NEWS PROVIDED BY
Luis Palau Association (LPA)
March 20, 2023

AUSTIN, Texas, March 20, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- For the first time in the history of SXSW, a group of Austin-area churches were given approval to host an officially sanctioned evangelistic gathering at the famous SXSW annual conference earlier this month. Excited by the opportunity and committed to making it the best it could be, they asked Andrew Palau and the Palau Association, based in Portland, Oregon, to help lead the charge.

For more than 30 years, SXSW has been a major driver of art and technology for our entire world. It is where trends have been set and new technology has been launched. SXSW is where Twitter first caught on, where ground-breaking movies have been debuted, and where Grammy Award-winning musical artist have been discovered. Past speakers at the conference have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Edward Snowden.

Attendees from all around the world come to learn, launch, network, and dream. They are the best and the brightest in their fields, preparing to further influence culture. And earlier this month through the efforts of Palau and several local churches, they also had the opportunity to encounter the Living God!

Taking over the iconic Stubb's Bar-B-Q on Sunday, March 12, the Palau Association gave SXSW attendees an opportunity to experience powerful music, enjoy free BBQ, and learn from panel discussions with leading Christian tech industry experts. Throughout the day, Andrew Palau and others also shared the clear Good News Gospel and gave attendees the opportunity to commit their life to Jesus Christ.

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel and long-standing friend of the Palau Association, joined in for the day, bringing great interest and excitement to the program as he shared his testimony as well as thoughts on faith in the workplace. Also involved in the gatherings were Grammy award-winning musical artist Lecrae, who gave a free concert, virtual reality expert Renji Bijoy, former Meta executive Nona Jones, and tech expert Mark McClain, to name a few. Each speaker brought their own experience and knowledge to the program, sharing clearly how their faith in Christ has impacted their work and influenced their trajectory in life. Many people responded to Gospel as a result of the testimonies and messages.

In the days leading up to the Sunday events, hundreds of local believers hit the streets to promote the events and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The results were many great interactions with SXSW attendees – some even praying to receive Jesus right there on the street!

In the end, thousands of individuals were reached through the two main experiences and panel discussions, making it one of the larger SXSW gatherings of the year.

"The strategic impact of an evangelistic event like this is so powerful," said Carl Grant III, CEO of Capital Raise and one of the early visionary leaders of the event. "SXSW attendees are influencers from around the world. And while a venue like this doesn't attract the sheer number of a typical Palau festival, the impact is just as great. Those we reached earlier this month are the thought-leaders of our culture. They will take this new-found faith back to their areas of influence where it will go on to impact many more."

As is the case in all Palau campaigns, a special emphasis was placed on local leadership. The Palau Association spent several months planning this campaign, gathering pastors and believers from throughout the region and empowering them with tools and opportunities to use their own gifts to further the unity of the Church and the work of the Kingdom.

While local leaders continue to follow up each new believer, the Palau Association will move on to support similar campaigns in cities across the globe, including efforts later this year in San Jose, Costa Rica; London, England; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Nairobi, Kenya; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Cairo, Egypt.

You can learn more about the Luis Palau Association and their worldwide work at www.palau.org.

About Andrew Palau
For more than 25 years Andrew Palau has played a key role in the ministry of the Luis Palau Association (LPA), which was started by his father, evangelist Luis Palau. Andrew has been instrumental in building the LPA model for citywide outreach as an evangelist, director, and key team leader. He has guided campaigns, led church relations efforts, trained thousands of believers in friendship evangelism, and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ in person to hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world through evangelistic campaigns. Andrew's festivals have brought him and the Palau Association into partnership with thousands of churches in cities throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States of America. Andrew's weekly radio broadcasts are heard by millions of people on thousands of radio outlets around the world. He is also the author of multiple books, including Secret Life of a Fool, a retelling of his personal journey to faith in Christ, and What is Christmas?, a groundbreaking evangelistic book published in China in 2012.

SOURCE Luis Palau Association (LPA)

CONTACT: Jay Fordice, 503-614-1572, jay.fordice@palau.org