American Evangelical Christian leader, the Rev. Franklin Graham, posted a message on Facebook in which he honored the late former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He died on Tuesday, at the age of 91. Gorbachev played a key role in history, from bringing an end to the cold war to contributing to freedom of worship in the former USSR.
Billy Graham, Franklin’s father, met Mikhail Gorbachev twice and talked with him about moral issues and the need for spiritual values in society. In their talks, Billy Graham thanked Mr. Gorbachev for the role he played in bringing more freedom in religion inside the Soviet Union.
Open doors for the gospel
According to Franklin, Gorbachev “made his mistakes” but he continues by saying that he is “grateful for all he did to end the Cold War peacefully and that he helped allow churches in Russia to worship freely”. Franklin says that this opened amazing doors for preaching the gospel.
Different World leaders and prominent figures also responded to the death of Mikhail Gorbachev and mourned his death. According to CBN news Gorbachev was blamed by many for the fall of the Soviet Union. By others he was seen as a man who pursued peace and was willing to take risks to accomplish it.
