American evangelist Franklin Graham’s "largest religious event" in the former Soviet republic’s history, organizers said.
Nearly 7-thousand Moldovans responded to his invitation to accept Christ in their lives at the three-day ‘Festival of Hope’ in the capital Chisinau, claimed the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGAC), named after the famous father of Franklin Graham.
In a statement obtained by BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest the BGAC said some 93-thousand people gathered in Moldova’s main stadium to see the 53-year old Franklin Graham, who now shares the evangelistic vision of his ailing father after what he called his "rebellious" younger years.
More than 700 churches and 3,700 volunteers from multiple denominations participated in the Festival, added the BGAC. Some people reportedly traveled over four hours each night to the Festival. More than 1,200 specially arranged buses and trains brought Moldovans from remote regions of the tiny impoverished country of about 4.5 million.
CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED
Graham suggested that not long ago people were still persecuted for their faith. Human rights activists caution however that even 15 years after the fall of Communism Evangelical Christians are sometimes singled out for harassment by authorities.
"Years ago I drove to the border of this country, looked through the heavily guarded gate, and prayed that one day you would be free and I would have an opportunity to come back," said Graham, who is also president and CEO of the BGAC, according to a transcript received by BosNewsLife.
"Now I am here with tens of thousands of you, and this is a free nation. But I want you to have a spiritual freedom found in the hope and love of Jesus Christ," he added. Crowds heard Graham’s messages translated into Romanian and Russian, the two languages used interchangeably in Moldova.
"INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC"
The Festival featured what his organization called "traditional and inspirational music" by local and international artists, including Americans John and Anne Barbour, who performed in English and Romanian, and award-winning guitarist Dennis Agajanian. An exceptional local choir of 2,000 people performed along with musicians from Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Italy, and Romania.
Some 40 church leaders from across Eastern Europe reportedly met with Graham and extended invitations for him to return to the region to hold Festivals in their countries. Franklin Graham next event in Eastern Europe is scheduled for Kiev, Ukraine, in 2007.
"Preparations for the Festival in Kiev, a city of 4 million, began following the historic Orange Revolution, where citizens ensured that the democratic process was upheld in recent elections," the BGAC explained.
CHRISTIAN RELIEF
In conjunction with the Festival, teams from Graham’s international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse handed out thousands of gift-filled shoe boxes to local underprivileged children, organizers said. This year, the organization’s project, known as Operation Christmas Child, wants to hand-deliver over 7 million shoe box gifts to needy children in 95 countries.
Graham recently led Festivals in Australia, Paraguay, and Angola, speaking to some 340,000 people, according to estimates. Later this year he is scheduled to hold United States Festivals in Corpus Christi, Texas (Aug. 19-21) and Shreveport, La. (Nov. 11-13).
While his father still uses the word "Crusade" to describe his meetings, Franklin Graham prefers the word ‘Festival’ reportedly because Muslims and other religious groups still recall the violent Christian Crusades of the middle ages. (With BosNewsLife Research, Stefan J. Bos and reports from Moldova).
