After Franklin Graham’s Festival of Hope in Lisbon in 2018, Pastor Daniel Lopes of Igreja Evangélica Baptista de Cedofeita and other pastors in Porto, Portugal, thought, Why not Porto? Believers in the colorful seaside city were eager for revival.
They invited BGEA to Porto just before COVID-19—and this spring, Will Graham was finally able to come.
Local pastors say some barriers to the Gospel in Porto are deeply rooted Catholic tradition, secularism and even witchcraft. Many put Christianity in the same category as other cults and religions. “They put everybody in the same bag,” said Rogério Souza, a pastor in Viseu. “It’s hard for them to understand that there is a true Gospel.”
Lopes told Decision, “We are praying for the church to wake up to evangelism.
“I think that this Celebration already brought good things to Portugal. It put us praying together. Many members from my church got equipped to evangelize and to receive people in Jesus’ Name.”
After waiting in the rain on April 26, over 6,100 people poured into Super Bock Arena for the long-awaited Celebração da Esperança (Celebration of Hope).
Churches brought busloads of people, filling the arena and the overflow. Organizers worked to ensure that everyone could hear the message in their language, as it was interpreted in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and sign language. More than 6,300 people tuned in online.
Hands and voices lifted in worship with TAYA, and several vocalists from local churches joined The Afters onstage to worship in Portuguese.
“If [God] was willing to give Manasseh a second chance, He’s willing to give you a second chance,” Will said, telling the story of how God redeemed the wicked king in 2 Chronicles 33.
“There are some of you who worship idols,” he said. “What is the thing that takes up all your time and all your money? … My friends, Jesus came to save you from eternal separation from God.”
Among the more than 480 people who responded to the message was a man who had walked alone for a long time. “The trials and difficulties he was facing started to make him grow colder and his heart grow harder,” the prayer team member who prayed with him said. “When he heard the message, he felt, ‘Yes, this is it. This is what I want. I need to get closer to Jesus.’”
A young man named Andre was convicted over the time he spent online, and purposed to give more time to the Lord, to Scripture and to evangelizing. “I have a lot of friends that are from the world, they don’t know Jesus. … Why can’t I just invite them on Sunday to church?”
A young woman named Ilisabel went forward. “I go to church,” she said, “but it’s like [Will] said. It’s about giving my past and my future, and the fact that I need to make this decision for myself.
“I need to choose God,” she said, “and that’s what I did.” ©2024 BGEA
Photo: Logan Ryan / ©2024 BGEA