Prayers, Preparations Precede DC Palau Festival
The message of Christ is coming to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., next month in the form of an unconfined, open area festival with evangelist Luis Palau.
WASHINGTON – The message of Christ is coming to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., next month in the form of an unconfined, open area festival with evangelist Luis Palau.
Expecting a crowd of hundreds of thousands of youth, young adults and families, the DC Festival with Luis Palau, scheduled for Oct. 8-9, has partnered with some 875 local churches in a pan-denominational effort to share the gospel.
Without gates or fixed seating, the two-day festival will be 14 city blocks of the hottest Christian music, entertainment, sports and the good news preached by a Christian communicator and author who has spoken face-to-face to over 20 million people in 70 countries.
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Preparations for the evangelistic event began three years ago with extended invitations to various church communities. Since then, church leaders have convened to plan for the much anticipated festival, now only weeks away.
This month, the Luis Palau staff kicked off a series of 30 counselor training sessions, which has equipped nearly 2,500 people up to date. Counselors are trained to assist those who make decisions for Christ and connect the new believers with a church as they get started on their new path of faith.
As participating churches, communities and staff members have only three weeks ahead of them before the DC Festival, more than 200 people gathered at Christ Church of Washington this past weekend to pray for the large crowds that will be hearing the message of Christ.
While the outreach event had once taken the form of a "crusade," Palau adopted the image of an evangelistic "festival" in 1999 for a more culturally relevant and fun way of spreading the gospel.
"Now, we wouldn't ever go back to the old method," said Palau in a statement released by the DC Festival staff. "This is for today."
Over the last five years, Luis Palau festivals have reached over 12 cities, drawing up to 300,000 people over the course of two days in each region.
The DC Festival will be broadcasted live on Oct. 9 over 1000 radio stations. A one-hour television special featuring Luis Palau and other notable celebrities is also set for national distribution in December.
