Share
When Belarus’s tiny, embattled community of Evangelicals and Protestant Christians first heard about the idea of holding a mass prayer service in the capital, Minsk, they were incredulous. The idea came from the Americans and included having famed preacher Franklin Graham fly in to lead the event.
“Belarusian churches thought they were crazy, that the US didn't understand the situation in Belarus. How can you apply for a 10,000-person event?” said Natallya Vasilevich, a member of a coalition of Belarusian religious groups called Christian Vision.
“We tried to explain [the situation] to the Americans, but they said, 'No, no, you can apply anyway.' When they applied, [authorities] laughed at them,” she told RFE/RL’s Belarus Service in an interview from Germany where she lives. “But suddenly permission came.”
