| Media Release | June 12 , 2000 |
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Global
March for Jesus Worldwide prayer and praise procession makes way for new caring focus by Andy Butcher Record numbers are believed to have participated in the last-ever global March for Jesus, which saw millions of Christians around the world take to the streets to proclaim their faith and pray for their communities last weekend. Although individual countries will continue to stage their own public prayer-and-praise events, no more international events will be organized. The Global March for Jesus office in England will close later this month. With final reports from many of the 150 countries taking part in this year's event still to come in, international coordinators believe that the final number of participants may top that of 1994's march, which saw 12 million participants. The largest single involvement was in Brazil, where organizers were expecting more than 2 million people across the country to take part. The most ambitious event staged was in Australia, where about 40,000 gathered in Sydney's Olympic Stadium for a 24-hour celebration that included prayer, youth concerts, and reconciliation between white and aboriginal youth. Forty thousand people also congregated in London--birthplace in 1987 of the first March for Jesus--for a march that ended at the famous Greenwich prime-meridian line. Among the walkers was the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, whose closing address challenged people to be more direct in sharing their faith with others. About 5,000 people from 100 cities across Russia took part in a walk in Moscow, gathering opposite Lenin's Museum. One of those who spoke was a former underground-church leader arrested 18 years ago not far from the rallying point, and twice jailed for his faith. One of the smallest events took place in Andorra, where about 30 Christians--about one-third of the known church in the European state--turned out despite cold and rain to pray in front of the Parliament buildings in the capital, Andorra la Vella. About 450 events were held across the United States, with the focus shifting from celebration to collaboration. Local churches joined forces to take part in a wide range of practical-care projects--from food distribution to hospital visiting--for what was known as "Jesus Day." March for Jesus national organizer Tom Pelton said that future annual events would develop the theme of community service projects. "I'm excited that Jesus made headlines all across the country, and it was good news, and consistently the way the media reported it was that Christians are getting really serious about living out what they preach." Although March for Jesus began in 1987, some countries have begun participating only recently. The first U.S. events were staged in 1992, and the first global march in 1994. Since the first march in England, about 70 million worldwide are believed to have taken part. When the Global March for Jesus office closes, inquiries will be handled by one of the event's three founding partners--the British house-church networks Ichthus and Pioneer, and Youth With A Mission. "People across the world know how to march for Jesus," said Ichthus leader Roger Forster. "It will go on as praise marching and prayer walking are picked up by churches together in community after community, in nation after nation. March for Jesus has helped Christians and churches to do the things that must be done once the procession is over. In this way the real march for Jesus--the advance of his kingdom of love and hope--goes forward." A Daily News Update from the
editors of Charisma magazine
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