Last month, a huge evangelistic effort launched by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has swept across Australia. Festival Victoria in Melbourne with the world renowned American evangelist Franklin Graham has gained great success. More than 92,000 people attended the festival, and more than 6,200 have accepted the invitation to receive Christ into their lives at the conclusion of the 3-day event at Telstra Dome.

Franklin Graham’s message was the highlight of the festival which moved the hearts of many Australians. Looking back to the history of Australia, Graham recalled that more than 160,000 criminals were shipped from Great Britain’s overcrowded prisons in the 19th century. They eventually landed on the shores of Australia, and nearly 2,000 of them came directly to Victoria, the capital of Melbourne.

Even though Melbourne has already become a highly civilised city nowadays, Graham is convinced that a desperate craving for freedom has been embedded deep inside Australians. Graham pardoned the audience to accept the eternal spiritual freedom from Christ Jesus in his message, "Breaking just one of God’s laws banishes us from his presence for eternity. But He’ll cleanse you and set you free ... He will take the guilt and shame and you can leave here cleansed."

According to a local newspaper The Age, Franklin Graham said, "It's so different from 1959, because at that time maybe 50 percent of people went to church, but now this country is unchurched."

"To see what happened over the three days, and to have more than 800 churches involved, is tremendous."

He described the Australian audience as "very receptive, very warm - delightfully so".

Festival coordinator Paul Molyneux said that 55 percent or about 3,800 were first-time converts and the rest were people renewing their commitment.

The Festival, which was held between 18th-20th March, was Graham's first visit to Melbourne, and the biggest evangelistic effort in the city since his father, Billy Graham, mesmerised the city in 1959, drawing 143,750 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Billy Graham also visited in 1969.

Also evangelistic programs involving 820 mainstream churches across the denominational lines have been launched, with a full range of programs from training people for evangelism to pastoral care of newly confessing members. These have been organised in a bid to maintain the long-term effects of the Festival. Those who make a commitment at the Festival will be contacted once again, and will be guided to become active members of a local church.