Carlos Annacondia

Carlos Annacondia was born in 1944 in Argentina, in a family of Italian descent. He grew up in a working-class home and went into business as a young man. He built a successful company in the metal trades and became a prosperous manufacturer. He was a man of energy and drive, and he cared little for religion. He was raised in the Catholic tradition but did not practice it. He lived for work and comfort.

In 1979, at the age of thirty-five, he was invited by a friend to a meeting where a preacher spoke about Jesus. He went reluctantly. In the course of the meeting, he was moved to give his life to Christ. He later said that a great weight lifted from him and that he felt entirely new. He began to read the Bible and to pray, and he soon felt a call to preach. At first he did so while continuing to run his business. In a few years, he gave up the business to devote himself to evangelism.

In the early 1980s, Argentina was in turmoil. The military government had lost the Falklands war in 1982, and the country was in economic and political crisis. People were open to a message of hope. Annacondia began to hold open-air crusades in cities and towns, in empty lots and fields. He set up a large tent and a simple platform. He preached with great force, and he prayed for the sick and for those he believed to be troubled by evil spirits. The meetings were marked by long hours of prayer and singing.

The crusades grew rapidly. Over the next decade, hundreds of thousands of people attended his campaigns in La Plata, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires and other cities, and more than a million people were reported to have made decisions for Christ. He worked with local churches, which prepared for the meetings and took in the new believers. His ministry had a large part in the growth of the evangelical church in Argentina in the 1980s and 1990s. He then took his crusades to other countries in Latin America, to Spain and to other parts of the world.

His ministry is known for its stress on spiritual warfare and deliverance. He taught that many people are held back by demonic forces and that these must be confronted in prayer. This part of his work has drawn criticism from some Christians, who think that it gives too much weight to the demonic and that some of the practices are not found in the Bible. Others have praised him for taking the unseen world seriously and have seen the fruit of changed lives.

He is a man of strong convictions and of some controversy. Observers have noted that he began as a businessman without formal theological training and that his methods developed along the way. He has also faced the strain of a very public life. The details of his later years should be confirmed from fuller sources.

His story shows how God can take a man who is far from Him and make him a messenger to a whole nation. It also reminds the church that the measure of a ministry is found in the lasting fruit of changed lives and faithful churches.