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HARVEST WITH GREG LAURIE CONCLUDES 2005 SEASON, DRAWING MORE THAN 174,800 PEOPLE TO ARENAS AND STADIUMS FROM CALIFORNIA TO GEORGIA TO AUSTRALIA

16^th Year of Crusade Ministry Defined by A Powerful
Message and 13,073 Changed Lives Through Christ

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RIVERSIDE, Calif., Dec. 1, 2005—Venturing into new territory in 2005, Harvest with Greg Laurie headed "down under" and down South for its 16^th season, hosting events in seven cities around the world, including Augusta, GA. (April 17–20), Athens, GA. (April 22), Santa Monica, Calif. (June 3–4), Anaheim, Calif. (July 15–17), Newcastle, Australia (Sept. 8–11), Christchurch, New Zealand (Sept. 14), and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Nov. 22).

"We were honored to bring the message of Christ to new and familiar places around the world this year," said Harvest Crusades founder and evangelist Greg Laurie. "We've seen God do amazing things through the Harvest events, and we know many lives have been changed forever."

The 2005 Harvest Crusade events drew some 174,800 and resulted in 13,073 changed lives through commitments to Christ.

Harvest Crusades are known for presenting traditional Christian beliefs in a culturally relevant way, employing top trends like Internet technology, podcasting, and top contemporary Christian music to get the message across. The Harvest Crusades have drawn more than 3.3 million people to stadiums and arenas in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 1990, and more than 265,000 have committed their lives to Christ as a result.

"With Harvest, we intentionally engage popular culture, using it as a bridge to reach millions of people with the simple, timeless message that God loves us and wants a relationship with us," said Laurie.

Harvest Heads Down South
Harvest, in its first visit to Georgia, drew more then 32,000 people over five nights of crusade events in the state, breaking attendance records in Augusta, Ga. at Harvest Jam youth nights, and drawing more than 5,000 people to a single night event in Athens, Ga.

More than 135 area churches worked together to host the Augusta crusade events. WAGT-TV (NBC) news in Augusta reported, "The Augusta Civic Center was packed Sunday night for an historic event. For the first time in almost 20 years, an evangelistic crusade was held in Augusta."

Onstage with Greg Laurie, Augusta native and nationally known ex-hostage Ashley Smith spoke in public for the first time about her seven-hour standoff with Atlanta murder suspect Brian Nichols. Laurie emphasized the choice Smith made to rely on God to be her strength in midst of her need. Speaking about how her faith grew during the ordeal, Smith said, "I surrendered completely and let God work in the situation. I would not be here if not for Jesus."

Later in the week, speaking to students on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Greg Laurie said, "Nothing this world offers can fit the hole in your heart that only God can fill," said Laurie. "But God can transform you and give you a new start, no matter what you've done."

Southern California Harvest Draws 100,000 to Angel Stadium & 50,000 More Via Technology
More than 100,000 people of all ages and backgrounds poured into Angel Stadium of Anaheim, July 15–17, to listen to a life-changing message presented through music, sports, technology, and a talk from Greg Laurie at the annual Southern California Harvest Crusade.

"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. "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."

By the end of the weekend, more than 8,500 people stepped onto the infield of Angel Stadium to profess their faith.

In addition to those attending the crusade in person, some 50,000 people watched and listened via live Internet broadcasts and, for the first time, via podcasting technology (www.harvestpodcast.org). During the weekend of Anaheim events, more than 28,649 people from 61 countries logged on to watch the crusade live on the Internet. For the first time, portions of the crusade were available to upload to iTunes 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.

Southern California Harvest Jam Youth Night Packs the House
The Saturday night Southern California 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 change 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.

On Saturday evening Laurie addressed a crowd comprised primarily of young people, delivering a message called, "Are We Living in the Last Days?" "Whatever pleasures you're experiencing in this life, they will never match the love that God has for you," said Laurie. "Are you ready to meet God? He doesn't want to judge you, He wants to forgive 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.

Harvest Goes Down Under, Visiting Australia and New Zealand
With a repeat of 2003's well-attended Newcastle Harvest event, Harvest '05 drew more than 25,000 people (representing more than15 percent of the city's total population) over four nights from the Hunter region of Australia. And more than 2,300 people attended a similar event in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In a huge campaign involving hundreds of area churches and thousands of local volunteers, the Harvest events in Australia and New Zealand focused on one message: the love of Christ.

"Is your heart troubled?" Laurie asked the crowd, speaking about the amount of stress created by the frightening things occurring in the world today. "It may look like your world is falling apart and darkness is going to overtake you, but Jesus tells us, 'don't let your heart be troubled.'"

In addition to nightly talks from Laurie, each evening of the Harvest '05 program featured music from award-winning Australian and U.S. artists, including Delirious, Rebecca St. James, Planetshakers, Hillsong/Darlene Zschech, Steve Grace, and the Harvest Band.

Some 2,274 people responded to the message of God's love in Newcastle, walking to the front of the stage to indicate their newfound commitment to Christ. In Christchurch, New Zealand, 140 people made the same commitment of faith.

Preparing for 2006
Harvest concluded its 2005 season on November 22 with a pre-crusade outreach in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The outreach kicked off a year-long campaign for some 60 local churches to bring a full-scale three-night event called the Greg Laurie Greater Hamilton Harvest to the area, Nov. 10–12.

Greg Laurie spoke to a crowd of more than 1,300 people who gathered at the Hamilton Place Theater to listen to a life-changing message and great tunes from award-winning band The Katinas. At the end of the evening, more than 120 people stepped forward to make a commitment to Christ.

In 2006, Harvest with Greg Laurie will travel to Christchurch, New Zealand (April 28–30); Anaheim, Calif. (Aug. 11–13), San Jose, Calif. (Oct. 13–15), and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Nov. 10–12).

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. Laurie's television program, Harvest: Greg Laurie, is the top-rated religious program in its time slot on KTLA in Los Angeles.

Media Contact:
Laura Swickard McGowan
Laura@lauramcgowan.com

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