Franklin Graham and Local Church Leaders to Bring a Celebration of Hope to New Orleans

Billy Graham to be a Part of Event at the New Orleans Arena, March 11-12, 2006

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 23, 2006—After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, several area church leaders knew many of their community’s homes and businesses would need to be completely rebuilt. But they also knew that starting over would need to be fuel by an essential ingredient: hope.

For this reason, Franklin Graham, alongside local church and civic leaders, will hold a Celebration of Hope at the New Orleans Arena, March 11-12, 2006. During the event, Billy Graham, who has been burdened for the people of New Orleans and the surrounding region, will visit the area to encourage the community and, as he has the strength, to bring a greeting and a message of hope and encouragement of God’s faithfulness in the midst of life’s storms.

“Each time I’ve been to the Gulf Cost since Hurricane Katrina I’ve been touched by the people I’ve met who have lost so much, but you can still see a glimmer of hope in their eyes,” said Franklin Graham, who recently accepted local church leaders’ invitation to lead the Celebration. “When leaders in the community asked me to join them in bring this event to New Orleans, I wanted to come to encourage those that are reaching out to their neighbor, but also tell those in desperation that there is hope.”

Graham is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and president of the international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, which has raised more than $36 million in aid for Katrina victims. Part of this aid includes donating 200 mobile homes to churches in the area to shelter hurricane victims for the next year. Samaritan’s Purse has also set up a local operations base in New Orleans where volunteer teams are organized and sent out into the community to clean mud out of houses, patch roofs, remove debris and trees, and prepare houses for rebuilding. The relief organization is also working with local officials to identify five sites to rebuild playgrounds and parks to give children and families in the community a place of rest and hope. To date, Samaritan’s Purse has organized and equipped some 4,000 volunteers in the Gulf Coast region and aided more than 6,400 families and homes.

The Celebration of Hope will feature nightly messages by Franklin Graham and high-energy music by award-winning artists including American Idol finalist George Huff, Point of Grace, Ricky Skaggs, Nicole C. Mullen, Dennis Agajanian, the Tommy Coomes Band, a New Orleans gospel choir, and long-time Billy Graham musicians George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows.

More than 100 churches in the New Orleans area are currently involved in organizing the event. Bishop J. Douglas Wiley, pastor of Life Center Cathedral, and Dr. David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church New Orleans, are serving as co-chairs of the event and will oversee the event preparation process.

The Celebration of Hope will be open to the public and free of charge. 

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