Nearly 2,000 turn to Christ at Franklin Graham event in Vancouver despite controversy

Thousands of people came to hear the Gospel at Franklin Graham's Festival of Hope crusade in Vancouver last weekend despite opposition from the mayor and dozens of Christian leaders.

Around 1,900 people responded to Graham's call to make Christ their Lord and Savior, and nearly half were under 18. Sabrina Hay, one of the parents who attended the event at Vancouver's Roger's Arena, expressed joy when her daughter decided to dedicate her life to Christ.

"Such an amazing night! So worth every minute! My daughter even asked the Lord to be her savior! She has begun her walk," she said, according to CBN News.

A few weeks before the crusade, several city leaders and Christian ministers expressed their concerns about Graham's "extraordinarily derogative" beliefs about gay marriage and Islam.

Graham has previously referred to Islam as a "very evil and wicked religion" and has described society's celebrations of the homosexual lifestyle as a "tide of moral decay."

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, along with 14 local ministers, wrote a letter asking the event organizers to drop Graham from the itinerary.

"Why would they have invited this person in the first place, knowing that he's said these things about Muslims, knowing that he's said these things about the LGBTQ community?" said Councilor Tim Stevenson, Canada's first openly gay minister. "Why would they not invite a different evangelist, one that isn't controversial?" he added.

The religious leaders said they have worked for nine months in the hopes that the festival's planning committee would be persuaded to find a more suitable speaker.

Prior to the event, Graham said that he was grateful for the attention he received in the past few weeks. He asserted that the controversy has helped to promote the crusade.

In an interview with CBC News, he contended that those who wanted him banned from the event were not the ones who invited him.

"The 300 churches that invited me, that invitation is still there and they're still 100 per cent behind me being here," he said.

Graham maintained that the goal of the festival is to preach the Gospel to the attendees. He said he invited the Muslims and members of the LGBTQ community to attend along with those who were opposed to his visit in Vancouver.