More than 13,000 people came to the second and final night of the Love Phnom Penh Festival with Franklin Graham on December 8. Like the night before, nearly 700 of them made decisions for Christ—for a total of more than 1,300 spiritual responses over two days, both in person and online. Thank you for praying over this Festival. We thank God for all He is doing in Cambodia and ask for continued prayers as local churches disciple new believers.
The Cambodia Festival was a long time in the making, with a local team officially hitting the ground running in preparation last February.
The final night of the Festival lit up the Phnom Penh City Center Driving Range, surrounded by tall city buildings—some of which disappeared in the shadows as the sun went down. Here, you can see hundreds of motorbikes parked across from the Festival.
A smiling choir sang “As the Deer” in their local Khmer language. As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee.
A tightly packed crowd up front jumped, clapped, danced and shouted as Christian artists led them in song.
Cambodian words may not be the easiest for some Americans to pronounce, but Franklin Graham assured the crowd that God knows every person in the crowd personally: “He knows your name.”
A broader view of the audience gathered at Phnom Penh City Center Driving Range.
These friends erupted in giggles after having their picture taken while waiting for the event to begin.
Cambodian artist Khem and a group of dancers had many in the crowd holding their phones up high to take pictures and videos.
December 7 and 8 combined, more than 9,500 people watched the Festival online. There's no doubt God used the prayers of countless people to help this evangelistic event happen.
A counselor goes through a booklet called Living in Christ with a young man who came forward at the end of the night in response to Christ.
Drums, breakdancing, a choir—there were all kinds of entertainment, but each act had a higher purpose than that: to point every person in the crowd to a creative God whose love has no end.
“Someday we are all going to leave this world. And if our faith is in Jesus, we are going to a place called heaven,” said Josh Havens from The Afters, with help from an interpreter. “He’s bigger than our past. He’s bigger than our mistakes. He’s bigger than our sin. And His love is unconditional.”
The Tommy Coomes Band sang a verse of a song called "My Hope" in the local Khmer language.
A woman and a prayer counselor prayed together and later hugged. Every person who responded to the Gospel Sunday night will receive follow-up from local Christians who can help guide them in their new faith.
A cloud of dust rose from the ground as streams of people made their way toward the stage at Graham’s invitation to accept Christ. There was no hesitation, no pause. They began coming forward as soon as they had the opportunity.
Dennis Agajanian and his guitar had a group of young people dancing barefoot in the sand of the driving range.
“What are the obstacles preventing you from coming to Christ tonight?” Franklin Graham asked point blank. How about you?
In total, an estimated 23,700 people attended the two-day Cambodia Festival. Next month, Franklin Graham heads to Florida to proclaim the Gospel across six cities on the Sunshine State Tour.
