Appraising the Impact of Mass Evangelism | Doctoral Project by Daniel King
I recently finished my Doctorate of Ministry degree at Oral Roberts University. I used our recent Brazil crusade as my research project and I did a survey of a random cross section of people at the crusade. The project was designed to give a snapshot picture of an evangelistic crusade. The goal was to discover who came to the crusade, why they came, and what impact the crusade had on the city.
Here are some of the stats from the crusade. Caicó, Brazil has a population of 66,246 people. The nine evangelical churches in the city have 1,357 believers which equals about 2% of the population.
How Many People Were Saved? 82.6% of the crowd repeated the prayer of salvation with me. 641 people filled out decision cards. This represents a 43% increase in the number of Christians in the city.
Did Miracles Really Occur? 48.7% of the crowd reported that they arrived with pain in their bodies. 78.5% of those who came with pain in their bodies felt better after the healing prayer. Of the 182 people on Saturday night who answered “yes” to the question of whether they arrived with pain in the their bodies and said that they felt better, 176 (96.7%) “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that they had received a miracle.
Was the Crusade Worthwhile? 100% of the pastors agreed that the crusade was worth the time, money, and preparation.
How Many People Did We Impact? Our team ministered to a total of about 7,792 people at the crusade. Our three-day soul winning conference was used to train local believers in how to pray for the sick, cast out demons, and lead people to Jesus. By the third night of the soul winning conference, 485 believers were in attendance. The church where the meeting was held was completely full and we filled the street in front of the church with chairs for the overflow crowd. 792 young people attended the youth concert. 504 children were in attendance at the children’s festival.
Who Came to the Crusade? 39% of the crowd was male and 61% was female. The average age was 38.
How Did People Hear About the Crusade? Of the people who responded to my survey, 163 heard about the meeting from a friend. 79 were invited by a family member. 123 saw a poster. 132 received a flyer. 84 saw an advertisement on Facebook. 41 learned about the meeting on Instagram. 63 responded to a message on WhatsApp. 127 heard about the meeting on the radio. 39.74% of those personally invited to the crusade came which shows how important it is to have local church involvement in the crusade.
Why did People Come to the Crusade? 460 people responded to the question “Why did you come to this meeting?” 107 said, “My friend invited me.” 77 said they were curious about what was happening. 44 wanted to hear the music. 116 said they needed a miracle. 106 said they wanted to see miracles. 61 came because their pastor told them they should come. 112 came because they are curious about God. 6 did not know why they came and the rest gave some other reason why they came. These “other” answers include: Jesus called me, to seek the presence of God, because I am an evangelical, because I wanted to, because my wife invited me, I came to seek God, because I had a need, and because someone asked me.
How did people come to the crusade? 182 respondents came by car (38.6%). 42 came by public transportation (8.9%). 52 came by church bus (11%). 129 came by motorcycle (27.4%). 4 came by bicycle (0.8%). 59 walked (12.5%). 3 came by other means of transportation (0.6%).
Were the crusade attendees people who regularly go to church? 457 people responded to the question, “How often do you attend your church?” 23 said they never attend (5%). 57 said they attend 1-2 times per year (12.5%). 18 said they attend 6-12 times per year (3.9%). 44 said they attend 1-2 times each month (9.6%). 78 said they attend every Sunday (17.1%). 237 said they attend 2 or more times each week (51.9%).
Are those who got saved willing to go to a church for follow up? 80 people “strongly agreed” they would be willing to visit a church (37.2%). 111 “agreed” they would visit a church (51.6%). 14 were not sure if they would visit (6.5%). 9 “disagreed” that they would visit a church (4.2%). 1 “strongly disagreed” that he would be willing to visit a church (0.5%).
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I’m sorry if I overwhelmed you with numbers in this post but the truth is that numbers are important. God even named a whole book in the Bible, “Numbers.” The reality is that every number represents a story. Every statistic stands for a person. At the crusade in Caicó, Brazil many people were touched by God, saved, and healed. You played an important part in making that happen! Thank you for your prayers and your giving.
