their Savior late Friday, October 3, after they came forward at a rally of American evangelist David Wilkerson in one of Budapest’s most impoverished districts.
The call came at the end of an evangelistic meeting held in a Communist style conference centre with no apparent air conditioning near what is known as Black Hole, a former night club that was recently closed down because of drugs abuse.
"For 40 years I have been praying for alcoholics and drugs addicts. I can’t change your heart, but the Holy Spirit can," said Wilkerson in his sermon that was translated into the Hungarian language, as he spoke to those who stood in front of the platform.
Although the event was not advertised in public media, up to 3,000 people packed the center’s two floors, with many people standing because of a lack of seats, while watching the evangelist on huge cinema screens.
PASTORAL CONFERENCE
The rally was part of a three day pastoral conference, aimed at encouraging Hungarian churches after decades of Communism in a country lukewarm towards evangelism. Similar meetings were also held elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe this year including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia and Ukraine.
"(In Hungary) my father made it a point to especially encourage the older generation of pastors to continue their work and make them feel valuable " said his son, Gary Wilkerson in an interview with BosNewsLife.
"A lot of them feel very discouraged and not wanted. It was very moving to see how elderly pastors of fifty and older came forward, sometimes with tears in their eyes," to make a fresh start with God, said Gary Wilkerson who assists his father.
UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES
Encouragement in a time of unprecedented challenges to the church was also an important theme of David Wilkerson’s sermon. He warned both believers and non believers to realize that God will soon reclaim His name, in the post September 11 world.
Wilkerson said it was a sign of times that "only a few countries now want a reference to God in the European Union constitution," currently under debate, while "the name of Allah is glorified."
The 72-year old Wilkerson, who pastors a church in Time Square in New York City, also expressed his outrage about the attitude of some churches towards homosexuality such as the Episcopal Church, which elected its first homosexual bishop.
HOMOSEXUAL PARADE
"Five years ago only 50,000 people participated in a homosexual parade in New York. This year 500,000 people participated, some carrying signs such as "Jesus is homosexual," he said, striking some nerves among participants attending his rally.
Wilkerson reported about first hand experiences, as he and his wife Gwen live in New York City since the 1980’s to lead the Times Square Church.
But he also recalled how the main actor of Jesus Christ Superstar, a major musical of the 60’s, became a Christian "after he realized he had mocked the name of God for months while being on stage in Broadway and using drugs to get high."
FORGIVENESS FOR SINS
Reverend Wilkerson said Jesus Christ was still in the business of miracles and changing lives. "If the devil tells you, you are not a good believer and that you will always fail, please know that God has given you his Word. He has never abandoned a teenager or anyone who asks forgiveness for sins."
In mainly Catholic Hungary, Wilkerson’s style is a relative new phenomena, although evangelical churches have been growing steadily. 70-year old widow Etelka Katona, who lived through Hungary’s Soviet occupation, told ANS that Wilkerson had helped her to have for the future.
"I feel encouraged and to live without fear," she said. The evangelistic rally was held on a day that a new survey showed that Hungarians are among the "least happy people" in the world.
SUICIDE RATE
Hungary, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, came ahead of only 16 of 63 countries in the World Values Survey, the Magyar Hirlap, a liberal daily, reported.
Wilkerson had told pastors earlier that he was extremely concerned about the divorce rate in Hungary, which hopes to join the European Union next year. The evangelist has published numerous books, often best-sellers, on these and other subjects.
Wilkerson, who became world famous from his early days of ministry to young drugs addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, has told his own life struggles in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book which became a best-seller.
150 COUNTRIES
The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963, his organization said.
It inspired him to found Teen Challenge ministries which has reached youth and adults with life-controlling problems world-wide.
He later began David Wilkerson Youth Crusades, an evangelistic outreach as well as a ministry to encourage Christian young people to give their lives to Christ-centered efforts, and in 1971 World Challenge, Inc. to share Christ’s message in public teachings.
