Called the Festival of Life 2007, the week-long outreach which ended Sunday night, March 25, was led by San Diego pastor, Mike MacIntosh who preached for the final three nights of the festival in a soccer stadium in the capital city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez to a total aggregate crowd of 66,000. Some 6,229 responded to the invitation that MacIntosh gave to for people to give their lives to Christ.

A group of well-known Mexican performers were on hand and each brought the crowd to their feet. They included Maria de Sol, who for years has been one of the country's most famous female singers and Fermin IV, who was the country's most notorious rap singer and since given his life to Christ and is now - believe it not - a Calvary Chapel pastor in Mexico City. Others included Ernesto D'alessio, Semilla de Mostaza Mexico, Isai Pinon (ex-Kumbia Kings) and Orquesta Fortaleza. Sarah MacIntosh, a talented American singer, sang each night accompanied by her husband, Jonathan.

Among the volunteers who came to Chiapas were 300 clowns who joined with BMX bike stunt riders and musicians who worked at the 15 Mini-Festivals. There were also 11 medical/dental clinics where 3,000 patients were service and that included 27 surgeries (cleft lip and palate surgeries and hernia repairs). Some 73,343 attended the festivals and clinics.

The Festival of Life is a ministry of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego and its leaders are now considering many invitations to conduct their next festival, possibly in another Mexican city. They have been running these joyful festivals all over the world for more than 20 years.

 Festival Statistics

Total Attendance During Festival Week – 139,343
Total People Who Received Jesus Christ – 9,478

Total Attendance at Mini Festivals, Clinics and various outreaches – 73,343

Total Attendance at Stadium Outreach (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) – 66,000

Total who received Jesus Christ at Mini Festivals and various outreaches – 4,249

Total who received Jesus Christ at Stadium (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) – 5,229

• Those who filled out a Personal Decision Card and received counseling – 4,229

• Those who came forward but did not fill out a Personal Decision Card – 1,000

There were 15 total Mini-Festivals and 11 Total Medical/Dental Clinics – 3,000 patients served at the clinics including 27 surgeries (cleft lip and palate surgeries and hernia repairs).

Wednesday, 3.21

• 3 mini-festivals (Jardines del Pedregal, Patria Nueva & San Jose Teran)

• 3 medical clinics

• Jardines del Pedregal – 2,500 in attendance. 110 received Jesus.

• Patria Nueva – 1,500 in attendance. 100 children and 40 adults received Jesus.

• San Jose Teran – 3,600 in attendance. 50 children and 38 adults received Jesus.

Thursday, 3.22

• 3 mini-festivals (Los Pajaros, Linda Vista & Azteca)

• 2 medical clinics

• Los Pajaros – 4,000 in attendance. 95 received Jesus.

• Linda Vista – 3,500 in attendance. 115 received Jesus.

• Azteca – 2000 in attendance. 60 children 30 adults received Jesus.

Friday 3.23

• Women’s Breakfast #1 – 581 in attendance. 207 received Jesus.

• 3 mini-festivals (Plan Chapas, San Fernando, Copoya & Stadium)

• 3 medical clinics

• Plan Chapas – 2,400 in attendance. 105 children and 50 adults received Jesus.

• San Fernando – 5,000 in attendance (1,000 children). 300 adults and 200 children received Jesus.

• Copoya – 2,000 in attendance. 50 children and 30 adults received Jesus.

• Stadium mini-festival – 7,000 in attendance. 40 children received Jesus.

Friday Stadium Evening Outreach – 15,000 in attendance.

After counting the Personal Decision Cards from Friday night at the Stadium outreach:

Total Personal Decision Cards filled out: 889

• 1st Time Decisions: 720 (81% of the total respondents)

• Re-Dedication to Jesus: 130 (15% of the total respondents)

• Assurance: 38 (4% of the total respondents)

Note: We calculated that approximately 200 individuals who came forward did not fill out a Personal Decision Card due to the fireworks. With this appropriate estimate, that would bring the total individuals coming forward to make a Personal Commitment to Jesus at 1,100.

Of the 889 Personal Decision Cards filled out:

• 10.8% were 12 years of age and younger (57 boys, 39 girls)

• 34.1% were 13-19 years of age (189 men, 114 women)

• 41.6% were over 20 years of age (149 men, 221 women)

• 13.5% did not specify an age (47 men, 73 women)

Saturday, 3.24

• Women’s Breakfast #2 – 590 in attendance. 218 received Jesus.

• 4 mini-festivals (San Cristobal, Chiapa de Corso, Las Granjas & Stadium)

• 2 medical clinics

• San Cristobal – 2,800 in attendance. 115 children and 43 adults received Jesus.

• Chiapa de Corso – 3,000 in attendance. 125 received Jesus.

• Las Granjas – 1,000 in attendance. 50 received Jesus.

• Stadium mini-festival – 10,000 in attendance. 50 children received Jesus.

Saturday Stadium Evening Outreach – 25,000 in attendance

After counting the Personal Decision Cards from Saturday night at the Stadium outreach:

Total Personal Decision Cards filled out 1,605:

• 1,430 1st Time Decisions: (89% of the total respondents)

• 135 Re-Dedication to Jesus: (8% of the total respondents)

• 40 Assurance: (3% of the total respondents)

Note: We calculated that approximately 350 individuals who came forward did not fill out a Personal Decision Card due to the fireworks. With this appropriate estimate, that would bring the total individuals coming forward to make a Personal Commitment to Jesus at 1,955 .

Of the 1,605 Personal Decision Cards filled out:

• 10% were 12 years of age and younger ( 94 boys, 68 girls)

• 35% were 13-19 years of age ( 315 men, 250 women)

• 54% were over 20 years of age ( 341 men, 830 women)

• 1% did not specify an age ( 0 men, 25 women)

Sunday 3.25

• Women’s Breakfast #3 – 572 in attendance. 173 received Jesus.

• 2 mini-festivals (Emiliano Zapata & Stadium festival)

• 1 medical clinic

• Emiliano Zapata – 4,000 in attendance. 90 adults and 70 children received Jesus.

• Stadium mini-festival - 11,000 in attendance.

Sunday Stadium Evening Outreach – 26,000 in attendance

After counting the Personal Decision Cards from Sunday night at the Stadium outreach:

Total Personal Decision Cards filled out 1,735:

• 1,541 1st Time Decisions: (89% of the total respondents)

• 156 Re-Dedication to Jesus: (9% of the total respondents)

• 38 Assurance: (2% of the total respondents)

Note: We calculated that approximately 450 individuals who came forward did not fill out a Personal Decision Card due to the fireworks. With this appropriate estimate, that would bring the total individuals coming forward to make a Personal Commitment to Jesus at 2,185 .

Of the 1,735 Personal Decision Cards filled out:

• 13.9% were 12 years of age and younger ( 139 boys, 103 girls)

• 35.2% were 13-19 years of age ( 317 men, 294 women)

• 47.2% were over 20 years of age ( 371 men, 448 women)

• 3.7% did not specify an age ( 32 men, 31 women)

Other Outreaches and Ministry

Live Television Broadcasts (3 nights) – 4,000 Latin American channels. 800 Mexican stations. 50 stations throughout Europe and Africa.

Radio – Nucleo radio broadcasted three nights live to the state of Chiapas.

Youth Team Outreaches:

• Youth Prison outreach – 350 in attendance. 30 inmates received Jesus Christ. 350 meals served.

• Mini Festival outreaches – 44 people received Jesus Christ with our students.

• Orphanage ministry – 200 orphans ministered to.

(Maria del Sol y Christa Foot durante el concierto)

Care House Ministry Outreaches:

• Youth Prison Outreach – 350 in attendance. Students shared testimonies and lead worship with inmates.

• War Families Outreach – 150 in attendance (100 children and 50 adults). 100 received Jesus.

• Gifts and food distributed.

• Orphanage visit. 100 beanie babies distributed with candy bags.

Orphanage project - Festival team poured concrete and completely constructed a new basketball court at the Casa Hogar Alegre orphanage.

Children’s Ministry Evangelism crafts – 3,250 Evangelism crafts done with children.

Fire Department Uniforms – New fire retardant uniforms including two shirts for every firefighter. Boots, helmets and turnouts.

Soccer Balls – 500 distributed to children throughout Tuxla Gutierrez

BMX Outreaches – There were 10 BMX bike outreaches with 200 receiving Jesus Christ at the invitations.

7,000 baseball caps and toys for children distributed.

Blankets and sweaters donated for the children and families in surrounding mountain areas.

Street Witnessing – 121 decision cards completed by those who received Jesus on the streets. Over 100 people received the Lord on the streets without filling out cards.

Friends for Life – 30,000 Pre-festival Friends for Life cards were distributed to local churches for prayer and invitations.

Festival of Life fliers – 350,000 invitation fliers were distributed. 25,000 posters were placed around Chiapas.

Horizon School of Evangelism Outreaches – Ministered to 125 orphans and gave gifts of new clothing to the children. HSE led evangelistic music, dramas, testimonies, gospel presentations, clowns and street preaching and personal evangelism at five mini-festivals. Every night for five nights prior to the Festival, the students shared the Gospel through their band, dramas, testimonies, gospel presentations at Parke Central. In total there were 550 genuine conversions through the Horizon School of Evangelism. We also have three more days of outreaches after the festival including a big outreach at a youth prison.

Gift Boxes distributed – 14,000

Mini Festival Meals served – There were 26,650 total meals were served at the various mini festivals.

Prison Guard Outreaches – There were two pre-festival outreaches to the prison guards with 500 in attendance and 250 received Jesus Christ at the invitations.

Prison Outreach – 3,000 inmates attended the outreach and 4,000 were given lunch with included family members. 3,500 gift boxes given out. 300 received Jesus Christ.

Horizon International School of Evangelism – 2,100 in attendance.

Banquet of Life (March 1st) – 565 in attendance.

Preparing Your Church for Discipleship and Follow up Seminar (March 3rd) – 300 in attendance.

Essentials for Life Counselor training classes – 2,200 in attendance. 700 were available at the Stadium outreach each night.

Ushers – 450 were trained for outreach. Ushers served as back up counselors when needed.

Security – 55 trained who served at the outreach.

FESTIVAL DE VIDA es un magno evento multicultural realizado por Horizonte Internacional, una organización Cristiana estadounidense de apoyo internacional. Dicho evento se llevó a cabo en la ciudad de Tuxtla Gutiérrez del 21 al 25 de marzo del 2007.

Horizonte Internacional ha celebrado Festivales de Vida en varios países del mundo incluyendo Corea, Polonia, Las Filipinas, Granada, Union Soviética, Los Estados Unidos, y las siguientes diez ciudades en México: Mazatlán, Guadalajara, La Paz, Mexicali, Ensenada, Hermosillo, Ciudad Juárez, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Rosarito y Puerto Vallarta. 

¿EN QUE CONSISTE FDV?

El Festival consiste de una serie de eventos educativos, familiares, sociales, culturales, etc., que tienen como finalidad el ayudar a la ciudad de Tuxtla Gutiérrez y el estado de Chiapas. Festival de Vida se realiza con el apoyo de varios grupos locales e internacionales, y todos los eventos a excepcion el desayuno para damas y el Banquete de Vida, son totalmente gratuitos para la ciudad ya que no se cobra ningún tipo de servicio o producto de FDV, ni se levanta ningún donativo ni antes ni durante los eventos, presentando los siguientes beneficios.

Derrama Económica y Turística: La ciudad de Tuxtla Gutiérrez y el estado de Chiapas recibió cientos de visitantes de otros estados de la República Mexicana así como de otros países. Además de la consecuente promoción de la ciudad, consumirán servicios y productos locales. Y la gran derrama económica de millones de dólares implica no solo el consumo, sino también la inversión propia que se realiza durante el Festival, con los regalos infantiles, donativos, obras de construcción social y muchos más.

Educativos: Se organizaron pláticas sobre diversos temas impartidos por medio de profesionales de diferentes países en las universidades y otras instituciones educativas.

Familiares: Hubo Mini-Festivales con música, payasos, mimos, y diversión familiar en las colonias y parques de San Cristóbal de las Casas, Berriozabal, Zapata, Azteca, San José Terán, Copoya, Chiapa De Corzo, y Plan Chiapas y en algunos otros lugares de la ciudad. Y además tendremos el evento principal donde se realizarán juegos mecánicos, inflables, teatro para niños, manualidades, deportes extremos, payasos, mimos y mucho más.

Cada noche contamos con artistas internacionales como Fermín IV, Maria del Sol, Ernesto D’Alessio, Semilla de Mostaza, Isaí Piñón (ex – Kumbia Kings) y Orquesta Fortaleza entre otros. El presidente de Horizonte Internacional, el Doctor Mike MacIntosh, compartió una plática de amor y esperanza, y el evento concluirá con juegos pirotécnicos de primera calidad. Tendremos conciertos juveniles con grupos que transmitirán un mensaje sano, motivando a la juventud hacia los valores espirituales y morales.

Sociales: Hemos brindado ayuda a la ciudad de Tapachula durante el tiempo de desastres naturales (huracanes) ademas de brindar el apoyo por las mismas causas anteriores a los siguientes lugares: Nuevo Orleans y Mississippi. Tambien estaremos donando equipo para los bomberos de Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Horizonte Internacional ha trabajado con la organización “Ministerio de la Paloma” para importar millones de regalos navideños en la Republica Mexicana y en todo el mundo. También hemos tenido la oportunidad de construir orfanatos, hospitales y casas para las personas de bajos recursos en varias ciudades de México.

Clínicas Médicas: Estas brindarán servicios médicos y dentales, medicamentos, y otros donativos absolutamente gratis. Docenas de doctores y personal médico de diferentes estados de México, los Estados Unidos, otros países y de Tuxtla Gutiérrez donarán sus servicios para el beneficio público. Esperamos importar entre ocho y diez remolques de donativos médicos, juguetes, y demás para ser repartidos en Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

Formativos: Otro componente del Festival de Vida son pláticas impartidas a empresarios por parte de empresarios de éxito Internacional. También habrá pláticas a los policías, a los internos en las cárceles, y visitas a los orfanatos y otras instituciones humanitarias. Se llevan a cabo actividades que promueven el deporte como son clínicas y entrenamientos deportivos que serán impartidos por atletas profesionales de diferentes países. La higiene será promovida a través de la repartición de cepillos de dientes y explicaciones en su uso. La cultura y la familia será un gran enfoque del Festival de Vida ya que todas las actividades apoyan a los valores familiares, y será reforzada la espiritualidad del ser humano, el respeto a la autoridad, el prójimo, la vida, y los valores morales.

Horizonte Internacional patrocina un desayuno especial para mujeres denominado “Desayuno de Damas” donde se realizara una platica acerca de los valores con Sandy MacIntosh (Conferencista Internacional) y este evento tiene solamente un costo simbólico.

Para que la población obtenga el máximo beneficio del Festival de Vida, tenemos ya el apoyo de diversas entidades de Gobierno y privadas, y esperamos también poder contar con su apoyo

What is a Festival of Life?

The Festival of Life is a unique approach to citywide evangelism.

The purpose and vision is to present the message of Jesus Christ to an entire city by utilizing dozens of venues and involving hundreds of individual believers. This approach permeates and impacts an entire city, thus making the Festival of Life a truly unique ministry. It reaches far beyond a typical large crusade type event that focuses primarily on one man preaching to a large crowd.

Each Festival of Life provides opportunities for hundreds of people just like you to get involved by using their gifts to impact a city with the gospel for Jesus Christ.