Renowned Argentinian evangelist Luis Palau has said that while he has preached in countries all around the world, his greatest hope is to someday preach the Gospel to a million Chinese in Tiananmen Square.
Palau, 80, began his evangelistic career in 1962 and is often referred to as the "Latino Billy Graham." Throughout his impressive career, Palau has personally shared the Gospel with more than 30 million people in over 75 nations, and hopes to someday add Beijing, China to that list.
"I'd like to go to Cuba," Palau said when asked "What's next?" during a recent interview with the Christian Post. "You know, we're working on that because I couldn't go in the past for various reasons. I dream of having a large campaign in Paris, France. And of course, number one in my book, is Beijing, China. We have been going in and out of China now for 15 years and we're still waiting for the day that the Lord might open the door. ... I want to have a million Chinese in Tiananmen Square. That's what I want to do, that's my dream for the future."
Last weekend, the pastor preached to over 60,000 people in New York City's Central Park for what the New York Times hailed as the "largest evangelical Christian gathering in New York City since 2005." CityFest-CityServe, which brought together 1,700 local churches to assist their communities and schools through service projects, was attended by people of all ages and backgrounds.
During his message, which was delivered in both English and Spanish, Palau urged unity within the church and specifically addressed the poor, telling them of the riches of God's kingdom and that God loves (them) "with an everlasting love."
"[God] is for reconciliation, for forgiveness, for a joyful walk, for a holy life, for all the good things in life that you dream of," he said, encouraging people to surrender to God for eternal life.
Speaking to the Christian Post, Palau explained that he often stresses the importance of Christian unity in his sermons, using the Bible passage John 17:21, which reads, "I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me."
"So (Jesus') great passion was that 'the world may believe that they sent me,'" the pastor said. "How is that done? By uniting the Body. How do you unite the Body? By being filled with the indwelling Christ, because He says, 'Father, you in me and I in them so that we may be perfectly one.'"
He continued, "I think the leadership of the evangelical movement of New York is gonna change hands. It was in hands that refused to use the authority that God gave them and now I think you're gonna see Latinos, Jamaicans, Koreans - I was excited to be in a Korean church where they really tried to bring in Latinos, and they did, quite a bit."
"The Body of Christ needs leadership, not authoritative or from the top down, but just moral, spiritual, motivational, in the Holy Spirit. ... Motivate God's people to witness and to serve and do it in fellowship. That was the prayer of the Lord Jesus," he said.
