[In 2011 Keynote celebrates 45 years of ministry. We thought we would use our Friday posts to look back on God’s faithfulness through the years.]
In the late 1980s, Campus Crusade for Christ launched a bold initiative called New Life 2000. The hope was to reach the world for Christ by the year 2000 by joining hands with other missions organizations, churches and ministries around the world. From April through September of 1990, Keynote joined hands with other Campus Crusade ministries such as Athletes in Action, Student Venture, Campus Ministry and Executive Ministry for outreach and training events in The Philippines. Most of the events took place in and around Manila.
Harv and Edythe Lyon, Counterpoint, Flashback and the Convertibles performed a combined 138 concerts in such diverse setting as shopping malls, private homes, outdoor barrangay centers and the Ultra sports arena. Each of the groups also made appearance on national television.
The Keynote groups experienced quite an array of difficulties: from an 8+ magnitude earthquake to political unrest, from monsoon season to anti-American sentiment. Through it all, God provided incredible opportunities for ministries. We were able to do a few concerts to benefit earthquake victims and help establish more visibility for some some of the local ministries and churches.
God also provided some great opportunities to connect with gifted musicians who were already having an impact for Christ. We were able to encourage them in their ministry and provide additional training to help them be even more effective. One of the final concerts of the project took place at the Ultra sports arena for more than 8,000 people. The Convertibles and Flashback shared the stage with the talented Filipino artist, Gary Valenciano and the Filipino band Powerplay. (see photo)
Keynote helped to establish Artists in Touch, an evangelism and discipleship ministry among professional musicians and entertainers. Many of the connections made during our time in Manila resulted in life-long ministry partnerships including Thailand and Singapore.
The Campus Crusade for Christ archives listed the following statistics for New Life 2000 Manila:
Representatives from 102 countries converge on Manila over a six-month period. During the New Life 2000: Manila project, more than 5,000 people (only 11 percent of them Americans) present the gospel to 3.3 million Filipinos, with 447,000 indicating decisions to receive Christ.
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