More Than 10,000 Hear the Gospel at Celebration of Hope Events in Fukuoka
Contact: Erik Ogren, 704-401-2117, eogren@bgea.org
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 19, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Evangelist Will Graham returned to Japan last week to preach the Gospel in the city of Fukuoka. Cumulatively, more than 10,000 people heard the Good News of Jesus in Fukuoka, with 570 decisions for Christ at Celebration of Hope in Fukuoka with Will Graham events.
More than 8,650 people attended the two-day Celebration of Hope, March 15-16, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center, with nearly 350 making a commitment to Christ. Additionally, 1,400 attended preceding events on March 14, with 221 responding to the invitation to begin a relationship with Jesus.
"He'll always be there for you. He'll never leave you or forsake you. That's who Jesus is," Graham said, addressing local Christian leaders' concerns about the prevalent feeling of loneliness among the Japanese people. "You'll never be alone after tonight."
Because of the non-religious nature of the area, the Sunday evening program utilized a combination of video clips from the "JESUS" film, Bible passages and music to share the story of Jesus. The goal was for the audience to have a grasp of the person of Jesus Christ before Graham took the podium and shared how to have a relationship with Him.
"The film was perfect because (Japanese) are more visual. When they see something it helps them to understand," local pastor Moses Gibbs explained. "A picture paints a thousand words."
The Celebration of Hope in Fukuoka with Will Graham marked the second large-scale event Graham has held in Japan in the past six months. In September 2013 he visited Koriyama, Fukushima, for the Celebration of Hope Fukushima with Will Graham, which saw 3,181 in attendance, with 188 making commitments to Jesus. Graham followed that by preaching to a maximum-capacity crowd of 2,000 at the one-day Celebration of Love in Tokyo.
Following his return from Japan, Graham travels to Clinton, Miss., for the three-day Central Mississippi Will Graham Celebration, which will be held March 28-30 at the A. E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College. In the coming months he will also hold events in Broken Hill, Australia, and Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea.
About Will Graham
Will is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). In 2012 Will was named vice president of the BGEA, overseeing Children and Youth Evangelism Training. He also serves as executive director of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, N.C. Follow Will on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/WillGraham4 and on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TellaGraham.
