Christians in Thailand are uniting to share the gospel as part of an outreach sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) that launched Thursday.

More than 36,000 Christians representing some 1,700 churches across Thailand will host friends and neighbors in homes, churches and schools to watch sermons by evangelist Billy Graham and his son, Franklin, during the three-day My Hope Thailand initiative.

A similar outreach held last year in Brazil featured soccer superstar Kaka¡ and was one of the largest evangelistic campaigns conducted in that nation.

"In a country where only one-half of 1 percent of the population belongs to an evangelical church, the need for the gospel is tremendous," said Bill Conard, vice president of international ministries at BGEA. "But the church is ready, and we are eagerly anticipating what God will do through His people."

The programs, dubbed into the Thai language, will also include testimonies and songs from prominent Thai Christians and will be offered on nationwide radio stations. On Saturday, the evangelistic program will be broadcast on television.

After the broadcast, Christian volunteers—referred to as "Matthews" in reference to the disciple who invited friends to his home to meet Jesus in Matthew 9—will share their personal testimonies and invite those gathered in their homes to accept or rededicate their lives to Christ.

"It is no easy thing to express your faith in Christ and ask others to join you," Conard said. "We're praying that God would grant courage to these faithful believers as they reach out to their loved ones during the Christmas season."

My Hope Thailand officially launched in May, but BGEA has held similar events in 46 nations. Last year, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian Christians participated in a My Hope Brazil, during which Kaka¡ shared his testimony before millions of viewers in some 850,000 homes.

Next year, BGEA plans to host a My Hope project in the Dominican Republic in March and in Puerto Rico in April.

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