Largest evangelical gathering in Belarus’s history shattered attendance records for two consecutive nights at Chizhovka Arena
Christians in Belarus called it a ‘miracle’ as Franklin Graham preached to record-breaking crowds of nearly 31,000
MINSK, Belarus, May 18, 2026 – This weekend, Christians in Belarus witnessed what they could only describe as a miracle.
“It really is a miracle,” said Alyona Lazuta, a pastor’s wife in the capital of Minsk. “It’s a miracle, a miracle that we’ve prayed for many years.”
Lazuta said she is grateful to God that the evangelical churches in Belarus had permission to organize the Festival of Hope, a two-night evangelistic event with Franklin Graham at the Chizhovka Arena in Minsk.
“We’ve never had something like this. We used to maybe be allowed to have 1,000 people come for something. But to have more than 10,000? No, we’ve had nothing like this,” said Leonid Mikhovich, one of the event’s coordinators and the general secretary of Belarus’s Baptist Union. “The status of this arena is also important. It’s one of the largest hockey arenas in the country. We could never ever dream to even rent such a building.”
Mikhovich didn’t believe the event was actually going to happen until he saw the stage and touched the chairs. He said, “This is the first time the churches have ever been able to coordinate nationally. There has never been anything like this.”
Nearly 700 evangelical churches participated in this weekend’s Festival of Hope. In preparation for the outreach, Christians across the country fasted, prayed, and privately invited people that they knew to come hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. The churches also assembled a choir with 1,300 believers from 43 cities and villages to sing at the Festival.
On Saturday, unprecedented crowds gathered at the arena. More than 15,200 people came from every corner of Belarus on buses, trains, and cars. The arena and the overflow space were so full, people even stood outside to listen to the Gospel message.
Franklin Graham told the crowds, “Tonight you can experience a new birth, a spiritual rebirth through Jesus Christ.” The president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) continued saying, “Jesus didn’t come to condemn you, He came to save you. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ There’s no other way to God. He made you and He loves you, but the only way to be forgiven of your sins and have a personal relationship with Him is through His Son, Jesus Christ.”
There was to be no public advertisement for the Festival of Hope, but by Sunday, there were two electronic billboards near the arena advertising the free evangelistic event. On the final evening of the Festival, another attendance record was set when 15,500 people packed into the venue. Officials even opened an additional floor at Chizhovka Arena and added chairs in the overflow area to try and make more room.
BGEA gave out more than 2,000 Bibles this weekend to people who responded to the Gospel invitation. One man who received a Bible shared that he had planned to end his life last Tuesday, but was not successful. He came on Sunday and put his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior after hearing the Gospel. And a student named Aleksandr who is deaf and in his twenties was also given a Bible when he came forward. He said, “I was so tired of my sinful life, I needed to change it. Now, I feel lighter. I feel in my soul it’s easier for me, there’s no weight. Something that was holding me, it let go.”
The Festival of Hope was a historic opportunity for the Protestant churches in Belarus, where evangelicals comprise less than 2 percent of the population.
On Friday, Franklin Graham met with President Aleksandr Lukashekno and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov for more than two hours at the Palace of Independence, where Graham thanked the president for allowing the churches to gather. Graham said, “We have come to deliver our message to all Belarusians, and this message is from the Lord God.”
President Lukashenko thanked Graham for coming and for the work of Samaritan’s Purse in Belarus, of which Graham serves as president and CEO. President Lukashenko’s Press Service reported that he also jokingly said, “Franklin, when you’re talking with the Lord about sins, don’t forget about mine either.”
Graham also met with Viktoryia Senkevich, the anchor and deputy director general of First Informational TV, Belarus’s state media network, on Friday. During a nationally televised interview, she asked Graham about the role that spiritual diplomacy can play during this tense political time. Graham said, “As Christians, we want to bring people together. We need to be ambassadors for God and let people know that He loves them and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins.”
When Senkevich asked Graham if President Donald Trump and President Aleksandr Lukashenko could help bring an end to the war in Ukraine, he said, “I believe both presidents want to help resolve the conflict and I would like to see them come together and meet. We need to pray for peace.”
Mikhovich said he was overwhelmed and encouraged by all that he witnessed this past week.
He believes God allowed the Festival of Hope to take place because of the urgency and importance of this moment, both for the region and for the Christians in Belarus. He said, “The evangelical church here has had different periods of history. This is a good time. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we will hold onto this, and I hope we will have some opportunities in the future. This has helped us build better relationships with other churches and with the government.”
Franklin Graham said, “I’m grateful to President Lukashenko for being so supportive of us, and I pray that our presence here would help, not just for today, but for future generations.”
Download Photos and Video: https://media.billygraham.org/belarus-festival-of-hope-press-room/
Media Inquiries: Mark Barber; 828 386 5803; mebarber@bgea.org.
About Franklin Graham
Founded by Billy Graham in 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association shares the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world. Franklin Graham held his first evangelistic event in 1989, and since then, he has preached at more than 350 outreaches in 55 countries.
Most recently, Graham has proclaimed the hope of Jesus Christ in Lima, Peru; Ushuaia, Argentina; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Brussels, Belgium; London, England; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Graham is looking forward to sharing the Gospel in Madrid, Spain, and Manchester, England, in the coming months. Graham has a heart for Europe where he has preached more than 30 times in 20 countries since 1999. He also convened the European Congress on Evangelism last year, bringing more than 1,000 pastors and Christian leaders from 55 European countries and territories together in Berlin, Germany.
In addition to serving as president and CEO of BGEA, Franklin Graham also leads Samaritan’s Purse, which works in more than 100 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the organization is preparing to respond to an Ebola outbreak. Since 1996, the international Christian relief and evangelism organization has distributed more than five million shoeboxes filled with gifts and school supplies to children in need in Belarus as part of its Operation Christmas Child project.