A 22-day satellite evangelistic series was launched February 23 from the Seventh-day Adventist theological seminary near Bucharest, Romania.

While this event is not the first satellite evangelistic series to be conducted from Romania, it is the first to feature a Romanian evangelist, reports Brad Thorp, director of Adventist Television Network, the church’s international satellite network. Pastor Lucien Cristescu, a leader of the church in Romania, is the speaker for the series.

Thorp says that some 60,000 people are watching each night at more than 700 satellite downlink sites throughout the country. Initial figures show that between one third and one half of those watching are not church members. Thousands more are tuning in at satellite downlink sites in 12 European countries, from Bulgaria to Moldova, Hungary to France, Italy to Ireland.

The series has attracted national media attention in Romania, with 12 television channels and numerous magazines and newspapers running news stories on the event. For reports and stories about the series go to ATN’s Web site at www.agcn.org.