“And then he bowed his head and prayed with me: ‘Jesus, you are Lord and I commit my life to you.’” Not necessarily an unusual testimony, except for the fact that the man relating this story was a Messianic Jew from Israel and the person praying with him was a Muslim. Then there was the head of a Polish hooligan gang who had come to the city to pick a fight. Instead, he ran into a Slovakian Christian who asked him if he was interested in knowing more about a personal relationship with Jesus. After a couple of hours of talking with each other late at night on the streets of Vienna, the Pole bowed his head and publically commited his life to Jesus. Wai from mainland China had given her life to the Lord 2 years ago, but had eventually fallen away from God. She ran into Theresa and Craig during a short visit to Vienna. After a couple of ensuing talks over the next couple of days, Wai decided to recommit her life to Christ. These are but a few of the many testimonies of the participants in the 3 week “Christen Am Ball” (Christians on the Ball) outreach which took place during the Euro2008 European Football Championships from June 8th to June 29th in Vienna, Austria.

For the first time ever in the history of the city, Christians from almost every church background (Catholic, Lutheran, Messianic Jew, Pentecostal, evangelical, etc. etc.) banded together to reach the residents and guests in Vienna during a 3 week concerted evangelistic outreach. Together with Craig Anderson from YWAM Austria, I was involved in helping to recruit, organize and oversee the approximately 300 Christians from 25 other nations who joined the Viennese churches in this historic endeavor.

The evangelistic program included a large “Peace Mile” (100 man tent and stage program near the Viennese “Fan Mile” where tourists and football fans could “chill out” and hear the Gospel), two large evangelistic family festivals in a park near the soccer stadium, evangelistic dramas and musical performances in some of the largest cathedrals in the city and hundreds of conversations with people on the street about God. The teams reported that hardly a day of the outreach went by without someone praying with them on the walking streets, in the churches, in the parks, and in other public areas. The openness of the general public to the Gospel was simply amazing.

The outreach concluded with a 7 hour “Festival of Hope” on June 29th in St. Stephens Cathedral. Cardinal Schönborn declared the church building on this day to be a “House for all Christians” and cancelled all other activities in the Church for the entire day. He also allowed the inside of the ancient cathedral to be redecorated with special lighting, a complex sound system and with two stages for performing during this nationally televised spectacle. An estimated 20,000 people attended all or part of the event.

For many, the highlight of the Festival of Hope happened on the stage in the middle of the church directly following a sermon from an Austrian Lutheran pastor. Church leaders from all the mainline churches and evangelical denominations walked up on the stage and formed a circle. They then stretched out their hands towards the thousands of people present and blessed them. As one participant put it: “This event has changed our perception of the Church in our country.”

Having Hope and being positive about the future isn’t easy in a negative, hostile, and cynical world. We are confronted daily with many dooms day prophets with bad news, through people we meet and through the media. We're confronted with the decay of moral values and people giving up on faith.Who are you listening too?  Read more in the ACTS Team Newsletter, May 2008