American evangelist Franklin Graham has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.
The two prayed for peace to be restored between Ukraine and Russia, and for wisdom for Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and US President Donald Trump.
Graham is in Berlin this week for the European Congress on Evangelism, which is bringing together 1,000 Christian pastors and leaders from 55 countries.
“Today I had the privilege to meet with President Zelensky and have prayer with him," Graham told the congress.
"I prayed for President Putin, I prayed for him [Zelensky], and I prayed for President Trump—that God would give them wisdom and that God would give them a path forward for peace.
"The complications in Ukraine and Russia, these are very difficult, and I believe only God can solve this."
He then led congress delegates in praying together for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The congress opened on Tuesday with a call to European Christians to be bold in evangelism and unashamed of the Gospel.
“In 2025, how do we evangelize a world that is becoming more and more secular?” Graham said in his opening remarks.
“Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel. Declare it! Proclaim it! Shout it! There is Holy Spirit-filled power when we preach it.”
Graham continued saying, “If we’re going to reach Europe, we’re going to need an army, an army of evangelists—unafraid, unashamed, unapologetic, uncompromising—standing on the Word of God.”
Day two of the congress heard from respected German evangelical leader, Rev Ulrich Parzany, who lamented that biblical evangelism is disappearing from many churches as they question the authority of Scripture.
He urged pastors and ministry leaders not to dilute the power and truth of the Gospel by only preaching what people want to hear.“The Bible must be the foundation of our preaching, not the decoration,” Rev Parzany said. “The precondition of evangelism must always be the commitment to the authority and the reliability of the Bible.”
He continued, “The content of the Gospel is Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ whom the Bible testifies to—there is no other Jesus Christ.”
British theologian Dr Amy Orr-Ewing said that the Church was the answer to the spiritual hunger in young people across Europe.
“I’ve been in ministry for over 25 years and I haven’t known a moment like the moment we are in, in terms of the hunger that we see among Gen Z for truth,” she said, adding, “We need to meet that hunger with the Gospel.”
