More than 4,000 people made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ during evangelist Franklin Graham’s 10-day God Loves You Frontier Tour along the southern border of the United States.
“We’ve had a greater response to the gospel invitation here than anywhere else we’ve preached in the United States,” Graham said. CBN News While staying at Eagle Pass. “People are hungry and hurting. They are hungry for the truth.”
The tour begins February 24th in Brownsville, Texas and concludes March 9th in Chula Vista, California. Stops include McAllen, Texas; Laredo, Texas. Eagle Pass, Texas. Del Rio, Texas. Presidio, Texas. El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona.
After seven stops, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reported that more than 33,000 people had heard the gospel preached and more than 4,000 had given their lives to Christ.
During an interview with CBN News, Graham explained that he felt the Lord was leading him to preach in several distressed border areas.
“This is kind of a forgotten part of America,” he said. “There’s cartel people taking advantage of it, smugglers taking advantage of it, and the good people who live here get caught up in all of this and have to deal with it.”
The tour included a sermon by Graham with Spanish interpretation, as well as a bilingual service featuring musician Marcos Witt and former Hillsong singer Taya. In Eagle Pass, thousands of people gathered at the Maverick County Amphitheater for an evangelistic event.
“It’s a breath of fresh air after all the negative news about Eagle Pass,” Gus Castaneda said.
High school senior Anahi Martinez said she had high expectations for the night. “She wanted people to know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, but she also wanted to bring revival to the church,” she said.
The Eagle Pass community was greatly impacted last year due to the large influx of immigrants to the United States. Eagle Pass Fire Department removed a record number of bodies from the Rio Grande. Meanwhile, Texas is building a base surrounding the Del Rio area to evacuate 1,800 soldiers.
“Our law enforcement officials are seeing something they’ve never seen before,” said Pastor Brian Cisneros of Access Church. “It affects them psychologically and emotionally.”
Churches in Eagle Pass and elsewhere on the tour have spent months preparing for discipleship and evangelism training.
“We pray that many people will be saved,” said Pastor Abnel Chavez Gallegos of New Journey Church.
Meanwhile, Tree of Life Church Pastor Don Crabtree said he is encouraged by the efforts his church has made ahead of Graham’s tour.
“The church is definitely coming together, and unity is everything,” he said. “That’s what brings about recovery.”
Image credit: ©Getty Images/John Moore/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
