90,000 Attend Franklin Graham Festival of Hope in Brazil

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, June 2, 2010—Hundreds of local churches and thousands of volunteers partnered with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to draw 90,000 people to the Festival of Hope in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Marking his third Festival in Brazil, Franklin Graham presented the Gospel message of hope to crowds that came to Mega Space, May 27-29.  Over the course of the three-day event, 3,919 people responded to the invitation to follow Jesus Christ.

"I've been coming to this country for more than 20 years," said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse.  "Brazil has seen many changes with economic and political development - even winning worldwide competitions to host the Olympics in 2016 and the World Cup in 2014.  But the message I have is a spiritual message.  It's a message that is relevant regardless of the state of a nation."

An impressive volunteer effort from more than 700 local churches from a wide range of denominations, have been working together for only four months to prepare for the Festival. 

Graham was joined by Grammy award-winning artist Michael W. Smith and top-selling Brazilian artist Ana Paul.

Since 1989, Franklin Graham has held an average of seven Festivals each year as an evangelist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 

In January, Graham held his first event of 2010 in Chennai, India.  This summer Franklin Graham will host Rock the River Tour in Vancouver, Canada (Aug. 7); Calgary, Canada (Aug. 21); and Edmonton, Canada (Aug. 28).  Additional Festivals will be held in Osaka, Japan (Oct. 22-24); and Riga, Latvia (Nov.  5-7).

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