More than one-third of the decisions to accept Christ as Lord and Savior made on Saturday were youth, age 18 and under.
Excitement levels were elevated on Saturday night in Ulaanbaatar, with uplifting music, dancing and a message of hope.
Word of the Festival of Joy spread around Ulaanbaatar.
Steppe Arena, primarily used as a hockey arena, is also used for basketball, gymnastics, figure skating, curling, speed skating and, this weekend, the Festival of Joy.
Franklin Graham shares the Good News, with a Mongolian interpreter at his side.
The Afters have traveled the world with Franklin Graham and Will Graham to share the love of Christ, leading the crowd in worship music.
NAKI, a popular band in Mongolia, energizes the crowd before Franklin Graham takes the stage.
Getting around Ulaanbaatar can be tricky. Russia built the city for a half million people, but there are approximately 1.5 million residents today.
With transportation in and around Ulaanbaatar a challenge, BGEA helped local churches provide rides to the event using vans and buses (carrying 24 and 45 people). A majority of the people coming to the Festival of Joy were expected to use these vehicles to get themselves, and friends who don't know Jesus, to the outreach.
Steppe Arena was packed and many experienced the Festival in an overflow area, complete with a jumbo screen.
Far from his home in America, Dennis Agajanian’s fast-picking style engaged those in the audience.
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" –Psalm 150:6, ESV
After leading more than 1,000 Mongolians in a prayer to accept Jesus Christ into their lives, Franklin Graham introduces the "Living in Christ" booklet, which includes discipleship materials as well as the book of John.
Counselors make sure people who responded to the Gospel fully understand their decision to follow Christ.
The follow-up process is one of the most critical parts of any Franklin Graham Festival. Each individual making decisions for Christ will be contacted after the Festival for discipleship and invited to a local Bible-believing church.
With the sun going down on Ulaanbaatar, counselors in the overflow area talk and pray with Mongolians who have made a decision to follow Jesus.
Josh Havens of The Afters interacts with the crowd, making each performance a memorable one.
Christianity in Mongolia is a relatively new concept. It wasn't until 1990 when communism ended that Christianity started to grow. Still, only 2 percent of the country is Christian. Pray for God to move again on the second night of the Festival on Sunday.
Many people live in the hills that surround Ulaanbaatar.
More than half the population of Mongolia live in gers (or yurts), a domed tent-like structure, including 61 percent of the population in Ulaanbaatar.
Most of this Central Asian country is mountainous and uninhabitable, making it the least densely populated nation on the planet with just five people per square mile.
