Hundreds Turn to Christ at Franklin Graham Revival in Mexico
Hundreds responded to the message of salvation and turned from their sins last weekend at a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association revival in Mexico's third largest city.
Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, preached at the Festival de Esperanza (Festival of Hope) in Monterey at the request of local churches.
According to Graham, over 16,000 attended Saturday night's service in Arena Monterrey. On Saturday afternoon, a FestiKids event was held in which at least 1,000 people responded to Christ, according to BGEA.
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On his Facebook page, Graham wrote that hundreds responded to the call during Sunday evening's sermon "to turn from their sins and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord."
BGEA reports that at least 700 "came forward to make a decision for Christ" by standing in front of the stage during Graham's sermons.
"I told the full house at Arena Monterrey that there was nothing more valuable than a soul," Graham wrote. "Your soul lives inside your body and when your body dies, your soul will live forever in one of two places — Heaven or Hell."
Graham told the audience that "your soul's destination depends on whether you accept or reject Jesus Christ during this life."
"It's the most important decision you will ever make. The Bible tells us, 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?'" Graham added, citing Mark 8:36. "I'm thankful for the power of the Gospel and that many souls were saved this evening."
More than 500 churches participated in the festival, according to Graham. Among the performers who provided live music for the event was multi-platinum American artist Michael W. Smith and Venezuelan Christian music artist Daniel Calveti.
Among those who came forward to accept Christ was a 26-year-old English teacher named Stephanie who faced a tough year riddled with depression. She told BGEA that at one point, she wanted to kill herself.
Stephanie explained that she felt like an "orphan" because she grew up in a household marred by her alcoholic and drug-addicted father who beat her mom. Stephanie admits that she had "forgotten God's love."
"I just couldn't take it anymore," Stephanie was quoted as saying. "I was thanking God because I didn't take my life."
Another who responded to the call was a 60-year-old woman named Delfina, who lost her husband of 43 years to a heart attack the week before. Delfina was invited to the revival by her son, Mario.
Faced with the sobering reality of death, Delina was motivated to respond to Graham's call because she realized that she never asked God to forgive her sins.
"God is a God of miracles," Mario said, explaining that he thought the message of the event was good for his family to hear during their season of grief. "The doors opened, and through that, salvation came."
