Michael Youssef, 75, pastors the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born in Egypt, and raised in Lebanon, and recently he had an extraordinary evangelist outreach in Egypt, the Christian Post reports.

The event was organized by Leading the Way, which Youssef heads. Working in conjunction with churches in Cairo, they were expecting about 6,000 people to attend.

However, they were shocked when the attendance nearly tripled, as over 17,000 Egyptians showed up at the rally held in November.

In fact, more people accepted Christ, 7,850, than they originally expected would attend. Some churches reported that their attendance doubled as a result.

This response was unexpected considering that Egypt, a Muslim-dominated country, still has severe restrictions in place against Christianity and particularly evangelistic outreaches.

Youssef was quick to add that the success of the meetings was not due to him, but rather the hunger in people’s hearts for God.

“It was so massive in terms of a Christian gathering, that nobody can take credit,” Youssef told the Christian Post. “They did not come to hear me; they did not come because of this or that. They came because there was a hunger.”

That hunger showed up in an unusual way, as people were reluctant to leave after the service had ended.

“There were masses of people at midnight who did not want to leave; they just stayed, singing and praying,” Youssef explained. “There is such a presence of the Holy Spirit as we have never experienced before. We know this is a God thing; it was the Holy Spirit who did the work.”

In light of recent events in the Middle East, Youssef decided that he would speak on the end times, which would be of interest to Muslims, as Islam has an end-times scenario as well.

Youssef focussed particularly on the predictions that Jesus gave about the end times found in Matthew 24, where Jesus warned about the labor pains in the end times.

While there have always been earthquakes and wars, Youssef said, he noted that the intensity is definitely starting to increase.

“I looked at what our Lord is saying, and He basically gave six labor pains … and all six things that our Lord says will happen have been happening all these years. Earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars and all of these things, are now happening in shorter and shorter intervals, greater frequency, and more intensity.”

Of course, this year not only saw a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria in February but there was also another earthquake in Morocco on Oct. 7, 2023, the same day Hamas invaded Israel.

Youssef also discussed the alignment that is taking place between Russia, China, and Iran, an evil axis predicted in the Bible.

“When you see Russia and China and Iran are working together, that’s just something that has not happened before,” Youssef explained.

By the unexpected number of people attending the rally and the response to the message, people are clearly being shaken by the recent events.

Though there has been a move towards religious freedom in Egypt in recent years, hindrances still remain for non-Islamic groups.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, blasphemy laws still exist in the country and are being used against Christians and other groups.

Egyptian courts are still actively prosecuting people of other faiths and those promoting religious freedom. Many are sitting in prison with charges still pending and court hearings being continually delayed. As well, the government still severely restricts worship expression for non-Muslim groups.

READ: Michael Youssef says evangelistic event in Egypt saw thousands of conversions, discusses End Times