Hope For The Heart Of Cambodia

Dear Friend,
Around the time you receive this, my father would have preached during a milestone event in Cambodia’s second-largest city. The Love Siem Reap Festival, Jan. 24–25, is the first time in the region’s 1,000-year history that the Good News of Jesus Christ will be proclaimed during a large-scale evangelistic outreach. Lun Sophy, the vice chair of the Festival, said, “Siem Reap is known as the heart of Cambodian culture and religion. This makes the Love Siem Reap Festival a significant event in Cambodian church history and a breakthrough for the Gospel.” Over the last hundred years, the nation has seen so much suffering, from foreign invasion to genocide to today’s border crisis. Thousands of refugees—many with only the clothes on their backs—are living in camps right outside Siem Reap. The people of Cambodia need real hope—and its Christian minority has a passion to offer it to their neighbours.

In the last few months, more than 1,300 believers have been equipped to share their faith through our Christian Life and Witness Course. One woman said, “Sometimes I’m so scared [to share the Good News], but since we have joined this class, we have the confidence, we know the tools, and we understand what steps we need to share the Gospel effectively.” Many like her have put the training to use as they serve in the refugee camps, passing out family care packs and school supplies for children provided by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In addition to evangelism and discipleship classes, the 475 participating churches have reserved hundreds of buses to bring people from across the region to the two-day outreach. And these Christians are meeting together each week to pray for their friends, family, and acquaintances. Even the younger generation has caught the vision, and over 1,700 youth attended a pre-event meeting at the end of November.
Will you join these bold brothers and sisters in prayer and ask God to do a mighty work in Siem Reap? Pray that many will discover the only real path
to peace—through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Two weeks later—and half a world away—my father will be in Ushuaia, Argentina. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells His followers that they will be His witnesses “to the end of the earth” (NKJV). That’s an appropriate passage for this city surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains and the sometimes-frozen Beagle Channel. Considered a gateway to Antarctica, Earth’s southernmost city is nicknamed the End of the World.
The churches there are on fire for the Lord with a burning desire to share the Good News in their community through Esperanza Ushuaia, Feb. 14–15. Out of a population of 82,000 residents, over 2,000 Christians have been trained in evangelism and are praying for their loved ones who are living without the hope of Christ.
One local pastor told us, “Together with the other congregations in the province of Tierra del Fuego, we are experiencing days of great expectation, unity, and trust in God that something wonderful is about to begin, and that it will undoubtedly transcend not only the province, but also all of [this region].” Let’s ask the Lord to transform many lives there and across southern Argentina with His Gospel.
Following Ushuaia, my father will turn his attention to Lima, Peru, for our two-day Esperanza Lima, March 7–8. In a place known as the City of Kings, he will proclaim the Good News of the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16, NKJV).
These months will be very busy, but we’re beyond grateful for the opportunities before us to proclaim the Gospel in a dark and dying world. Will you join us in praying for the Christians and churches in Cambodia, Argentina, and Peru, as my father brings the Word of God to these nations?

THE GOSPEL ON THE GULF COAST

I’m currently preparing to preach in the Gulfport/Biloxi region of Mississippi next month (March 21–22) at the Gulf Coast Celebration of Hope.
This is a beautiful area, full of palm trees and miles of sandy beaches. At the same time, it’s a place of great hurt and darkness. Homelessness and addiction are prevalent, the devastating impact of hurricanes is common, and casinos are everywhere. Indeed, many people in this area are gambling with their souls, and one day time is going to run out. I want this community to hear about the eternal hope and peace that comes from surrendering it all to Jesus and allowing Him to be Lord over our lives, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NKJV).
Already, hundreds of local Christians from across the region have been trained to serve as

prayer counselours during the outreach. Adam and his wife were among them. When they were newlyweds in 1987, they sang in the choir during my grandfather’s Crusade in Columbia, South Carolina. As they watched crowds streaming down onto the football field decades ago, they were moved to tears at what God had done in so many hearts. “I always said if there’s ever an opportunity to do anything with Billy Graham, I’ll be there,” said Adam, now a resident of the Gulf Coast. “So here I am after a long military career and all these years. My wife and I are part of it; we’re so excited.” Praise God for their legacy of Gospel ministry—nearly
40 years after the Columbia Crusade and eight years to the month after my grandfather’s passing!
More classes—including specially tailored events for high school and college students—will take place in the coming weeks as we continue to pray and prepare for this exciting outreach.
Will you please join me in lifting up the Gulf Coast Celebration of Hope? Pray that many will come to hear the Good News, that the Holy Spirit will soften hearts, and that souls will be saved for eternity through the finished work of the Saviour.

ONGOING OUTREACH AROUND THE GLOBE

In May, I’m looking forward to returning to Asia to proclaim Jesus Christ, “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6, NKJV). Will you pray for evangelistic events May 4–5 on the Japanese island of Shikoku, and May 17 in Uijeongbu, South Korea?

June 12–13, I will be in Regina—the capital of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan—for the Regina Look Up Celebration. I was recently in that community as we launched the outreach that will culminate this summer, and I was overwhelmed by the response. More than 1,000 pastors and
Christians gathered for a time of worship and prayer, lifting up the names of loved ones who are far from God and asking the Lord for their salvation.
“What’s going on here right now, I believe it’s the Lord’s doing,” said Pastor Nico Deschner of Celebration Church. “Pray that the good work that God started, that He will bring it to completion.… I believe God is starting something all around our nation.”

My friend, as you can see, we have a busy ministry schedule over the next several months, and for that we’re grateful. We must be about our Father’s work. And we need your partnership. This is a spiritual battlefield, and we must fight on our knees in prayer. Thank you for coming alongside us with your prayers and support. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we could not do this without you—and because of you, souls are being saved for eternity.

   Will Graham

Executive Vice President