November 2, 2009
Evangelical march in Brazil draws 1.5 million
by Andre Penner
The Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP) - About 1.5 million evangelical Christians joined Brazil's annual "March for Jesus" on Monday, an event sponsored by a church whose leaders recently returned after being imprisoned in the U.S. for money smuggling.
Now in its 17th year, the march unites faithful from hundreds of evangelical churches and attracts dozens of Christian bands, preachers and local celebrities.
It is organized by the powerful Reborn in Christ Church, whose leaders said they had hoped to draw 5 million people to gather around a central Sao Paulo plaza where the main stage was located.
Hundreds of thousands followed Estevam Hernandes Filho and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, along the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) route of the march, and still more gathered at the plaza.
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