Hundreds of Thousands of Brazilian Christians will reach out to friends and neighbors during "My Hope World Evangelism Through Television" project, Nov. 6-8

Contact: Graham Clark, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), 704-401-2116, gclark@bgea.org

CHARLOTTE, N.C., November 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- This Thursday, millions of Brazilians across the country will gather around a television during prime time to watch one of the world's greatest athletes -- but they won't be seeing a sporting event. The Brazilian soccer superstar Kaká will be sharing his testimony of hope and faith in Jesus Christ during the first night of one of the largest Christian evangelistic efforts ever, Minha Esperança -- or My Hope Brazil, a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). The highly anticipated broadcast dates for My Hope Brazil are Thursday through Saturday, November 6-8.

My Hope Brazil is an effort driven by local Christians to reach their community with the message of God's love through television programming and their own testimonies. Those involved in the outreach, called "Matthews," recalling the disciple who invited friends to his home to meet Jesus (Matthew 9), are inviting neighbors, relatives and friends to their homes to watch the programs and hear the message of hope. After viewing the program, the "Matthews" will share their personal testimonies and then invite those present to accept or rededicate their lives to Jesus.

The scale of the outreach during the three-day period will be massive: more than 48,000 churches and more than 850,000 homes across South America's largest country have been trained to participate in the program.

"My Hope Brazil is one of the most exciting projects BGEA has had the privilege of facilitating," said Bill Conard, vice president of international ministries at BGEA. "The churches in Brazil have put an enormous amount of time and energy into reaching their loved ones with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we expect God to do powerful things through their faithful efforts."

The first night of programming, Thursday, November 6, will include Kaká's testimony, along with a message from Billy Graham dubbed into Portuguese and music from Brazilian singer Aline Barros. The second night, Friday, November 7, will feature a message from Franklin Graham, president and CEO of BGEA, as well as other testimonies and music from singer Paulo Baruk. The BGEA evangelistic film "A Vow to Cherish," transmitted without commercial breaks, will close the programming on Saturday, November 8.

The programs will air nationally on the Bandeirantes Television Network. DVDs of the programs have been distributed to Matthews in areas that are not reached by the Bandeirantes TV network.

BGEA's next My Hope project will take place in Singapore, December 12-14.

About BGEA

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) proclaims the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world by every effective means available. From its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., BGEA runs a wide range of domestic and international evangelism ministries, including: large-scale festivals led by evangelist Franklin Graham; Dare to Be a Daniel, a youth evangelism training project; My Hope World Evangelism Through Television; the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, offering the hope of Jesus Christ in the midst of tragedy; and many others through print, television, telephone, radio and the Internet. For more information, please visit www.billygraham.org.