More Than 425,000 People Hear Evangelist Luis Palau During Historic Guatemala Festival

More Than 425,000 People Hear Evangelist Luis Palau During Historic Guatemala Festival
Evangelistic campaign in Guatemala City grabs the nation's attention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Kevin Palau: 503.614.1500
kevin.palau@palau.org 


GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (ANS) -- On the heels of a 10-day, region-wide evangelistic campaign that brought international evangelist Luis Palau face-to-face with Guatemala's top leadership, the two-day Guatemala Festival at Parque de la Democracia (March 13-14) proved just as historic-reaching hundreds of thousands of individuals with a clear Gospel presentation.








Performers entertain from the main stage at Guatemala Festival with Luis Palau (Luis Palau Association 2009 - Photographer Brad Person)


Guatemala's president, first lady, vice president, and three ministers of state all attended the festival, a first in the history of Palau festivals. President Alvaro Colom addressed the crowd from the main stage, sharing his feelings toward evangelicals in Guatemala and his appreciation toward Palau and his team.

Known as one of the most evangelical nations in the Spanish-speaking world, 3,200 Guatemalan churches invited Palau and his team to hold this historic campaign-incorporating the largest community service initiative the nation has ever seen, with more than 25 exclusive outreach events.

Included in the campaign were several private meetings with the president and his Cabinet, gatherings with the Supreme Court, military leadership, police cadets, lawyers, judges, doctors, mayors, and other top-level dignitaries. Local leadership included Dr. Luis Fernando Solares, Reverend Danilo Pérez, president of the Evangelical Alliance of Guatemala, hundreds of local pastors, and more than 25,000 trained volunteers.








Luis Palau shares from the main stage at Guatemala Festival with Luis Palau, a campaign that reached more than 425,000 people with a message of Good News (Luis Palau Association 2009 - Photographer Brad Person)

In addition, the Palau Association's Season of Service model for community outreach helped mobilize tens of thousands of individuals for a month-long community service effort. Working together to meet the needs of the area, these volunteers offered free medical and dental care to more than 8,500 individuals, helped clean up local neighborhoods and schools, and provided meals for more than 40,000 underprivileged children.

 

Commenting on the campaign, Palau stated, "I have had the joy of ministering in Guatemala for more than 40 years. But what distinguished this campaign from any other was the level of impact-the depth of penetration-to all levels of society. Never have we seen such access to government leaders, business professionals, and military personnel. It's a testament to the power of the Gospel."


Later this year, Palau and his team will take this holistic model for evangelism and community service to Inverness, Scotland; Kigali, Rwanda; and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Related Articles • More Articles

At their encounter at the burning bush, God empowered Moses with the authority to fulfill his calling and leadership role. God is responding to the cry of His people.  He wants them to know He is coming down to save.  And He is sending Moses. Despite Moses' repeated protests of his inability, God is firm in His decision.  God has empowered Moses to perform amazing feats to demonstrate God's saving power.  His staff would be the instrument of his authority.
Earlier this week I spoke at a leadership conference for a group of pastors in El Salvador. These pastors face a lot of spiritual challenges in their culture: Drug addiction among youth, alcoholism, idolatry, and rampant witchcraft. But I had to tell these pastors that the biggest challenge to their churches is not something outside—it is something inside the church. One of the biggest enemies of revival is the spirit of religion. It could be the reason your spiritual life is stagnant. It could also be the reason your church isn't growing.
There is a Third party in the Room. Yes, it is so sad to hear of all the testimonies of things going on. And now that there is controversy, everyone is trying to "manage it." But from a believing prophetic view, there is another message. The prayer stream got polluted and God started resisting hearing those prayers. I am not here to point fingers. I have been through my own traumas. And we can go looking for the "right person or persons" when in fact, there is no human who is. But there is another Person in the Room!