Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz drew close to 500,000 people at a prayer event in India earlier this year, according to AnGel Ministries’ reports (based on police estimates). At a separate gathering of 10,000, “almost every hand” went up when people were asked if they wanted to receive Jesus Christ as Savior, Lotz’s ministry reported.
According to Vicki Bentley, a member of AnGeL Ministries Board, who traveled with Lotz to India, there were advertisements all over the city of Hyderabad for the second annual “National Day of Prayer.” Local organizers helped put together the large gathering, and thousands of people arrived on trains, buses, and other forms of transportation from the countryside.
Bentley described Lotz’s address to the crowd: “Anne preached about Daniel the prophet. She explained from Daniel 9 that ‘one man, who knew God and prayed, moved heaven and changed a nation.’ Then she challenged those present to pray as Daniel did,” Bentley recounted. “As far as the eye could see and beyond, people cried out to heaven, agreeing together as Anne led in prayer for personal and national revival.”
The meeting was organized by the Christian Council of Telangana, which brought together bishops from various denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, Church of South India, and Methodist churches. The minority Christian faith has continued growing in India over the past several years, but they have faced significant persecution at the hands of Hindu radicals.
