Janet Chismar

Hundreds of men and women—and boys and girls—made decisions for Jesus Sunday night at Rock the Lakes. The family-friendly evening attracted people of all ages, some 10,000 strong, for music from Canton Jones, The Charlie Daniels Band and Michael W. Smith, and a message of hope from Franklin Graham.

On the final night of Rock the Lakes in Milwaukee, the past and present converged in a way that only God could ordain. Diane from Kenosha, Wisc., came to Veterans Park clutching her copy of Billy Graham’s autobiography, Just As I Am, believing that his son, Franklin, would sign the book for her.

When she was younger, Graham played a huge part in influencing Diane’s faith. But a series of difficulties shook that foundation. Her son suffered brain damage after a drug overdose and she also struggled with substance abuse.

Local pastors and leaders are forging new partnerships ahead of Rock the Lakes, Aug. 20-21, praying the event will bring unity and the hope of Christ to a city described as "spiritually bleak" and "segregated" beyond its sparkling lakefront.

When someone mentions Milwaukee, you may think of bratwurst, breweries or baseball.

If you are of a certain generation, you might recall that Milwaukee was the setting for iconic ‘70s sitcoms, “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley.”

The concept of the rite of passage became so important to COURAGEOUS executive producer Jim McBride that he penned a new book that encourages fathers to be intentional about passing on a blessing to their sons and daughters.

When Jim McBride, executive producer of the new movie COURAGEOUS, walked his oldest daughter, Victoria, down the aisle on Father’s Day weekend, his eyes brimmed with tears and his heart overflowed.

But it wasn’t just the significance of her marriage that stirred his emotion. McBride found the experience especially profound in light of a rite of passage he conducted years earlier with his daughter.

When Sophia entered high school in 2008, she expected that some kids might drink too much and some would use drugs. But the Manasquan High School student did not expect that three of her classmates would commit suicide in less than a year.

According to the New Jersey Star Ledger, 18-year-old Timothy was the first Manasquan High School student to die by stepping in front of a train on April 26, 2008. Two months later, Andrew, 18, stepped onto the tracks and died, almost on the same spot as his friend.

For Violet Rose Heckman, FM419 was a place where, for once, she really connected with other people. The 18-year-old is working to overcome childhood abuse and several suicide attempts. Trusting other people and forming close ties has been a challenge, “but it was easy to talk to people there,” she said.

“The FM419 leaders prayed with me and helped me believe in my dreams and believe in myself,” said Heckman, who wants to help other people experiencing the kind of pain she felt growing up. “My God and my art helped me more than anything; now I want to serve others. FM419 was a good boost to that vision.”

Heckman is not alone in her enthusiasm. More than 730 people from the Milwaukee area came out to worship with Aaron Gillespie and learn more about Christ and how to share Him with their friends during the upcoming Rock the Lakes event Aug. 20-21 at Veterans Park.

The dirt road is hilly, pocked with mud puddles and strewn with pebbles. But the sky on this day is blue, the sun bright, and a gentle breeze carries the scent of the sea just a few miles away.

The Haitian mother and her two daughters who travel the road each week on their way to First Eglise Evangelique Baptiste de Saintard enjoy the walk. Dressed in their Sunday best—Mama in a crisp red suit and wide-brimmed black hat, daughters in white lace and pink satin respectively—the three join arms and sing a little chorus of praise.

In this remote area of Haiti, the scars of the 2010 earthquake aren’t visible on the landscape, only in the souls of its people. But tell-tale signs of poverty haunt every corner—in the form of emaciated dogs and hungry children looking for scraps of food.

The church is a haven, tucked behind a security wall.

His words struck a chord. Maria felt chills run up her spine when Franklin Graham talked about the temporal nature of the human body on this final night of the Festival de Esperanza.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association hosted the Festival de Esperanza, the first-ever American Hispanic festival, Saturday and Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

“The body is made out of dust of the ground,” said Graham. “Your soul is the real you and it will never die. What should it profit a man to gain whole world but lose his soul?”

Climbing up the steep hill leading to Eglise Croisade Evangelique Internationale, 10-year-old Stephany smoothed her satin peach-colored dress nervously. Her mother warned her not to splash mud on it or brush against dusty earthquake remnants, no easy task in this area of Port-au-Prince.

The Delmas district, where the church is located, was hard hit by the earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010. Stephany’s dad and older sister were both killed that horrible day.

As she continued her climb, Stephany rehearsed in her mind how to walk up the aisle during graduation—a very special occasion in the girl’s life. The cermony marked the completion of a 12-lesson Bible study called The Greatest Journey, a discipleship program developed by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse for children who receive shoe box gifts through Operation Christmas Child.

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline and blood.

Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.

So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of World War II.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini and the story of his POW experience—and conversion to Christ at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles—is told in the No. 1 bestseller, Unbroken.

Written by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken has been hailed by TIME magazine as the best nonfiction book of the year.

In persecuted nations, suffering comes along with the faith, says KP Yohannan, author, speaker and founder of Gospel for Asia. “But in America,” says filmmaker Daniel Lusko, “we don’t know about suffering for our faith. I believe, biblically, persecution is going to happen and we need to be prepared for it.”

Lusko is so passionate about the issue of persecution that he is investing his talent, time and soul in a new movie called The Persecuted, which spotlights the issue in a Hitchcock-like way. He has produced and directed several docudramas including "Inside the Revolution” and “Epicenter.”

Dangling her arms in the sparking blue water off Kauai’s North Shore, 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton rested on her board and waited patiently for the perfect wave.

It never came.

Instead, a shark—14 feet in length and deadly in intent—approached Hamilton and snapped off her entire left arm.

Although the beast ingested part of her body that October morning, it never came close to consuming her spirit. “It was Jesus Christ who gave me peace when I was attacked,” she says. “I just kept remembering, ‘The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,' (Philippians 4:6-8).”

Reflecting on the journey that brought her from ministering to kids on the North Shore of Kauai to a New York City movie premiere, youth leader Sarah Hill said she feels a sense of awe—but not surprise.

“I really believe that the Lord painstakingly prepares you for things in your life so that you can have a greater testimony to bring Him glory,” she says in an interview after the April 6 premiere of Soul Surfer.