In a demonstration of Church unity, the Luis Palau Association partnered with more than 4,900 churches across denominational lines to reach 731,000 people across five cities in Zambia. The nationwide evangelistic campaign, dubbed Love Zambia Festival, trained tens of thousands of Christians and reached hundreds of thousands of individuals with the Good News of Jesus Christ, culminating in a massive 3-day festival in the capital city of Lusaka.
The 5-month campaign featured gatherings throughout the region, spreading the Gospel of Jesus in different groups and gatherings including local prisons, eyeglass and medical clinics, a women's dinner gala, sports clinics, school outreaches and a business and civic leaders event.
At the Mwembeshi Correctional Facility, Palau shared the gospel with 1,600 inmates where 1,098 responded and surrendered their lives to Christ, according to organizers. Palau said he was amazed by the number of people choosing to follow Jesus daily.
“It was such a receptive group (the inmates). They are engaged in the Gospel message, and actively dancing to the worship music. These crowds can be tough, but in this group, you could feel a sense of joy as they laughed and joked, fully tuned in to the message,” posted Palau on the Luis Palau facebook page.
The culmination of the outreach events was a three-day festival at the National Heroes Stadium on September 13 - 15. The Love Zambia Festival and ministry week reached more than 374,900 people in person with the Good News and led more than 154,600 people in a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.
The three-day festival featured music and live performances from Don Moen, Pompi, Ephraim, Mag 44, Temwani, Nathan Nyirenda, and more. In addition to the musical line-up from mainstage, the family-friendly event incorporated a children's area, which included carnival rides, bounce houses, and a special Gospel program for kids, as well as action sports demonstrations (featuring The Stunt Dudes).
Andrew Palau highlighted the program each night by sharing a Gospel message from the main stage and challenging those in the crowd to give their life to Jesus Christ. Tens of thousands of local believers (who were trained by the Palau team) helped counsel and follow up with each new believer at the festival. Bibles for the World also played an important role by providing 310,000 Gospels of John and 30,000 New Testaments in 3 languages to help new believers grow in Christ.
Over and above the campaign in Lusaka, Andrew and Wendy Palau also invited more than 60 partner evangelists from 11 nations—in connection with Palau's Global Network of Evangelists—to help spread the Good News throughout the surrounding area. Partnering with thousands of local churches, they held additional evangelistic partner festivals and gatherings in Kalulushi, Mufulira, Chingola, and Ndola. Through the wider Love Zambia campaign, an additional 356,534 individuals were reached in person, with 66,070 making a decision to follow Christ.
On top of the on-the-ground events that took place in Zambia, the team also spearheaded an innovative digital evangelism strategy, sharing the Good News of Jesus through targeted social media ads. Through Palau's digital evangelism strategy, more than 100,000 people have been reached with Gospel ads throughout Zambia, with 20,000 indicated decisions for Jesus Christ.
Organizers estimate more than 731,000 people were reached in person with the Gospel and more than 240,000 people indicated a commitment to Jesus Christ.
While local leaders begin the follow-up and discipleship process with new believers, the Palau Association will move on to support similar campaigns in cities across the globe. Upcoming events for the Palau Association include efforts in Argentina, China, the Dominican Republic, Nevada, and more.
