In addition, thousands of individuals are being
equipped to open their homes and present the
Gospel in November
CHARLOTTE, NC, July 8, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- With four months remaining until the culmination of My Hope America with Billy Graham, the movement recently reached a milestone as more than 16,000 churches across the nation have signed up to participate. |
"In a world where the main focus of many
is the immediate and the material, it is truly remarkable to see so
many begin to turn their eyes and hearts to the eternal," said Preston
Parrish, vice president of the My Hope America evangelistic campaign. "People across the nation are praying and preparing for My Hope America, and we are eagerly anticipating what God will do as people put feet to those prayers."
Hundreds of preparation meetings, which
began last December, have been held in all 50 states. At these meetings,
pastors and lay church leaders have come together to learn more about
how to maximize this nationwide evangelistic outreach in their own
congregations. Meetings are still taking place across the country
throughout the summer. In addition to the meetings, thousands of
individuals have registered for the project and participated in the free
online training.
"I knew right away I wanted to be
involved in this endeavor," said Skip Heitzig, senior pastor of Calvary
of Albuquerque, after hearing Franklin Graham share the vision of My Hope America last year. "My Hope is such a natural method of sharing the Gospel and bringing people the life-changing message of Jesus Christ."
"My Hope is going to let us
know if our churches really care about lost people or if we just talk
about it," said Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist in
Albany, Ga., the well-known church behind the popular movies Fireproof and Courageous.
Catt set a goal for his church to have
150 participants in the project, but more than 200 have already signed
up. A church in Hagerstown, Md. – Tri-State Fellowship – saw their goal
of 50 registrants doubled when one third of its congregation registered
to participate in My Hope America.
"We are seeing stories like this in churches across the nation,” said Parrish. “But, the ultimate impact of My Hope America hinges on individuals identifying and praying for those people in their lives who need to know Christ."
About My Hope America with Billy Graham
My Hope America with Billy Graham
encourages participants to reach out to people they already know and
engage in meaningful conversation and connections as a catalyst for
sharing the hope and love found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
While one-on-one conversations will be the root of this relationship
evangelism outreach, there will be special evangelistic programs
available in a wide range of formats including TV, DVD and Internet that
people can share to reinforce the message. The programs will feature
life-changing testimonies and powerful messages from Billy Graham.
The first evangelistic program was released in March entitled Defining Moments.
It features the stories of three individuals--illusionist Jim Munroe,
NFL player David Tyree and musical artist Lacey Sturm--who found success
in their careers yet were still searching for hope. The second program
in the series – Lose to Gain
– was released in June. It follows the stories of skateboarder Brian
Sumner, comedian Michael Jr. and young professional Shannon Culpepper,
each searching for something this world ultimately couldn’t provide.
These programs, along with additional
programs under development including new footage of Billy Graham, will
serve as the evangelistic thrust behind the implementation of the
project in November.
For more information on My Hope America with Billy Graham, including preparation meeting dates, news articles and evangelism resources, visit www.MyHopewithBillyGraham.org.
About the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
The Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association (BGEA) proclaims the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
throughout the world by every effective means available. From its
headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., the BGEA directs a wide range of
domestic and international ministries, including: large-scale festivals
led by evangelists Franklin Graham and Will Graham; The Billy Graham
Library; The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, located outside
of Asheville, N.C.; SearchforJesus.net, an Internet evangelism project
reaching thousands of people for Christ online; and many others through
print, television, telephone, radio and the Internet. For more
information, please visit www.billygraham.org. Get news updates on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/BGEAnews.
MEDIA INFORMATION:
An online press kit with downloadable graphics is available on DropBox. You can access it via this link: http://bit.ly/
Christian Newswire
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