Southern California Harvest Wrapup

RIVERSIDE, Calif. July 18, 2005— With the retirement of Billy Graham from Crusade evangelism, some have wondered if this type of phenomenon has seen it’s day.

You would be hard-pressed to believe that if you were among the 100,000 in attendance at the annual Southern California Harvest Crusade at Angel stadium, July 15-17.

Harvest Crusades with Greg Laurie have hosted evangelistic crusade events in Southern California for the past 16 years, and the Gospel message presented at each is just as relevant year after year. The 2005 Southern California Harvest Crusade was no exception as 100,000 people of all ages and backgrounds poured into Angel Stadium of Anaheim to take in that same life-changing message, presented through music, sports, technology, and a talk from evangelist Laurie.

“God loves you more than any person has ever loved you, and His plans for you are better than anything you could imagine for yourself,” said Laurie during his Sunday evening talk. “You don’t have to be a good person to become a Christian, you have to be a person with a hole in your heart who is searching for something more.

Laurie continued, “That void in your life is a result of sin, and Jesus Christ died for that sin so you can be forgiven, find the meaning of life and go to heaven when you die”

In addition to those attending the crusade in-person, more than 50,000 people watched and listened via live Internet broadcasts and, for the first time, via podcasting technology. During the weekend, more than 20,000 people from some 30 countries logged on to watch the crusade live on the Internet, with “hits” per night averaging 2 million. And during the past week, 22,581 requests have been received for Harvest’s podcast feeds at www.harvestpodcast.org.

At the end of each message Laurie extended an invitation for people to come down on the field to make a public profession of faith to follow Jesus Christ. Some 8,500 people responded.

Harvest Jam Youth Night Packs the House

The Saturday night Harvest Jam youth program not only rocked the house with high-impact music and X-Games-level sports, it packed the house with more than 48,000 people in attendance. Youth lined up outside the gates of Angel Stadium on Saturday afternoon, anticipating the chance to hear a pre-crusade performance by Kutless and to watch a Motocross exhibition by riders including X-Games gold winner Nate Adams and X-Games qualifier Brian Dowdy, as well as favorites Dave Demangos and Kyle Loza. .

By the time the evening Harvest Jam kicked off, virtually every seat in the stadium was filled, leading many to listen to Laurie’s message and music from Jeremy Camp and Toby Mac from the parking lot. Harvest representatives estimated as many as 10,000 may have been turned away.

On Saturday evening Laurie addressed a crowd comprised primarily of young people, delivering a message called, “Are We Living in the Last Days?” “The writing is on the wall for all of us to see that Jesus Christ is coming back very soon. It’s on the cover of Newsweek and Time. It’s on Fox News and CNN,” said Laurie. Bible prophecies are being fulfilled and Jesus is coming for those who are ready. Are you?”

During each night of the Southern California Harvest Crusade, Laurie presented a clear, relevant gospel message, preaching on topics entitled “God’s Cure for Heart Trouble,” “Are We Living in the Last Days?” and “How to Change for Good.” In addition to Laurie’s talks, the crusade featured music from Casting Crowns, Delirious, Kutless, Toby Mac, Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay, Crystal Lewis, and Steven Curtis Chapman.

New Podcast Technology

For those not able to make it to Angel Stadium during the weekend, each night of the Southern California Harvest Crusade was broadcasted live on the Internet (www.harvestcrusades.org) and, for the first time, portions of the crusade were available to as a free download in Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store nightly.

In a partnership between Harvest, The GodCast Network, and Life Spring, a series of four podcasts were produced during the week prior to the crusade, providing a background on the message, the music, the people, and the experience of the Harvest Crusade. Six podcasts were produced during the crusade weekend, including the nightly messages given by Laurie, and the unique sound-seeing tours of all aspects of the crusade events like interviews with attendees and musical guests. Finally, two additional podcasts will be produced after the crusade, focusing on the experience of those who attended. The podcasts can be found on the web at http://www.harvestpodcast.org or http://harvest.godcast.org.

Greg Laurie, who founded the evangelistic Harvest Crusade events in 1990, also serves as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., one of the 15 largest churches in the U.S. During the past 16 years, the Harvest Crusades have drawn more than 3 million people to events in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Laurie’s television program, Harvest: Greg Laurie, is the top-rated religious program in its timeslot on KTLA in Los Angeles. In addition to the Southern California Harvest Crusade, Harvest hosted 2005 events in Augusta, Ga., Athens, Ga., and Santa Monica, Calif. Harvest will travel to Newcastle, NSW, Australia, Sept. 8 – 11 and Christchurch, New Zealand, Sept. 14.