Our two nations are each at a pivotal crossroad. In the United Kingdom, Brexit is bringing upheaval—for better or worse—and with it disunity and uncertainty. In America, anger and anxiety grip culture and politics during an election season that has huge consequences for the future.
For Christian believers, an even greater alarm is how far both our nations have sunk into the quicksand of secular godlessness. Sin is not only condoned across our two lands, but celebrated— while God is deliberately pushed aside. History shows the end result of this for any nation.
Government will never fix this, nor will any human institution. Our only hope is God, who changes hearts and nations. The Prophet Hosea said, “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1, NKJV). Restoration and healing, whether for an individual or for a nation, begins with repentance and prayer.
It can start with you and me. My father often said that the three most important things a Christian can do in evangelism are, number one, pray; number two, pray; and number three, pray. Those are the same three most important things anyone can do for a nation whose people have turned from God. In the Bible, Nehemiah prayed urgently and faithfully for his nation. He began on his own, just one person, and his first step was repentance—confessing the national sins of his people, the sins in his own family and family heritage, and his personal sins. Then he prayed for the nation to be restored.
Will you pray for your country, again and again, with repentance and urgency?
The months ahead are busy with ministry, including My Hope in the UK; online evangelism; and a Celebration of Hope in North East Scotland, led by my son Will Graham. We are also deep into preparations for an evangelistic Festival in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where I will preach the Gospel. Churches there are growing in the midst of persecution. Please pray that God will draw many hearts to Himself.
Every day we are reaching people with God’s message of salvation through our UK online evangelism ministry. We praise God that so far this year, more than a thousand people a month across the UK have told us they made a decision for Christ as a result of this outreach.
Thank you for your partnership in bringing the life-changing message of the Gospel to those ready to hear. This work would not be possible without the financial support and prayers of friends like you.
May God richly bless you,
Franklin Graham
President
Many ask how my father is doing. He is still in his own home and often eats meals at the kitchen table, as he has always done. Approaching age 98, he lives with limitations typical of old age—his eyesight is very poor, his hearing is not good, and he uses a wheelchair. Someone is with him in the house at all times. One of the things he enjoys is sitting on the front porch and looking out over the mountains on days when the weather is good and he feels up to it. He watches news with the help of a large-screen TV. His ministry now is praying, and he looks forward to reports of what God is doing around the world. He always responds by saying “Praise the Lord” as he points upward.
From Savagery to Salvation
Billy Graham chaplains help Brussels residents come to Christ.
The young Muslim man moved to Brussels, Belgium, to flee violence and war in his native Syria. But violence followed him when ISIS suicide bombers in Brussels killed 32 people and injured more than 300 on 22 March.
As people grieved over the deadliest terrorist attack in Belgium’s history, we quickly deployed several crisis-trained Billy Graham chaplains from the UK to Brussels, where they were joined by Rapid Response Team colleagues from the US and Canada. The team provided emotional and spiritual care to people affected by the tragedy, comforting the grieving, praying with all who desired it, and sharing the Gospel message of eternal salvation.
The young Muslim from Syria came to a memorial site with other mourners, and there he met and talked with one of the chaplains. He had many questions about why bad things happen, about God, and about faith—so many that he returned the next day to talk more. He wanted to learn about Jesus. Chaplains shared their personal stories of redemption, and one of them explained the Gospel. “It was amazing to see the man react and accept Christ as his Saviour,” said a chaplain named Jeff. They gave him a Bible and made themselves available to continue meeting while they were in Brussels. They also worked to put him in touch with a local church.
“I have been privileged to be a part of this little team and to see what the Lord can do,” a UK chaplain named Douglas said after the deployment. “I’ll continue to pray for Brussels, for the multitude we were not able to reach, and for the handful—whom the Lord will use—who gave their lives
to Him in repentance and faith. I am praying also for the churches there who continue to serve after we leave.”
Will you pray also? Pray for the people who encountered the love of Jesus Christ through our chaplains in Brussels, and more recently through Rapid Response Team chaplains deployed to Nice and Munich, that they may find “all joy and peace in believing [in Christ] , so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [they] may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13, ESV).
Celebration of Hope in Scotland
with Will Graham
The town of Peterhead, in Aberdeenshire, has the easternmost lighthouse on mainland Scotland. It is also a community that is becoming saturated in prayer.
Will Graham, who recently preached the Gospel in five cities across Norway and has just completed an evangelistic Celebration in Uganda, accepted an invitation from local churches
in North East Scotland to lead a Celebration of Hope in October. Will, a grandson of Billy Graham, plans a five-day outreach, proclaiming the reality and the urgency of our need for salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The main gatherings will be 5–9 October in Peterhead.
Local, once-a-month prayer meetings were launched some time ago. But as the Holy Spirit worked, prayer sessions began happening twice a month, then weekly, and now some people are meeting multiple times a week to pray for those who need a personal relationship with the Saviour. Many in Peterhead have been asking God to use the evangelistic events as a beacon “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in … Jesus Christ ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NKJV) to the whole of North East Scotland and far beyond.
The largest available gathering place in the community, an assembly hall at Peterhead Academy, is not very large, so plans for the Celebration include overflow locations nearby along with live-link satellite sites in other towns. The churches have agreed that priority for the main hall will be given to those bringing friends or guests who need to hear about Jesus.
Billy Graham often said that the most important key to any evangelistic outreach is prayer. Would you pray for this outreach, for Will Graham, for the participating churches, and especially for people in North East Scotland who need Jesus? You can join your voice with the believers praying in Peterhead and with God’s own deep longing for lost people to find hope and salvation—for this life and for eternity—through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.