Franklin Graham Holds Biggest Evangelistic Rally Ever in This European Country

Summary

On May 19, 2026, the article reports that evangelist Franklin Graham held a two-day “Festival of Hope” in Minsk, Belarus, described as the largest evangelistic event ever held in the country. Nearly 31,000 people reportedly attended Graham’s preaching at Chizhovka Arena, while additional people listened from an overflow arena or outside. Hundreds reportedly responded to an invitation to commit their lives to Jesus Christ, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association distributed more than 2,000 Bibles. Nearly 700 Belarusian evangelical churches participated. Churches organized prayer, fasting, invitations, and a 1,300-member choir representing 43 cities and villages. Belarusian Baptist Union general secretary Leonid Mikhovich said churches had never previously been allowed to gather more than 10,000 people or rent such a major venue for an event of this kind. The article presents the festival as an unusual opening in Belarus, a tightly controlled country ruled by President Aleksandr Lukashenko since 1994. Graham met with Lukashenko the day before the event, and the president’s press service quoted him making a joke about his own sins. The report also recounts the testimony of a man who said he had recently considered suicide and later professed faith in Christ at the festival. Attendance totals, conversions, and the characterization of the event as unprecedented are attributed to the report and participating organizations rather than independently verified in the article.