Benny Hinn - Man of God or Moneymaker

by Troels Bager

Fiji is going to be in the spotlight later this month when American TV-evangelist Benny Hinn arrives to lead three religious meetings called "Miracle Crusades".

Invited and endorsed by the Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji Hinn says he is anointed by God to spread the gospel and provide healing for the believers.

For God is working through him, and Hinn claims that hundreds and perhaps even thousands of people have been healed at his miracle crusades.

His host ACCF hopes the events will bring more reconciliation and unity to Fiji and attract a large number of tourists in the process.

His critics in the US paint another picture of the Benny Hinn and his World Healing Centre Church.

They say the ministry is a moneymaking scheme that finances Hinn's lush lifestyle with designer clothes, expensive hotels, a private Gulfstream jet and a multi-million dollars beachfront house.

Critics in Fiji focus on the religious and human implications they believe Hinn’s visit will have, and the Fiji Council of Churches has even called for a ban on Benny Hinn similar to the one imposed on South Korean church leader Sun Myung Moon last month.

The Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade has visited many countries outside the US and despite the many attempts to prove he is not a genuine healer, the white clad pastor is welcomed heartily wherever his crusade goes. Hinn started to crusade about 15 years ago, and everyone can agree that Benny Hinn has become a very able communicator on the stage.

The crusade normally takes place in a stadium or a big indoor arena, and the four-hour event is well planned.

Hinn walks onto the stage to the tones of "How Great Thou Art" and is greeted by a cheering and singing crowd. The order is a bit different from show to show, but he normally starts by asking the emotional audience to come forward to the scene and accept the Saviour, which prompts big queues in front of the stage.

After this miracles start to happen. The pastor starts to call out names of people with illnesses and ailments, and invites some of the needing persons on stage.

In a miracle crusade in New Jersey on 14/7-2005, a young boy with severe injuries from a car crash got out of his wheelchair and started to walk around. On the next day in the same stadium Benny Hinn again started to call out names of sick worshippers.

First, a woman was cured from depression. Then Hinn called out again.

"Cynthia is here tonight. You need to be delivered of witchcraft!" This prompted two women named Cynthia to come forward, and both of were delivered from witchcraft before an enthusiastic crowd.

Pastor Benny has also helped people with heart problems, cancer, arthritis and numerous other illnesses, and his miracle crusades always leave a trail of discarded wheel chairs and walking canes when the healed regain the ability to walk.

The Israel-born Hinn also reaches people who cannot attend his crusades.

Not only in Fiji but also in most other countries in the world, people can see "This Is Your Day" on Trinity Broadcasting Network. Here Benny Hinn preaches his ministry and asks people to accept Jesus into their lives. Never a boring man Hinn once said on his show that he would raise dead people, and another time he claimed that Adam was a superman.

It is also in these shows that Hinn makes his controversial suggestions that the viewers should "sow a seed" by giving money to his ministry. This will help the giver the day he or she stands before God, a day Benny Hinn on several occasions has said is very near.

You can also go online and visit Benny Hinn’s homepage. Here you find religious and financial advice, advice on family problems and much more. And for those with a credit card it is also possible to securely donate money online, as the ministry has provided an encrypted payment system so no one can steal your credit card details.

Benny Hinn will arrive in Fiji on the 15^th of January and hold three crusades in Suva from between the 20^th and 22^nd.

The Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji has invited the pastor and TV-commercials for the show have run on Fiji TV from the beginning of December.

Pastor Manasa Kolivuso is church and public relations coordinator of the Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade organising committee. When talking to SUNday, he says he is worried that the media are not reporting on Benny Hinn in a fair and balanced manner.

But besides this worry Mr. Kolivuso and the ACCF are very thrilled about the visit of the American preacher.

Mr. Kolivuso stresses that Hinn’s ministry is paying for his stay as well as the three days of miracle crusading, and he believes the visit will also help the economy of Fiji.

"The country will also benefit economically because of the great number of visitors from abroad we are expecting to visit Fiji in January. They will stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and buy from shops here. The business community will also benefit when the huge local crowd will be converging in Suva during those three days. Benny Hinn has an international following and his programme is aired on Christian and secular TV stations around the world so this will be a big exposure for Fiji in the international arena."

The pastor does not give much for the accusations that Benny Hinn is in Fiji to make money.

"It is up to every individual what they want to do or give to help Benny Hinn’s ministry around the world. Giving is a matter of the heart and no one is forced to give. The crusade is open to everyone and nothing is charged for those who want to attend."

Pastor Kolivuso says it is a complete misunderstanding to believe that Benny Hinn is the healer. It is God that heals through Benny Hinn, and Mr. Kolivuso warns that many do not receive healing because they focus on the preacher instead of focusing on God.

The headquarters of the WHCC is in Texas, US. In the same state a small Christian group called Trinity Foundation has made it its mission to debunk fraud and dishonesty in other Christian churches and organisations.

For the last ten years its investigators have literally been digging through the garbage of Benny Hinn and other prominent members of World Healing Center Church to find the truth about the organisation, which they do not even think qualifies for the denomination "church".

When contacted by SUNday Pete Evans from Trinity Foundation refers to an official response his organisation made to the US tax authorities about WHCC. Trinity Foundation has asked the authorities to look into WHCC's status as a church, which allows them to keep financial transactions secret.

According to this document WHCC is nothing but a money making scheme for Benny Hinn.

The WHCC is a front for collecting money to Benny Hinn and his family who in turn have a lavish lifestyle, and Trinity Foundation says WHCC is not a religious organisation.

"To date, the Trinity Foundation has taped and watched over 2,100 of Hinn’s daily half hour broadcasts, "This is Your Day". In all the years of watching, we have never seen or heard either a creed or a statement of faith mentioned on his show."

The report explains and gives proof of how Benny Hinn and his family are in full control of WHCC, and that they use this power to enrich themselves.

According to the report Benny Hinn buys tailored suits for between $10000 and $30000 US a month, jets around the world in a $12.000.000 US Gulfstream jet, and sleep in presidential suits costing between $2000 - $12000 US a night.

All of this is paid by WHCC, which also financed the Hinn family's multimillion dollars estate and expensive cars.

Trinity Foundation believes Benny Hinn does not have any connection or healing power from God, which is backed up by Christian Research Group director Bud Press who says miracles do not happen at Benny Hinn's miracle crusades.

"While there are many who claim to be healed, there is no evidence to back those claims (such as before-and-after medical reports, x-rays, etc.). To make matters worse, Benny Hinn is very reluctant to provide proof of healings that have supposedly taken place during his crusades.

There are, however, people who attend Hinn's crusades with legitimate afflictions, disabilities and diseases, such as AIDS, HIV, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, blindness, and cardiovascular diseases. But they leave the same way they came in."

Bud Press says the people of Fiji will be better of to spend time with their family reading the bible instead of attending the Benny Hinn crusades.

The Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji has said Benny Hinn is using a lot of money on the free miracle crusade, but Press says the crusade is nothing but free.

"It is typical during a Benny Hinn crusade for his staff to pass buckets for donations. And, if the news reports on an estimated 300,000 in attendance are accurate, the January 2006 crusade in Suva, Fiji could turn out to be profitable. The question on the minds of the church and the Fijian officials supporting Hinn's crusade should be: How many Fijian dollars will Benny Hinn and his staff collect from the Fijian people and add to his growing millions?"

Press says the Government who pays the pastor's security should take Hinn to a hospital when he arrives and test his ability to heal.

"If Hinn has the true New Testament gift of healing, the bedridden and lame will walk, and the diseased will be healed. But if he fails the Biblical test, put him back on the plane."

Emmanuel Reuben is leader of the Indian division in the Methodist church. Unlike the American Christians he does not question if miracles happen at Benny Hinn’s crusades, and like pastor Manasa Kolivuso he stresses that it is not Hinn but God that can perform miracles.

Having said that Reuben does not believe Hinn has anything to offer Fiji.

"I feel that when big crusades come here, the preachers who are already here are looked down upon. People ask, why they cannot heal when the visiting evangelist can."

The stout Indo-Fijian preacher says healing happens because of the everyday work of preachers and churchgoers in Fiji.

"What happens when people go back to their church, and their church does not accept the new teachings they have learnt from Benny Hinn? I think some will leave their church and cause disagreement and disunity, and thereby create crisis in their family and communities. People should use more time on reading the bible, spend more time on God. The relationship to God is not just a honeymoon period, it is the daily work with God that brings improvement."

Mr. Reuben says salvation is the responsibility of all the local churches and their individual members in Fiji, and that it can only be achieved through constant work.

Undeterred by the harsh critique the committee behind the visit of Benny Hinn has big hopes for the visit. In a message on their homepage the chairman of the committee Suliasi Kurulo tells people to pray for thousands of persons to be saved, and hopes the visit can bring about the reconciliation he says Fiji needs.

Ronn Torossian is a spokesperson for Benny Hinn, and he also believes the pastor will bring greats things to Fiji.

"Benny Hinn is a huge influence on millions of people around the world, and he brings great things. Many of those people will say he changed their lives."

Torossian says Benny Hinn chooses to come to Fiji because the people here are open and friendly.

"Ole Anthony (the president of the Trinity Foundation) is an enemy of religion," he says and calls the critics lone voices. "It is not true that people are against him in the US, millions come to see him."

The Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade will also visit countries like South Korea and Denmark in the near future, and the spokesperson says Benny Hinn will continue to inspire millions of people around the world.

"Benny Hinn gets a tremendous reception when he tours around the world and he gives a tremendous amount back into the communities."

Benny Hinn hosts a miracle crusade in Post Fiji stadium on the 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd of January, and entrance is free.

To read more about Benny Hinn and his ministry visit his website www.bennyhinn.org or, www.bennyhinn.com.fj , and check what the critics have to say on www.christianresearchservice.com

Troels Bager is a Danish Intern Reporter at the Fiji Sun, where this news release first appeared.