Franklin Graham Expresses Hope in Sendai

Prayer is Focus of Day Before Celebration Weekend

March 1, 2012 - Keep up with the latest stories and developments from the Tohoku Celebration of Hope in Sendai, Japan, in our daily blog.

As the rain stopped and the sun rose over the mountains surrounding Sendai this morning, Franklin Graham and the team from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association were hard at prayer, lifting up the people of the Tohoku region and this weekend’s Celebration of Hope.

“This city is still healing from the events of last March,” Graham said to those assembled. “People are still suffering; there is still fear. The city of Sendai needs our prayers.”

As the one-year anniversary of one of Japan’s deadliest earthquakes and tsunamis approaches, the nation will enter another period of mourning, said Graham.

“We are here to offer them hope…the living hope of our Savior Jesus Christ. We will present the Gospel with sensitivity and compassion,” he added. “We pray God will use us to accomplish His will and purpose.”

At a luncheon in honor of local pastors later in the day, Graham told the group it was hard to believe a year had passed. “When we are children, a year seems like it takes an eternity. But the older we get, time goes by quickly.”

He expressed to the pastors he understood it was a hard year for many of them. “We grieve with those who lost loved ones. We cry with those who are still searching for family members. And we think of those searching for answers, those asking ‘why?’

“But we came this weekend to preach and proclaim the Gospel, which is the only answer. We pray that many in Sendai will find new hope and life in Jesus Christ.”

Please join us in praying that God will move in the hearts of the Japanese people and that many will come to accept His Son as their eternal Savior.

Read more articles about the last year of ministry in Japan »
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