Braving a breezy, cool and damp evening at Depot Park, an estimated 1,800 North Central Florida residents attended a free event Tuesday night called “The Sunshine State Good News Tour.”
Sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the event featured well-known Christian music artists Jeremy Camp and Christine D’Clario. Graham’s grandson, Will Graham, addressed the crowd with a message of hope, based on the Biblical story of The Prodigal Son.
Will is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, following the steps of his grandfather, Billy, and father, Franklin Graham. Will has preached to more than 1.2 million people on six continents.
Gainesville was the second stop on the tour through Florida, and, in an exclusive interview prior to the start of the program, Will Graham shared that he had never previously visited Gainesville or Tallahassee, the tour’s first stop, which happened prior to Tuesday’s gathering.
“There’s a lot of people that have run away to Gainesville, to do what they want to do on their own, and they’re not satisfied,” said Will Graham. “They’re not happy, and they’re missing out. They’ve been looking for freedom with drugs or alcohol…but it’s Jesus Christ that they are looking for, and I want to invite them to make that important decision and ask Jesus to come into their life and forgive them of their sins.”
When asked about the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, Graham acknowledged the enormous impact Kirk’s life had on college students, and on campuses around the country, and how his death has brought on a wave of new commitments to the Lord and to Kirk’s ministry, Turning Point USA.
“We were seeing great things already, taking place on campuses like Auburn and at Asbury, Kentucky, and all these other places,” he said. “This has been a continuation of and within the passion of Charlie Kirk…this is a real movement of God, and we are hoping to see that again tonight.”
Toward the close of his message, Will Graham encouraged the audience with these words: “God wants to give you the gift of eternal life, and He gives it to you freely. It’s a gift, but you have to be willing to accept it. You have to be willing to come to Him on His terms, not your terms.”
More than 80 people from across Depot Park responded to Graham’s invitation to begin a relationship with Jesus. Altogether, more than 135 churches in the area were represented at the event.
Two more cities were scheduled for this tour, which will include a Thursday stop in Sarasota at the Sarasota Fairgrounds, followed by Pompano Beach at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater Special Events Field on Saturday. Both events will start at 7 p.m.
MARC Media’s Mike Gilland is the operations manager for The Shepherd Radio Network, a group of Florida stations featuring the “Christian Teach/Talk” format, found on 96.3 FM and 1430 AM.