Historic. Unprecedented. Almost inconceivable. Today in Belarus, local Christians are using words like this to describe the Festival of Hope in Minsk. And they know how, or rather Who, allowed 15,000 people to gather and hear the Gospel.
“What is happening now—this is the act of God,” said Vasily Gherasimciuc, director of the Festival. “We are amazed at what God is doing here.”
Leonid Mikhovich, the Bishop of the Baptist Association in Belarus, felt a little like Thomas in the Bible—he wouldn’t believe the event was happening until he saw the stage and touched the chairs. But when he walked into Chizhovka Arena before the Festival began, it finally sank in. An event years in the making was finally coming true.
For Elena, tonight’s moment was also years in the making, although she didn’t know it when she walked from her Minsk apartment. From kindergarten on, she and her best friend Anna had been inseparable, moving from Russia to Belarus, and are even housemates today. Anna often shared her deep faith in Jesus Christ with Elena, but it never sank in until now.
“Maybe you’re here tonight and you’re saying, ‘There’s something missing in my life.’ You have a vacuum, an emptiness that can only be filled by God,” Franklin Graham said to the crowd.
Elena couldn’t argue with that. In every area of her life, she felt she just missed the mark, from problems at her job to a broken relationship with her daughter, she simply felt “loneliness.” In response, Elena explored many different religions, prayers, and rituals.
“I tried everything, I went to many, many different churches. I was seeking,” Elena said.
But what she didn’t realise is what she needed was a relationship with her Heavenly Father.
“He will put His arms around you tonight. He’ll forgive you,” Graham assured the crowd. For Elena, feeling broken and inadequate, that was exactly what she needed to hear.
When Graham invited the crowd to come down to the front of the stage to pray and accept Jesus as their Saviour, Elena only had to walk a few steps—she was seated in the deaf section near the front. A prayer counsellor walked her through the steps of salvation in Russian Sign Language.
“When I prayed, I knew that God is going to lead me,” Elena said with a wide smile. “All of this darkness, somehow it’s fled away.” Anna and Elena laughed together, knowing how their friendship has changed; they’re now sisters in Christ.
From the outside, Anna’s invitation to Elena seemed like just a simple question. But Christians in Belarus have been preparing for this opportunity for months, and they have been praying around the clock for the event.
Gherasimciuc said Saturday’s Festival affected not only people who were invited to the event, it also encouraged the Belarusian church, as they saw God answering many of their prayers. It reminds him of an event just over 30 years ago, when trains packed full of people from Minsk travelled over 400 miles to hear Franklin Graham’s father, Billy Graham, speak in Moscow, Russia.
“I would say that the situation is about the same. It was just after the breakup of the Soviet Union. People were hungry for the Gospel message,” Gherasimciuc remembers. “The last 15 years, there was nothing massive, no mass evangelistic event [in Belarus]. This is an event that stirred Christians.”
Over half of the population in Belarus’ capital city consider themselves religious, and the majority of that group are either Russian Orthodox or Catholic. The remaining 2% are Evangelical, scattered in 800 churches around the country. Nearly 700 of those churches are participating in the Festival of Hope, where Franklin Graham preached on the story of the prodigal son.
Leaving his family for a life of parties, the son ended up with the pigs. He had tasted it all—riches, relationships, rebellion—and still it left him alone and without hope.
“We get these things and know that we may be happy for a while, but then there’s an emptiness,” Graham explained.
Three months ago, Sviatoslav, 37, felt like he had absolutely nothing. He had also attended different churches and tried different religions over the years, but nothing felt like home.
“I was trying to find some place where my heart and my soul could feel in the correct place,” he said. “I didn’t have any energy, not even to breathe. All plans, all ambitions, everything was meaningless.”
Strangely, a month ago, he had a dream that featured the Chizhovka Arena. He previously brushed it off until his job as a videographer brought him to the same venue as the Festival. He immediately felt déjà vu. Sviatoslav was scheduled to work Saturday night, but he “randomly” had the day off. Jesus was opening the door to His heart.
“God made you, He created you, and He created a space inside of you for Him to fill,” Graham said. “That void, that vacuum, cannot be filled with the things of this world. You’ve got to come to God in faith.”
As Sviatoslav prayed and surrendered His life to the Saviour, he felt a weight lifted. Although not all of his questions are answered, he felt that God is leading Him.
Tonight, counsellors handed out over 1,000 Bibles to people such as Sviatoslav who responded to the Gospel invitation. They’ve now turned from a life of emptiness to the joy and fulfilment that comes from knowing Christ.
This historic event was an incredible opportunity for Evangelical churches in Belarus. But Christians are praising God for an even greater miracle—the hearts He transformed by the Gospel.
Will you please pray with us as the Festival of Hope continues tomorrow night? Ask God to embolden other Christians to invite many more who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
