Gospel Message Reaches Large Parts of Europe
ProChrist Will Be Transmitted to 1250 Venues in 21 Countries
By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service
MUNICH (ANS) — Christians in Europe are getting ready for one of the biggest evangelistic outreach programs on the continent. ProChrist will be aired daily from Munich via satellite to 1250 venues in 21 European countries March 19 – 26.
The main speaker is Rev. Ulrich Parzany of Kassel, Germany. As he explained to the evangelical news agency “idea”, interest in the campaign is remarkably high in Central and Eastern Europe.
ProChrist has 56 venues in Hungary, 55 in Slovakia, 49 in the Czech Republic, 45 in Poland and 31 in Croatia. Churches in Slovenia, Portugal and the Netherlands are participating for the first time.
A total of 3,000 local churches are involved in the program. ProChrist started in 1993 from Essen, Germany, with Billy Graham as the main speaker.
Parzany, former general secretary of the German YMCA, explained that while the cultural program will be more diverse this year, the spiritual message remains the same.
At the end of his sermon Parzany will invite those who want to make a commitment for Christ to come forward to the platform, where he will offer a prayer. According to Parzany there is widespread consensus among Christians about the importance of a public confession of faith.
In Germany, preparations for ProChrist started almost a year ago. Last May, 70 two-seater “Smart” cars displaying the ProChrist logo were sent out as “the smallest church on earth”.
Each car was equipped with a bible, a cross and a CD with hymns. The vehicles were driven by Christian volunteers and traveled all over Germany. Drivers offered transport and talked to passengers. More than 60,000 conversations about the Christian faith were registered.