Daniel Kolenda as the lead preacher.
Executive Director of CFAN Africa, Rev. John Darku, disclosed this in Calabar during a news conference to announce the crusade.
Darku said the event would go beyond spiritual revival, stressing that the influx of visitors would also benefit businesses, particularly hotels, restaurants, transport operators, traders, artisans and other informal-sector operators.
“The crusade is not only going to be a spiritual investment; it will be an economic stimulus for our traders, our artisans, our hospitality industry and our informal sector,” he said.
“The state stands to gain economically as thousands converge on Calabar for four days. They will fill hotels, patronise local businesses, transport services, restaurants and markets.”
Darku said the organisers were expecting participation from a wide network of churches and individuals, adding that new converts would be linked with local churches for discipleship and continued spiritual growth.
He said the expected impact would extend beyond the crusade, arguing that a stronger church community could contribute to greater social stability and a reduction in crime.
The Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Cross River State chapter, Dr Trinity Ogar, said the regular prayer outreaches organised by Christian bodies had contributed to peace and stability in communities.
Ogar said the crusade was coming at a time when Cross River and Nigeria needed greater peace, tolerance and national cohesion.
“We have seen it in city after city — where the gospel goes, tension gives way to tolerance, hostility gives way to harmony, and citizens begin to see one another not as rivals but as neighbours under one God,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the Calabar crusade would leave a lasting impact on the city, saying peace and social cohesion were essential to political stability and national development.
Kolenda succeeded the late Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke as president of CFAN. Bonnke, who founded the organisation, was renowned for his large-scale gospel crusades across Africa.
