Franklin Graham preaches the Gospel to over 170,000 people in Myanmar
Over 170,000 people have heard the Gospel from Franklin Graham at the three-day Yangon Love Joy Peace Festival held at the Myanmar Convention Center from Nov. 18 to 20.
Christians in Myanmar have been holding prayer rallies for the festival since June 2015, according to a report from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
Many of those who attended the event have been brought by their friends and neighbors. The Yangon Kachin Baptist Church sent its members on a door-to-door campaign to invite people to the festival. On the final night, 60 guests were brought by the church to the event on a chartered bus.
"Many of you here tonight are going through your life blindly. And if you don't change the direction of your life tonight, your life could be destroyed. But tonight you have a chance to come to Jesus Christ," Graham said on the final night of the festival.
"He will cleanse your heart. He will guide you and direct you. And if you're willing to believe by faith in Jesus Christ tonight, He'll forgive your sins. You can have a new life and a new beginning," he continued.
On his second day in Myanmar, Graham visited The Hebron Brethren Assembly, the church of his old friend, Tin Maung Tun. The church hosted 200 children through Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child. Some of them lived at an orphanage for HIV-positive children while the others come from an impoverished district in Yangon.
The children happily explored the contents of the gift-filled boxes distributed by Graham. Many of them spent time looking through the Gospel picture book that was given to every child.
More than 7,600 people gave their life to Christ during the event. The Reverend Dr. Saw Mar Gay Gyi, Festival executive chairman, said that the number of people who attended was more than what he expected.
"The Holy Spirit is really here working and using Franklin. So this is, I think, God's amazing grace for our people, and we hope that because of this, our country will be blessed richly," he said.