Festival de Esperanza - Franklin Graham (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Festival of Hope - Ecuador sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will be held this week in Guayaquil, August 23-24-25.

All year long the churches of Guayaquil have joined together in a massive undertaking to impact our city for Christ. Multiple events and training have already taken place under girded by an umbrella of prayer. This week is the high point of this year long evangelistic undertaking with Franklin Graham coming for a three day "Festival of Hope".

As you read this, please pause and pray for God's Spirit to be poured out upon Guayaquil this week and that thousands would come to know Christ as Savior and Lord.

The following comes from the BGEA website...

Some of the best fishing fleets in the world gather in the teeming waters off Guayaquil, Ecuador. For the past year another fleet has been fishing in Guayaquil, however, and their goal is singular: they’re fishing for people. Churches, pastors, and believers are working alongside BGEA to bring the Franklin Graham Festival de Esperanza (Festival of Hope) to Guayaquil August 23–25, 2007.

With a population of more than three million, Guayaquil is the largest city in the South American country of Ecuador. Hundreds of churches and numerous volunteers around the city have been reaching out, telling others about Christ, and inviting people to the Festival so that they can hear a life-changing message...

A stream of renewal has been flowing through Ecuador for the past few years. The My Hope World Evangelism Television Project aired a message of God’s love on national television networks in 2004. Last year, Franklin Graham visited Quito, Ecuador, at the base of the Andes Mountains, to bring the Festival de Esperanza to northern Ecuador. Cold air blew through the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium in Quito, but the warmth of God’s love prompted more than 140,000 people to attend the Festival. More than 13,600 invited Jesus Christ into their lives as a result. It was the largest evangelistic outreach in Ecuador’s history.

Excitement is building for the Festival de Esperanza in Guayaquil, which will feature nightly messages from Franklin Graham along with special guest musicians Marcos Witt of Mexico, Marcos Vidal of Spain, Lilly Goodman of the Dominican Republic, as well as Ecuador’s own Gerard Mejia and Jorge Luis. A Festiniños (KidzFest) will be held Saturday morning.

Jesus’ disciples threw away their fishing nets and began to tell people the Good News of salvation, and their testimonies changed the world forever. Christians in Guayaquil this week will be fishing as well by inviting others to hear about Jesus Christ. Through God’s power, numerous lives will be changed at the Festival de Esperanza.