Expanding Gospel Outreach to Spanish Speakers Worldwide

In 1991, Billy Graham’s Crusade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reached thousands of people in the nation’s largest stadium. Franklin Graham will share the Good News with a new generation in Buenos Aires Nov. 7–8.

From the early days of his ministry, Billy Graham’s heart was burdened to reach people of diverse backgrounds and languages with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Because of the close ties between the United States and Latin America, the Spanish-speaking population naturally became one of the first groups he sought to minister to.

From the first evangelistic Crusades in Central America in the 1950s to the use of technology to share the hope of Christ online, God has used the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) to touch thousands of lives throughout the decades.

For some, the impact was felt across generations, like Maribel Campos and her family.

Maribel’s most recent contact with BGEA’s Spanish ministry was just a couple of months ago when she participated in a Sharing Hope in Crisis training in New York City. The training equipped her to comfort others in Jesus’ Name in times of grief, but the ministry’s influence on her family began years before she was even born.

During Billy Graham’s first Crusade tour of Central America in 1958, Maribel’s mom was one of the thousands who filled a stadium in San José, Costa Rica. After hearing the Gospel for the first time, Maribel’s mom decided to surrender everything to Jesus Christ.

In the decades that followed, her example of faith and perseverance played a vital role in leading her whole family to the foot of the cross—including Maribel.

“I always say that I was born [again] because of that Billy Graham Crusade in Costa Rica,” she said. “From that legacy, the entire Campos family is now at the feet of Christ.”

Here’s a closer look at BGEA’s ministry to Spanish speakers through the years.

How It Began

1957: All-Spanish Crusade in New York City

BGEA’s outreach to the Spanish-speaking population started with a Crusade specifically geared toward the Hispanic community in the heart of New York.

The venue near Madison Square Garden was so full that it paved the way for a second similar Crusade in New York City in October 1960.

Billy Graham addresses thousands of Spanish speakers in New York City with help from an interpreter in 1957.

1958: Tour Through the Caribbean and Central America

Also known as the “Caribbean Tour,” the evangelistic outreach to Barbados, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad set the course for numerous Crusades in Spanish-speaking countries over five decades.

During the two nights that Billy Graham preached in Panama, a local magazine reported that approximately 14,000 attended each night, despite the fact that there was a bus drivers’ strike and a printers’ strike. Most of the final advertising was never printed.

“Christian car owners were asked to stick [Billy] Graham posters on their cars and go out on the main streets from 5 p.m. on to pick up the people and take them to the Stadium. … It was really exciting, thrilling, … yet orderly,” the magazine article said.

A crowd gathers in Puerto Rico to hear Billy Graham preach in 1958.

1962: South America Crusades

In the early 1960s, Billy Graham took the Gospel to turbulent South America.

“The revolutionary changes in Latin America have made these evangelistic Crusades imperative at this period of history. This is the most explosive continent on Earth,” Mr. Graham reported on the radio at the time. In 1962, he shared the Gospel in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, returning later in the year to preach in Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Billy Graham addresses a crowd in Quito, Ecuador, in 1962.

1993: Franklin Graham in Latin America

Over the decades, Franklin Graham has continued his father’s legacy of preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world, including many Spanish-speaking countries. He boldly shared Christ in Managua, Nicaragua, in 1993. Two years later, he held an evangelistic Festival in San José, Costa Rica, and in 1996, he addressed a crowd in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Watch a short clip of Franklin Graham preaching in Nicaragua in 1993.

Franklin Graham has since held multiple outreaches in Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico, Uruguay, Panama, Ecuador, and Argentina.

He will hold a two-day Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this November, followed by events in Lima, Peru, next March, and in Madrid, Spain, in May.

In 2013, Franklin Graham told 90,000 people in La Paz, Bolivia—the world’s highest city—that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.

2010: A Third Generation of Spanish Outreach

Will Graham represents the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel under the BGEA banner—from his first Celebration in the small town of Las Piedras, Uruguay, to his latest event in the large Andean city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, this past April.

He will hold an evangelistic event in Viña del Mar, Chile, in November 2026.

Félix Capriles Stadium held the largest evangelistic event of its kind during Will Graham’s Celebration in Cochabamba, Bolivia, earlier this spring.

2012: Reaching Spanish Speakers Online

People turn to the internet each day looking for answers—in many different languages. That’s why in 2012, BGEA launched its Spanish evangelistic website PazConDios.net.

This online ministry—part of BGEA’s multi-language Internet Evangelism outreach, Search for Jesus—has grown exponentially. Over 350 volunteers have been trained to engage in spiritual conversations online, including through social media. To date, volunteers have shared the Gospel with more than 97,000 people.

2021: Equipping the Hispanic Community

With over 60 million Hispanics living in the United States, BGEA further extended its Spanish ministry in 2021. This included the launch of our Spanish website, as well as an effort to reach this population with the Gospel through social media.

In May 2022, Spanish-speaking chaplains deployed to Uvalde, Texas, to comfort and pray with those impacted by a deadly school shooting.

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) regularly sends Spanish-speaking chaplains to minister in the wake of tragedy where there is a large Hispanic community. BG-RRT also hosts Sharing Hope in Crisis training to equip others to show the love of Christ to those who are suffering.

Over the past few years, BGEA’s Hispanic Ministries team has been working to unite and encourage pastors and leaders in their calling through Evangelism Summits, and the team will hold Unidos conferences this fall to bring Christians together and help multiply the impact of the Gospel.

2024: God Loves You Frontera Tour

In 2024, at the peak of the immigration crisis in the southern United States, Franklin Graham stopped in 10 cities along our nation’s border with Mexico to offer a message of hope.

In an effort to unite pastors across South America, BGEA hosted an Evangelism Summit in Quito, Ecuador, in 2022. Some pastors traveled several days to attend, and many shared how it renewed their ministry.

Hundreds at the Maverick County Amphitheater in Eagle Pass, Texas, wrapped up in coats and blankets to hear Franklin Graham share the Gospel during the Frontera Tour in early 2024.

The God Loves You Frontera Tour was a bilingual event spanning 1,500 miles from Brownsville, Texas, to Chula Vista, California. Over 1,000 churches participated in the tour, and more than 58,000 people heard how they can have new life in Christ.

A crowd worships during the Frontera Tour’s stop in Yuma, Arizona, in March 2024.

We praise God for using BGEA to reach our Spanish-speaking neighbors with the Gospel. Please pray for upcoming ministry opportunities to the Hispanic community worldwide.