Choir of 2,800 Ukrainians Worshiping at 2015 Festival in Lviv

05:30   •   March 17, 2022

On Wednesday, Franklin Graham shared this throwback video from his 2015 Festival of Hope in Ukraine, where Billy Graham chaplains recently deployed to help families fleeing a war zone.

The video shows Michael W. Smith and a 2,800-person Ukrainian choir singing “Agnus Dei” in Ukrainian at the Festival of Hope in the western city of Lviv.

>>You can help bring comfort and compassion to Ukrainians in crisis.

“Just seven short years ago I held an evangelistic Crusade in Lviv, Ukraine, which is where Samaritan’s Purse has a field hospital set up today and bombings have taken place just 15 miles away,” said Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. “I was privileged to stand and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a stadium filled with people and see many respond to the invitation to put their faith and trust in Him.”

Graham called the video “incredibly powerful.”

“I am so moved to watch it again today and worship with them, wondering where each person is now. I am also moved to prayer for these people and their nation—asking that God would allow this freedom of worship to be preserved so this can happen again in Ukraine.”

>>How can you support this nation in turmoil? Here are 6 ways to pray for Ukraine.

>>Read more about Billy Graham’s and Franklin Graham’s legacy of preaching in Ukraine.