—The Belgian government on October 20 allowed a telecast of the first evangelical program on national television, a 15-minute interview with songwriter Jan de Vuyst. Evangelicals make up less than 1 percent of the population of the heavily Catholic country and are widely viewed as a fringe sect.
—Evangelist Jim Ponder of Orlando, Florida, held six crusade meetings in government auditoriums in Kharkov and Lugansk, Ukraine, in September, resulting in more than 25,000 first-time decisions for salvation. The meetings, with preaching by Ponder, president of the Fellowship of Baptist World Ministries, were shown on state television. In May, the city of Kharkov canceled an international festival planned by Hear O Israel Ministries because the government’s religious affairs department did not approve permits.
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