Preacher inspires women

By INGA LUKAVICIUTE

Spotlights at the Save Mart Center arena were directed at Anne Graham Lotz during Friday night’s and Saturday’s spiritual revival event designed for women.

Lotz, the daughter of well-known evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, came to Fresno after her trip to Rome to attend Pope John Paul II’s funeral, on behalf of her father.

About 26,000 attended the free two-day Just Give Me Jesus event intended to rekindle a spiritual connection with God.

Lotz urged women to “open your ears to listen” and “have a fresh encounter with Jesus” through personal stories and the ones from the Bible focusing on women. She applied Bible stories to contemporary times and related them to the women who came to listen.

“It hit home,” said Gail Grooms of Lemoore, who had never heard Lotz speak before. “She was speaking in terms of lay person, in terms of your own life.” Grooms hoped the revival event would help her renew her relationship with God and make some changes in her personal relationship with God and her children.

It hit home with many attendees on Saturday. After talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection, Lotz asked the audience to choose to surrender to follow Jesus and as a symbol of surrender wave a white piece of paper or anything white they had in their hand.

Lotz stood at center stage next to a wooden cross waving a white napkin while a sea of white napkins, pieces of paper and scarves rose in the hands of the people in the seats while they sang a hymn, “All to Jesus I Surrender.”

Dianne Rivas, of Fresno, was one of the people waving a white piece of paper as a symbol of surrender.

The two-time cancer survivor credits God with her healing after she surrendered her health problems to God.

“If you give it all to God, God has solutions,” Rivas said. “ I think we need to learn to trust God more than our emotions.”

The program also included worship sessions with Fernando Ortega, a worship singer and songwriter; a prayer session with Jill Briscoe, the author of “Prayer That Works,” and Stephanie Seefeldt, a singer.

The event was put together by AnGeL Ministries, a non-profit corporation founded by Lotz, and more than 300 churches and 1,000 volunteers from the San Joaquin Valley. Translation of the event into Spanish, Russian and Hmong was provided.