More Than 300,000 Participate in Harvest America
Live Event Spans the Country Via 2,400 Locations
Riverside, Calif., September 7, 2012—In an unprecedented event, 306,000 Americans—200,000 in 2,400 host locations across the country and 37,000 in Angel Stadium of Anaheim, plus another 69,000 online participation—joined together on August 26 to hear one man deliver a life-changing message. In churches, coffee shops, school auditoriums, movie theaters and even homes, hundreds of thousands simultaneously heard MercyMe and Jeremy Camp and southern California pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie at the inaugural Harvest America.
With the help of online streaming and satellite broadcast, Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusades ministry brought Harvest America, a free one night event, to people in their hometowns.
"As far as we can determine, it was one of the largest single-day presentations of the gospel in U.S. history," said John Collins, executive director of Harvest Crusades.
Harvest America, the second night of the annual Anaheim Harvest Crusade, not only offered an opportunity for hundreds of thousands to connect simultaneously, it also gave those at host sites an easy and convenient way to connect with local church leaders and their community.
For Laurie and the Harvest team, the most important part of the event was the more than 15,000 people who responded to the Gospel invitation, both live in Anaheim and at host locations.
Harvest America has shown that there is a new style for mass evangelism in the 21st century: hosting and producing an event in one location, then replicating and broadcasting it live to host sites across the U.S.
ABOUT HARVEST CRUSADES:
A ministry of California pastor Greg Laurie, Harvest Crusades holds annual stadium events designed to share the gospel in an environment that is contemporary and entertaining. Over the last 23 years, more than 4.4 million people have attended Harvest Crusades. This year, Harvest Crusades will be held in Anaheim Aug. 25–26 and in Los Angeles Sept. 8–9. Harvest America was August 26—the last night of the annual Anaheim event.