Contact: Craig Chastain, 503-614-1554, craig.chastain@palau.org

CAIRO, Egypt, Nov. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- Believers and seekers from throughout the Middle East heard and experienced a powerful Christian message this past weekend, November 2-4, as the Cairo Festival with Andrew Palau reached tens of thousands through an innovative festival event and satellite broadcast.

Produced in partnership with Cairo's Kasr El Dobarah Evangelical Church, the Oregon-based Luis Palau Association and more than 370 Middle Eastern churches, the three-day celebration was staged at the Wadi El Natroum sports camp. Bus caravans transported more than 12,500 attendees from throughout the region over the course of three days to enjoy action sports demos, activities for children and young families, and stage presentations that featured the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago Choir, local Arabic bands and international speaker Andrew Palau.

The event comes a decade after Palau's father, Christian communicator and author Luis Palau, brought an extended outreach campaign to Egypt that reached an estimated 575,000 people through 585 churches and an extensive video distribution network.

"We met so many people who had been impacted by our 1998 campaign," said Andrew Palau. "They were an invaluable resource as we worked with the local churches to get the word out."

The audiences each day were diverse, with children and families joining teens and young adults from many backgrounds to watch world-class skateboarding and BMX demonstrations from the Livin It® Action Sports Alliance. The skate park constructed for the event will remain as a permanent element of the sports camp. The festivities were broadcast live by Sat7 via the Internet and satellite where they were viewed by thousands throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

"It was so gratifying – and humbling – to see the tireless efforts of our friends in the Middle East to make this happen," said Palau. "So many things were tried for the first time. The turnout was all we had prayed for – and more – and the response to the Good News was an incredible blessing."

Like his father Luis, who has reached more than one billion people through broadcasting, events and the media, Andrew Palau's Gospel message was rich with biblical references and included an invitation to live the Christian life. Local leaders, the extreme sports athletes and others also shared their faith. Over the three festival days, more than 3,000 decisions for Christ were recorded.

The network of churches and believers that came together for the festival is expected to thrive and grow as similar such events come to the region.

Says Andrew Palau, "We love Egypt and, God willing, we'll be back." His 2008 schedule already includes events in Europe, the Caribbean, and several U.S. cities.