Evangelism in Quito

Saturday the 23rd of September I got my first introduction to religion in Ecuador, albeit in a very interesting way. When I had first arrived in Quito I saw a sign at the airport advertising for an event featuring the evangelist Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, and hearing that the family of one of the students in my group had decided to go, I decided to take advantage of the invitation. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought at the very least I could understand a little more about this side of Ecuador. Besides, it was free.

In order to get to the event, which was being held at the Olympic Stadium in Quito,(the same place as the soccer game we had previously been to) we had to take the local bus which is always lots of fun. Previously the plan had been to go with only three or four people, but in typical Ecuadorian style half an hour before the event I got a call from my friend saying that her whole family was coming, and that we had to be at the bus stop now! I quickly ate my lunch and then after calling Jennifer, sprinted down to the bus stop on a full stomach. Luckily I got there before my friend, but where was Jennifer!? After many tense minutes of waiting she finally arrived just seconds before our bus left!

The bus ride to Quito was as calm as an Ecuadorian bus drive could be. Stops and starts and sudden swerves to the side of the road to pick up anyone who blinks are all too common. Perhaps in anticipation of what we were about to experience in Quito our bus was boarded by a traveling evangelist who preached in an apocalyptic style for about five minutes then circled with a collection cup. These sorts of events are very common in Ecuador; while sitting on a bus you might be approached by evangelists, little kids who sing, or vendors of all kinds.

Arriving at the stadium in Quito we were immediately hit by the sense of atmosphere. While the soccer game had been big, this was much bigger. The vendors where out in full force selling drinks and food of all kinds, along with religious paraphernalia of all sorts. The entrance to the stadium was so crowded that we would have easily been separated if we hadn’t all held on to each other. Finally we were able to secure a seat and settle into the atmosphere of the stadium.

Although this was an evangelizing event, what held everything together for the first part was the music. Singers from all over the Spanish speaking world (Ecuador, Spain, Puerto Rico, US/Mexico) sang a variety of rock, gospel, and spiritual ballads. Some songs were had obvious Christian messages, while others seemed to be played simply because they were fun, although they were prefaced with something along the lines of “this song is for God.”

Besides the music it was impossible to ignore the economic significance of the event. A stadium packed with 50,000 people will undoubtedly attract all sorts of people looking to make money in some way. As the music played on stage, a man with no eyes was being led around in front of us with a small cup for donations in front of him. If you missed him on the first pass you could easily see him again when he continued around on the next row up.

Finally after about an hour and a half we reached the climax of the event, the evangelizing sermon by Franklin Graham. While before I had felt that the Christian message of the event had been quite subtle, now it could no longer be ignored. As I had thought before, Franklin Graham did not speak Spanish(or not very well) so his message was delivered with him speaking in English and another man speaking directly after him in Spanish. Although we could obviously understood him in English, the fact that we could pick up some of the Spanish as well led to some interesting comparisons between his English message and the Spanish translation.

The first thing I noticed was the remark he made about the importance of police officers. He said(more or less), “I noticed coming here that you have many police officers in your country...when you leave, go up to a police officer and say thank you[for the work you do].” I may be wrong, but I think this line of his speech comes out of a post September 11th American realization of the importance of their policemen and fire fighters. However relevant this may be for Americans, I’m not sure the police are viewed in quite the same way in Ecuador.

The second discrepancy in the translation was pointed out to me by Jennifer. Franklin Graham being from an evangelical Church in the United States, devoted a major portion of his speech to the sinfulness of sex outside of marriage. “Any sexual relationship outside of marriage is a sin.” He referred to this in three or four lines of his speech, which in relation to the other themes on which he concentrated made it quite its part quite substantial. The Spanish translator in those passages, however, instead referred to the sin of “infidelity” and the importance of being faithful. Although that does convey the same general them, it was obvious that he was shying away from using the word “sex.” In North America we can use the word “sex,” even if to condemn it, but as Jennifer told me, in South America the word is so taboo it often can’t be used in any context.

Despite the serious bent of the speech, there was one point where Jennifer and I couldn’t help laughing, despite the fact that we may have been the only ones in the stadium doing so! At one point in his speech Franklin Graham said very clearly, “everyone in this stadium is a sinner.” He then continued to say, “I, Franklin Graham, am a sinner.” How did that come out in Spanish? You would have expected the translator to say with conviction, “I am also a sinner!,” but instead he raised his voice and with his arm strongly pointing to his left said, “Franklin Graham es un pecador!”(Franklin Graham is a sinner!) This was too much for Jennifer and I and we immediately burst out laughing, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in our section who looked at us with puzzled expressions as if to say, “What’s so funny?” Sometimes being bilingual has its advantages.

The event ended with a huge altar call that must have included thousands of people. Those who were ready to commit their life to Jesus were asked to come forward and join with Franklin Graham in prayer. To his credit he did say, “you are coming to God, not to me.” Those who came forward were presented a letter from Franklin Graham, the gospel of John, and a bible study to go along with it. This I found quite interesting. Basing your evangelism on the gospel furthest removed from Jesus’ life and which the Jesus Seminar(http://www.westarinstitute.org/Jesus_Seminar/jesus_seminar.html) concluded had almost no words that were actually said by Jesus himself seems suspect at best. Then again this was a mass evangelism event, not a place you’d expect to find a dedication to scholarly consistency. As my friend noted, “I hope this isn’t all it would take to convince someone.” At the same time it was significant that such an overtly protestant event could take place in such a traditionally Catholic country as Ecuador.