Passion 2013 Tells 60,000 Students: You Don't Need an Event, You Need Jesus

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ATLANTA – A strong sense of anticipation, energy and purpose was evident all over downtown Atlanta Tuesday as over 60,000 students and ministry leaders from across the country and around the world descended on the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center for the Passion 2013 conference.

"Is this not incredible?" Passion founder and visionary architect Louie Giglio said as he surveyed the energized crowd. "It's no longer a dream, but reality. And I can tell you that you are much louder tonight than the crowd watching football here last night!"

Passion staff and volunteer teams had worked tirelessly to set up the Georgia Dome in a matter of hours following the Chick-fil-A Bowl football game which ended late Monday night.

University students from all 50 United States, 55 countries, and 2,200 college campuses are represented at this week's four-day conference, the largest single Passion gathering in North America in the 18-year history of the Passion movement.

"Back in 1996, we knew that God was on the move, that God had a heartbeat for 18-25 year olds, and especially for the 20 million college students, the vast majority of whom do not have a clue as to why they are on this planet," Giglio recalled. "We wanted Passion to be solely focused on the person and fame of Jesus Christ, and for young people to make the focus of their life's goal to make Jesus known in their generation."