Friday Flashback – Easter in Moscow

October 14, 2011

[In 2011 Keynote celebrates 45 years of ministry. We thought we would use our Friday posts to look back on God’s faithfulness through the years.]

In March of 1990 the dissolution of the Soviet Union began, resulting in 15 independent states by the end of 1991. After more than 70 years of religious oppression, the doors were beginning to open for the people of the former Soviet Union to hear a message about love and forgiveness … hope in the midst of a dark world.

In the spring of 1991 and 1992, New Life 2000 (see New Life 2000 – Manila) took the message of Jesus to Moscow. Keynote invited people from churches and other ministries to join a 300-voice choir for evangelistic performances in Moscow during Easter. The first year the choir performed at various locations throughout the city ending in our final event in The Palace of Congress on Russian Orthodox Easter. Close to 6,000 people attended the concert, which was recorded and shown numerous times on Russian national television.

To advertise the concerts, we would stand in the Metro (subway station) and hand out fliers. A short presentation of gospel was printed on the back. The Russian people would stand in line to receive a flier. It was amazing to watch. At some of the stations and at our concerts we distributed Bibles.

In 1992, the final concert took place on Red Square. Rain threatened to cancel the concert, but after we prayed and sang some praise songs we began to see the skies clear. Despite the extremely cold temperatures, thousands of people had gathered with umbrellas in hand to hear the choir from America sing.

It was not uncommon to see 50-75% of our audience members raise their hands to say they had prayed a prayer to ask Jesus to forgive them and to begin a relationship with them. God provided numerous opportunities for choir members and the Keynote staff to share the message of Jesus with people all over the city.

Watch the video below to hear a great story of how God used a frustrating situation to open the door for lifechange.


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