Billy Graham has been angling for an invitation to preach in the Soviet Union for several years. He finally got one, and late last month he decided to take the plunge—in spite of urgings from the White House to stay away.
“I have just accepted an invitation to proclaim the gospel and to address a conference of religious leaders in Moscow in early May 1982,” Graham told a news conference.
That invitation had been extended last fall, and Graham’s participation in the conference had received tentative Soviet approval. Then martial law was imposed in Poland, President Reagan imposed sanctions, and the Soviet Department of Religious Affairs withdrew the invitation. But as the Poland flap moderated, the invitation was reextended.
The May 10–14 conference is officially titled “The World Conference of Religious Workers for Saving the Sacred Gift of Life from Nuclear Catastrophe.” It is sponsored by the Prague, Czechoslovakia—based Christian Peace Conference (CPC). The CPC was founded in the late 1950s as a forum for churches in the Soviet-bloc nations. But it was largely co-opted by Soviet interests in the 1960s, and since then its statements consistently have reflected Soviet policy.
That was what made Graham’s decision agonizing. The clear risk was that he would be perceived as lending his fame and stature to what is essentially a propaganda exercise. But Graham won permission from the Soviet powers to preach publicly outside of the conference. He spent several days alone at his Montreat, North Carolina, home pondering the pros and cons. Then he announced his decision:
“I have thought and prayed a great deal about accepting this invitation,” he said, “and consulted with a number of my Christian friends both in America and Europe. When I accepted it, I felt a great peace in my heart that I was making the right decision.” He likened it to the apostle Paul’s “great and effectual door.”
Graham disclosed that he will bring fraternal greetings on Sunday morning, May 9, to the congregation of a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow. Extending greetings is a Russian custom that can amount to a guest sermonette. He will preach that evening in the 5,500-member Moscow Baptist Church, a part of the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, sometimes known as the “registered” Baptists. (Baptists in the USSR include Mennonites and Pentecostals, and are divided into registered and unregistered—or illegal—groupings.)
Graham will also address the conference, which is officially convened by the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pimen, on May 11. He said he will speak on the Christian’s understanding of peace in a nuclear age. As is widely known, Graham has over the last couple of years become a vocal advocate of disarmament.
In his statement, Graham said, “I have accepted this invitation to the Soviet Union because I feel it is a God-given opportunity for me to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a country where I have not had this privilege before. I also shall have the opportunity to give my Christian witness to leaders of various religious backgrounds from all over the world.… I am sincerely praying that this visit will make at least a small contribution to better understanding between the peoples of the Soviet Union, the United States, and other countries of the world. We trade with each other, we have cultural exchanges, and we have continued political negotiations in spite of our differences. I think it is now time that we move into a spiritual dimension as well. My purpose in going to the Soviet Union is spiritual, and it is not my intention to become involved in political or ideological issues.”
Graham is expected to take some heat from certain church quarters for what they are certain to view as compromising with Marxists. But the evangelist has backing from a surprising range of those whose influence should count, such as Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, and Mark Hatfield. He is no doubt counting on endorsements such as theirs to help quell any ground swell of criticism.
Graham disclosed that he will be accompanied by Alexander Haroszti, a Hungarian Christian who has served as his adviser on Soviet-bloc matters since his 1977 visit to Haroszti’s native land.
Some are hoping that Graham will use his Moscow visibility as leverage to press for release of the “Siberian Seven” and others restricted and imprisoned because of faith or conscience. But observers who know what Haroszti will advise say that Graham “won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.” A number of other people, they note, are active in this cause, and if he intrudes into this controversy “there are no future possibilities for him to preach in the Soviet Union.”
Large Crowds Reported At A Revival In Central China
A revival in Henan Province in central China is said to have led to high attendance at revival meetings in a nearby province, demonstrations to free an imprisoned preacher, a more open confession of faith and preaching, and a short-term training course for preachers.
A report in last month’s China Prayer Letter, published by the Chinese Church Research Center (CCRC) in Kowloon, Hong Kong, said that news of this revival came through letters CCRC received.
One unidentified county in Henan Province with 22 communes has 90,000 Christians meeting in 1,200 houses. Each commune in this county has a branch church, the largest having 20,000 members and the smallest, 400. (Henan Province is divided into 111 counties with 14 cities.)
CCRC also reported that an itinerant preacher who had addressed audiences of over 2,000 in various counties of a nearby province was arrested and imprisoned, but was released on the fifth day. On each day of his imprisonment, between 300 and 500 Christians had demonstrated in front of the Security Bureau, demanding his release.
Many house-church leaders have also adopted a more public witnessing and preaching stance over the last six months, CCRC adds, abandoning their cautious approach.
They said they have sinned through their timidity, and, citing the experience of Peter and John in Acts 4, they have decided “to speak the Word of God with boldness.”
In another report published in the China Christian Council’s magazine, Tian Feng (Heavenly Wind), 60 persons, aged 20 to 60, from 38 counties in Henan Province were said to have attended a short-term training course on preaching in Keifeng last June.
The course comprised basic doctrines on the Trinity; how to read and preach the Bible; a brief history of the Chinese church, including the Three-Self Patriotic Movement; and religious policy.
The magazine also reported that 80,000 hymnals printed last June by a local Three-Self committee in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, were quickly sold out. This is the first known instance of a local committee printing hymnals.
