Europe needs an “army” of “unafraid” and “unashamed” evangelists to succeed in it with the Gospel, Christian leaders heard this week.
That was the message from American evangelist Franklin Graham to a gathering in Berlin of over 1,000 Christian leaders from across Europe.
The meeting was convened by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), of which Graham is the president, with the aim of seeing Christians from the region re-commit themselves to the goal of re-evangelising Europe.
In his closing address, Graham echoed the words of his late father, Rev Billy Graham, when he told them to “preach the Gospel” whatever the fee.
“Do the work of an evangelist — preach the Gospel. Don’t be ashamed,” Graham told delegates.
“Don’t compromise. Be strong. Fulfil your ministry. We know there may be going to be suffering. We know there are going to be challenges. We know there are going to be some fights. Let’s be strong and preach our Saviour who we all know is coming back.”
The congress got here to an in depth on Friday with a commitment from Graham to return to Europe in the long run.
“I’m not going to say goodbye, but I’ll say, ‘See you again,'” he said.
Earlier within the congress, he had rallied Christians to exit and boldly proclaim the Gospel within the face of rampant secularism across Europe.
He added, “If we’re going to succeed in Europe, we’re going to wish a military, a military of evangelists — unafraid, unashamed, unapologetic, uncompromising — standing on the Word of God.”
While in Berlin, Graham also had the prospect to fulfill with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and share a time of prayer for peace.
“I prayed for President Putin, I prayed for him [Zelensky], and I prayed for President Trump—that God would give them wisdom and that God would give them a path forward for peace.
“The complications in Ukraine and Russia, these are very difficult, and I feel only God can solve this,” Graham said, adding that it had been a “privilege” to fulfill Zelensky.
Other speakers on the congress included German evangelical leader Rev Ulrich Parzany who urged Europe’s church leaders to stay faithful to the authority of Scripture within the face of pressures from the encompassing culture to compromise and dilute the Gospel.
“The Bible should be the inspiration of our preaching, not the decoration,” Rev Parzany said.
“The precondition of evangelism should be the commitment to the authority and the reliability of the Bible.”
He continued, “The content of the Gospel is Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ whom the Bible testifies to — there is no such thing as a other Jesus Christ.”
British theologian Dr Amy Orr-Ewing spoke of the spiritual hunger in young people and urged the Church to be the reply.
“I’ve been in ministry for over 25 years and I haven’t known a moment just like the moment we’re in, when it comes to the hunger that we see amongst Gen Z for truth,” she said, adding, “We need to fulfill that hunger with the Gospel.”
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