Brazil: A Ten-Acre Pad for Generation 79

What began as a twenty-fifth birthday party for Youth for Christ (YFC) in Brazil evolved into a cosmopolitan celebration. More than 3,500 young people, ages 15 to 25, attended the Generation 79 Youth Congress in Saõ Paulo last month; represented there were most of Brazil’s twenty-two states and twenty nations in all. A 160-member South Korean delegation attended, as did young people from Switzerland and Germany.

Paul Overholt, missionary and president of Brazil’s Youth for Christ organization, said, “The original idea was to celebrate YFC’s 25th anniversary in Brazil. The vision grew, however, and we decided to invite teenagers from all over the country.” Werner Burklin, YFC director in Germany, was executive director of the week-long conference, which had been in the planning stages for two years. The congress featured addresses by evangelists Billy Graham and Luis Palau, and YFC International President Jay Kesler. Martin Homan of Germany and Leo Janz of Canada also spoke during inspirational services. Over 450 Brazilian pastors attended special seminars during the congress, and special music was presented by singer Evie Tornquist, the Palermo Brothers, and several Brazilian musical groups.

Perhaps what made the congress unique, however, were the preliminary logistical problems that had to be solved. Burklin (who also planned the Eurofest Congress in 1974) and other YFC officials had to find accommodations, sanitary facilities, and meeting space for the 3,500 young people.

All this was accomplished by the selection of the Anhembi Convention Center as the meeting site; the floor of its main building covers ten acres. The mayor of Saõ Paulo, a sprawling metropolis of 9.5 million population, authorized most preparations for the congress. Besides reducing the rent for the convention center by $60,000, he gave permission for the teenagers to sleep on the floor of the main hall. Once bedded down for the evening, the boys and girls were separated by a partition; some joked, however, that it didn’t keep out mosquitos.

Arrangements were made to provide 72,000 meals, and over 300 temporary showers and 72 toilets were installed. Three flatbed trailer units were pulled together to form a large speakers’ platform. The World Home Bible League donated a New Testament to all participants—100 of whom arrived after a ten-day trip down the Amazon River and a long bus ride from the north.

The congress theme was “United in the Body of Christ,” and the young people studied God’s purpose for the church and how individual members fit within that church. Russel Shedd, a veteran missionary to Brazil, led morning Bible studies in Colossians, and afternoon seminars included “Christianity and Spiritism,” “Evangelizing in Rural Areas,” and “Youth and Sex.”

Kesler spoke at a closing worship service, and Brazilian evangelist Nilson Fanini asked the young people to make total commitments to Christ. More than half of the 4,000-member audience knelt to signify their surrender to Christ. Manoel Simoes, Brazilian director of the 700 Club television ministry, called Generation 79 “one of the largest and most strategic events for Christian youth … in the history of Brazil.”

Graham wrapped up the Generation 79 Congress with a public rally. While 39,000 Brazilians watched a Grand Prix auto race elsewhere in the city, more than 60,000 filled Morumbi Stadium for Graham’s evangelistic message, which was translated into Portuguese by Fanini and into Korean, Japanese, and Chinese over separate loudspeakers to large ethnic groups from those nations.

In his fourth visit to Brazil, Graham began his message, repeating, “God bless Brazil, God bless Brazil.” The crowd applauded with enthusiasm. When an altar call was given, more than 2,000 Brazilians indicated their decisions to make a Christian commitment. Trained counselors distributed literature, and registered the names and addresses of the inquirers for follow-up by local churches.

The Brazilian news media treated Graham kindly, particularly in regards to his financial matters. Another well-known American evangelist was criticized last year by the press for his alleged high style of living and for taking a collection at each of his public meetings: the Brazilian public often cannot understand why “rich” Americans need to take offerings.

So, to avoid criticism, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (which donated large amounts for Generation 79 funding) took no public offering in Morumbi Stadium. Brazil’s leading newspaper, O Estado de Sao Paulo, ran a lengthy article that explained that Graham receives no remuneration from his public meetings, and that the BGEA paid all expenses for the Sunday meeting.

Brazil’s Tupe television network planned to show videotapes of the Sunday meeting free of charge; it has a potential viewing audience of 80 percent of Brazil’s 110 million population.

Graham, who had warned in a press conference against “moral decadence,” concluded his Sunday message, saying “My prayer is that God will multiply the great efforts of Christians in Saõ Paulo to witness and win people of their state for Christ.” Already Brazil has one of the fastest growing churches in the world.

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