They aren’t called the Billy Graham Crusades these days, but a Graham family member is still heading up an evangelical outreach now called the Festival of Hope. Franklin Graham, son of the well-known evangelist, holds his three-day events at least seven times each year with Bogota, Columbia the most recent venue. 157,000 people attended the event with nearly 12,000 people making decisions for Christ during the festival which ran from August 27-29th.

Back To Columbia

Franklin Graham at a recent Festival.

This was the first time since 1962 that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) returned to Columbia which until recent years was considered to be too dangerous of a location to hold a large scale public event. Drug cartels and violent criminal activity once ruled the city, a problem that has been brought under control thanks to the efforts of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Of the festival President Velez said, “This is the most important event in our country right now. The spiritual need is great.”

One of the most significant components of this year’s festival was an outreach to children which was held on Saturday. Some 80,000 kids were reached, many of whom had been previously helped through Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization. Samaritan’s Purse began to hand deliver gifts to Columbian children in 1998, distributing more than 90,000 shoe boxes this past year alone.

TV Broadcasts Pave The Way

In 2004, BGEA began to broadcast “My Hope” across Columbia, a gospel centered television program credited with bringing people to Christ while also uniting churches in advance of the Festival. Some 900 churches participated in the Bogota event, many of whom will be working to help disciple those who committed their lives to Jesus Christ.

During the last night of the event, which was also the last Festival for this year, Graham remarked, “I watched as the people came forward to change and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. I couldn’t help but think about what these people have gone through in their country’s recent history. Even this week, the horrific traffic and the rain couldn’t stop an eternal impact on these people and this city.”

2010 Schedule Set

The 2010 festival schedule is already out and includes events in India, Japan, Mexico, Latvia, Atlanta and Memphis as well as a related “Rock the River” youth event across Western Canada.

Source: Billy Graham Evangelical Association

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