On a warm Sunday afternoon, a crowd of over 7,000 people packed the Don Haskins Center at the University of Texas at El Paso for the seventh stop of the God Loves You Frontera Tour.
Some were curious and wanted to hear more about Jesus Christ. Some were invited by friends or family members—and they came unsure of what they would experience.
But regardless of their expectations, all of them heard truth and hope as Franklin Graham proclaimed that God offers His love and forgiveness freely through His Son Jesus Christ.
Sunday’s message in El Paso was based on the Biblical story of Nicodemus, a religious man who learned his knowledge was not enough to save him. “Jesus told this man: ‘You have to be born again,’” Franklin Graham said.
“There are many of you here tonight who are religious, but don’t have a relationship with God,” Graham challenged the audience. “I’m here to share how you can have a new life by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.”
‘I Really Want God in My Life’
One woman in attendance, Kim*, shared that she used to think that God only loved the ‘good people.’ He couldn’t possibly love her, she said. She had fallen too deep into sin for Him to care about her.
“I used to feel like I was less,” she said. “But here I felt that everyone there in front of the stage was all the same. No one was better than anyone.”
Though Kim is only 18, she shared how the social pressure is pushing young people deeper into sin in order to feel accepted.
“Recently my life has been going downhill, and I feel that I reached the peak of my weakness,” she said.
But when she heard Franklin Graham explain how all people are sinners, and how everyone needs to be born again, her heart had a spark of hope for the first time in many years.
Kim prayed to commit her life to Jesus Christ, and she shared that she wants to start attending a church that preaches the Bible.
“I really want God in my life,” she added. “Now I feel that God loves me just the way I am.”
Prayer Answered
Rich and his wife had welcomed Renata* into their home as a foster child while she was a baby. As a born-again Christian, Rich has been praying for some time for Renata to follow Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.
Now as a 10-year-old, she did just that, responding to Franklin Graham’s invitation on Sunday to come forward and surrender her life to Jesus Christ.
“Following Christ has to be an individual choice,” Rich said. “She felt called by God today, and it was very special when she asked me to walk her to the front to pray.”
Renata smiled as she heard her father talk so proudly about her decision.
“I want to be with God for the rest of my life,” she said.
*Names changed for privacy
