Franklin Graham met with more than 100 pastors and church leaders on Saturday while visiting the United Kingdom ahead of his evangelistic tour this spring. More than 1,800 churches across the U.K. are cooperating with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for the eight-city Graham Tour.
The event will kick off in Glasgow, Scotland, in May, followed by stops in the English cities of Newcastle, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Birmingham and London; along with a stop in Cardiff, Wales.
Though all eight tour venues recently cancelled, Franklin Graham encouraged pastors and leaders on Saturday that the event will take place. One day earlier, he also explained to reporters: “Our plans will evolve a little bit. They’ll change from what we had but we’ll be in better venues. With the help of God, people will put their hope in Jesus Christ. I hope this will strengthen churches in the U.K.”
During media interviews last weekend, the evangelist explained why he’s coming to the U.K. “The Lord laid it on my heart a couple years ago to go to the U.K. to share the message of God’s love to another generation,” said Franklin Graham.
“There are generations of people who know nothing of God, so we’re just going to preach the Gospel in the U.K. We’re beginning to get opposition because we come in the name of Jesus Christ and that is offensive to the world. That was so offensive they nailed Him to a tree—they hated Him.”
He continued, saying: “I hope this tour will ignite a fire in churches across the U.K. to evangelize. I don’t know what God’s clock is but I believe we are in the midnight hour in God’s time. So let’s get about telling men and women the Gospel. Let’s preach the Gospel from one end of this nation to the other.”
During his 2018 evangelistic events in Blackpool, England, Franklin Graham faced similar protests. Still, over three days, an estimated 9,000 people heard the Gospel in person and nearly 50,000 watched the live stream online.
Hundreds started a relationship with Jesus Christ either by walking forward at the event or indicating their decision online. Earlier in the weekend, Franklin Graham spoke of his excitement to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ through the U.K. tour. “This will be something greater than we anticipated because we come in Jesus’ Name.