desire to know Christ as Saviour. The 1,545 seekers dealt with by the counselors passed the record of any crusade held by anyone in the history of evangelical work in Colombia. Following the crusade the churches organized an evangeli cal parade. A three-hundred voice choir in lovely uniforms, carry ing the flag of Colombia and the Christian flag, led the parade. Five thousand believers, follow ing the choir, marched four abreast along the main street of Cali. Each church carried a beau tiful cloth Scripture sign. A few years ago such a dem onstration would have been met with opposition from the public and interference from the local police authorities. Of the parade, Ed says: “ It is significant to note that this march was carried on with no interference by anyone. No at tempt was made to solicit per mission from authorities for this public witness of Christian faith. We simply informed the Mayor of our plans. This massive dem onstration of the strength and spiritual unity o f evangelical Christians in Cali made a great impact upon the city.”
bills blanketed the business offic es and residential areas. The leading movie theaters and radio stations carried spot an nouncements. The believers dis tributed seventy thousand tracts house to house. Although the newspapers are owned by Cath olics, Murphy was able to buy half-page ads announcing the crusade and showing large pho tographs of Santiago Garabaya, the evangelist. What were the results? On the very first night the great covered stadium was packed. There was a stillness over the audience which caused everyone to com ment that they had never seen “ such a crowd of Colombians be have themselves in a more splen did manner.” When O verseas Crusades Evangelist Santiago Garabaya gave the invitation the first night, three hundred and fifty came forward seeking Christ as their Saviour. Counselors were inadequate to handle the crowd of inquirers. Each night the atten dance grew. The closing night, over seven thousand peop le crammed into a stadium with on ly five thousand seats. Over three hundred a night indicated their
A portion of 800 who came forward each night seeking Christ. Another first that Murphy in augurated was the Mayor’s Ban quet. Such banquets in honor of political leaders are common in the United States but never be fore had such a dinner been tried in Roman Catholic-controlled Co lombia. The Mayor and his lovely wife attended, as well as the Min ister of Education. Reporters from the leading newspapers were present. In his impromptu speech, the Mayor stated, “ I believe what you men and women stand for is the basis for our very civiliza tion. Spiritual values are the most important values of human life. I congratulate you evangeli cals for this crusade and its ben eficial effects on our city. All of us feel the impact o f the presence of the evangelical Christians in Cali. I want you to know when ever I can be of service to you, I will receive you with open arms.” Is it any wonder that the cru sade, the parade, and the Mayor’s Banquet soon became the “ talk of the town?” The committee saw to it that the work did not stop when the great crusade and pa rade were over. Immediately following the un ited crusade, twenty o f the twenty-four evangelical churches in Cali held local evangelistic cru sades. These became the most ef- (continued on page 50) 47
SEPTEMBER, 1966
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