This week in Christian history: Carlos Annacondia converts, Jackson Kemper dies, George Louis Williams ordained

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 19, 2024

Carlos Annacondia becomes a born-again Christian – May 19, 1979

Argentinian evangelist Carlos Annacondia preaching a sermon in 2019. | Screengrab: YouTube/Claudio Freidzon

This week marks the anniversary of when Carlos Annacondia, an Argentinian evangelical preacher and purported faith healer, became a born-again Christian at the age of 35.

While attending a revival event held in San Justo, Argentina, by Pastor Manuel Ruiz, Annacondia felt called to accept Jesus as his Savior. Two years later, he became an itinerant preacher.

In a 2016 op-ed published by The Christian Post, Brian C. Stiller, a global ambassador for World Evangelical Alliance, said many in Argentina speak about religious revival in the Latin American nation as "before Annacondia" or "after Annacondia."

“His meetings attracted large crowds. His approach was outside of general mainstream Evangelical public decorum: early in each service he would combat evil spirits,” Stiller wrote.

“Resulting conversions launched a wave of church planting, which may be unique in the history of the global church. The numbers of new churches were not verified, but reliable leaders speak of thousands in a few years.”