By Savannah Cooper | Staff Writer
Wednesday night at touchdown alley, in the shadows of McLane stadium, hosted the sixth stop of a seven city tour spreading evangelism across Texas. All throughout October, Decision Texas has been on tour sharing a message of repentance and faith through communities with prayer.
Franklin Graham, President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, has spent the majority of his life preaching the Gospel and encouraging believers to pray together for those who don’t know Jesus Christ. Graham is the oldest son child of influential pioneer evangelist minister Billy Graham.
Graham is nearing the end of his tour and is continuing to preach a message based in prayer and repetance.
“We’re here tonight on a tour to go city to city in Texas to just preach the gospel,” Graham said. “All of the work that we do, we want it to be based on prayer, we’re preaching a message. I want people to know that they can have a relationship with God and that’s through faith in His son Jesus Christ.”
Starting at 7:30 p.m., the free event kicked off with a dynamic performance by Baylor alum, David Crowder, followed by a passionate message from Graham with an elaborate firework show to end the evening. A sea of 7,200 people waving American flags came together to worship and pray for nearly two hours.
Crowder’s performance was upbeat and interactive with the audience for just under a half hour. Following the performance, Graham spoke for an near equal amount of time. Halfway through his speech, Graham called for everyone to stand and hold hands with their neighbor, regardless if they’re a stranger, and pray out loud.
At the center of Graham’s prayers is the current state of the country and he wants people to know that only prayer can heal such divisions.
“The focus is on our country we’re such a wealthy country with so much opportunity, but we’re such a divided country and I want people to realize that God made us and created us and He wants to have a relationship with us,” Graham said. “The only one who can heal this country is not the Republicans or the Democrats, the only person who can heal this country is God.”
Decision Texas media liaison Todd Schearer has accompanied Graham on this tour and has taken note of how responsive people have been in each city.
“People have been very responsive to these one day events,” Schearer said. “People have been really excited about the event and are really encouraged to pray for our communities.”
Debbie Little came out to the event from Abbott because she was attracted to the idea of bringing people to Christ.
“I have been following Franklin Graham just recently, and the idea of bringing other people to Christ I thought was a great way to come and be supportive of him and hopefully help others bring Christ into their hearts” Little said.
For those who might be hesitant to pray, Graham realizes their thinking but knows that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love them.
“There’s a lot of people like that and I was like that, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us,” Graham said. “The problem is our sins separated us from God and I want people to know how they can have that relationship with God. How their sins can be forgiven and how they have that assurance that all is well between them and God and that our souls are secured in his hand.”
