Evangelist Franklin Graham proclaimed the Gospel to more than 89,500 people during the two-night Esperanza Lima evangelistic gathering in Peru over the weekend.
Graham, the son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, highlighted key moments from the outreach through several posts on social media following the event.
Reflecting on the first evening of the festival, Graham wrote in a message shared on X: “It was such a privilege to preach the Gospel in Lima tonight at the National Stadium of Peru,” he wrote in an X post on Saturday. “It was packed with 41,000 people and more waiting outside! I told the crowd that I had come to Lima for a reason — and that reason is to share the Truth! Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, except through Me’ (John 14:6).”
He added that many attendees responded to the message by placing their faith in Christ. “We give God all the glory for the thousands who made the most important decision of their lives tonight — to turn from their sins and put their trust in Jesus Christ!” he exclaimed.
Additional details about the event were later released in a statement from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on Monday, which described the spiritual response to the festival and included excerpts from Graham’s message to the crowd.
“I want you to know tonight that you can have a new life through Jesus Christ, God’s Son,” Graham told the audience. “The entire world is infected with sin. Without Jesus you have no hope. You cannot save yourself. You cannot forgive yourself. The church cannot save you. Religion cannot save you. Only the blood of Jesus can save you. He is the only way. He came from heaven to this earth to take your sins. He died and shed His blood on the cross for you. Tonight you can put your faith and trust in Him and be saved from your sins and have a new life.”
Organizers noted that the outreach had initially been planned as a single-night event. However, the festival was expanded to two nights because of the “overwhelmingly positive response from thousands of pastors when the festival was announced.”
Esperanza Lima was held in partnership with approximately 2,300 churches throughout the Lima region. The event also included performances from several Christian musicians, including Charity Gayle, The Afters, Christine D’Clario and the Jahaziel Band. To make the gathering accessible to more people, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association arranged 600 buses to transport attendees who otherwise might not have been able to travel to the stadium.
Graham is scheduled to continue his evangelistic outreach later this year, with upcoming stops including Festival de la Esperanza in Madrid, Spain, on May 30–31 and a gathering in Manchester, England, on Oct. 3 as part of his “God Loves You” tour.
