Alejandro Fernandez roared across the skies above Uruguay during his time as a pilot in the nation’s navy more than 15 years ago. In a single day, he was able to pass several times over the entire length of his country, roughly the size of Virginia. As he flew, Alejandro often looked down at the many towns and villages and prayed that God would someday reach his entire nation with the Gospel message—a seemingly impossible prayer in secular Uruguay.
Today Alejandro is a national coordinator for the My Hope World Evangelism Television Project in Uruguay. Never in his wildest dreams, Alejandro says, would he have guessed that God would use him to help reach Uruguay with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He now is responsible for the recruitment and training of pastors, who will come together during My Hope’s 10-month preparation process and learn how to train their church members in evangelism.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s My Hope World Evangelism Television Project, called Mi Esperanza in Uruguay, will broadcast programs to a projected 15,000 homes in every town and region across the country on September 27–29, 2007. These telecasts are designed for the Uruguayan culture and present music, testimonies, and sermons.
Thus far, more than 1,400 pastors in Uruguay have been trained in My Hope’s outreach and are currently training their church members to reach out to others and invite them to view the telecasts. This training effectively equips believers to tell friends, family, and neighbors about their own faith in Christ.
With a population of more than 3.3 million, Uruguay has the highest percentage of agnostic or nonreligious people in Latin America. It is considered the most secular country in both the western and southern hemispheres, and citizens have a spiritual curiosity that unfortunately has produced a higher interest in witchcraft than in biblical faith. This openness to spirituality, however, also allows for the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Many in Uruguay have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel or had an opportunity to make a decision for Christ.
Television is the most widely used form of media, second only to the printed word. When Christians in countries worldwide are empowered with accessible evangelism training and home Bible study groups that result from the television broadcasts, it encourages them to learn more about faith in Jesus Christ, become involved in local churches, and proclaim the Gospel to others.
With the aim of reaching every country in the world, My Hope has been implemented in more than 20 countries since 2002. Through My Hope’s outreach and broadcasts, more than 3.1 million Christians have been trained and given the opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ. As a result, churches worldwide have been unified and more than 8,854,000 people have made a commitment to Christ.
As Alejandro visits towns throughout Uruguay and hears stories of pastors from every region who are being trained for Mi Esperanza, he sees an answer to the prayers that he prayed over Uruguay years ago. Through Mi Esperanza, God is bringing the hope of Jesus Christ to his nation.
