Hundreds of people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ after evangelist Franklin Graham preached the Gospel to them during a special evangelistic event in Mongolia last weekend.

"Are you broken in your spirit? Are you spiritually empty? Have you wasted your life? Will you come to Him?" Graham, the president of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told the crowd. "You need Jesus Christ— He is the only way to God.

According to CBN News, the free two-night event, "Festival of Joy," was held in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, where more than 17,300 people attended. The event also highlighted Mongolian culture through music and the arts.

The idea for the evangelistic event goes back about 20 years when Mongolian leaders began praying that BGEA would hold an outreach in their country.

Over 250 Mongolian local churches worked together to bring about the "Festival of Joy," which was the first time that the local church in Mongolia had held an event of this magnitude.

"We have seen people in many other countries come to these outreaches and put their faith and trust in God's Son Jesus Christ. This is a blessing, and as Christians in Mongolia, we want to bless the people of our own country by being a part of this opportunity to tell them about God's great love for them," Bayasgalan Lkhagva, pastor of Blessing Rain Church and chairman of the festival, told BGEA.

"Evangelist Franklin Graham has been sharing the Gospel in many parts of the world, and we are looking forward to welcoming him to Ulaanbaatar and seeing how God changes lives through the Festival of Joy," he continued.

Graham - who previously visited Mongolia in 2018 - expressed gratitude to the churches that helped make the event possible.

"What makes Mongolia special is the people, and I have loved being here again," he wrote on Facebook.

"So many people are searching and have an emptiness that they can't find a way to fill—they don't even know what they're searching for. But God loves us and wants a relationship with us. He's the only one who can fill that void in our lives," he added.

"It was thrilling to see hundreds of people of all ages respond to God's invitation to repent of their sins and put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ," Graham shared. "Our deep gratitude to the churches, the pastors, the general committee, the executive leadership, and all of the many volunteers who have prayed and helped make this evangelistic Crusade possible."

Mongolia has a population of more than three million people, and half live in Ulaanbaatar, the country's capital. As CBN News previously reported, Christian evangelists have sought to reach remote Mongolian provinces with the Gospel for years.

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