By Ethan Cole|Christian Post Reporter Tue, Nov. 03 2009
The annual “March for Jesus” event in Brazil drew more than 1.5 million evangelical Christians Monday.
In its 17th year, the event brings together hundreds of evangelical churches in a country that is home to the world’s largest Roman Catholic population. Seventy-four percent of the country describes themselves as Roman Catholic.
The march is held each year on the same day the Catholic Church celebrates the Corpus Christi holiday, which is not observed by evangelical Protestants but is a national holiday in Brazil.
Participants marched 2.5 miles in San Paulo and heard music from Christian bands and messages from preachers and local celebrities, according to The Associated Press.
The event was sponsored by Reborn in Christ Church, whose leaders had recently returned after serving a combined year’s worth of U.S. legal punishment for attempted money smuggling. The punishment included a prison sentence, house arrest, and probation. Estevam Hernandes Filho and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, had failed to declare $56,000 in cash that they had carried on a flight from San Paulo to Miami. The money was hidden among a child’s backpack, a Bible case and other bags.
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