Franklin Graham is best know - on both sides of The Pond - as the son of Billy Graham the legendary American evangelist. Like others in his family he followed his footsteps and went into ministry building on the work of his father.

He now leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the international relief organisation Samaritan’s Purse - both major players in providing outreach and aid to people in emergency situations around the world.

He's also recently been in the UK with his 'God Loves You Tour'. Premier Christianity's Deputy Editor Emma Fowle caught up with him at this year's European Congress in Berlin where Christian leaders meet from across the continent to focus on promoting evangelism in Europe.

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

The Finnish doctor and politician Paaivi Rasanen has never been shy about promoting her Christian values even when her party - the Christian Democrats- asked her to stay silent.

As a child she attended sunday school experiencing a spiritual experience at the age of six and realising quite clearly that she too was a sinner as much as the prisoners her parents then worked with.

She became a medical doctor practising until her entry into politics in 1995, when she was elected to the Finnish Parliament for the Christian Democrats. From 2004 to 2015, Räsänen chaired the Christian Democrats, serving as a national party leader. The party makes up around 2.5 % of the 200 seats in parliament there.

She held the post of Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2015 where she oversaw internal security, migration policies and affairs with The Church.

She is a Lutheran and has authored books about topics as wide ranging as marriage, abortion and euthanasia, all of which have drawn on her faith and ethical beliefs.

In 2019 Räsänen attracted widespread attention after tweeting a Bible verse which criticised church leadership’s support of a Pride event, prompting a hate-speech prosecution under Finland’s criminal code. She was acquitted by the Helsinki District Court in March 2022 and again by the Court of Appeal in November 2023.

In this edition of The Profile she speaks to Premier Christianity's Deputy Editor Emma Fowle about her early faith and how she's held onto her Christian values despite some quite hard knocks.

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.

Alain Emerson is best know as an Irish pastor of Emmanuel Church. He is also national director of 24‑7 Prayer Ireland. Emerson grew up in Lurgan, the place he now leads at a church and attended services from an early age with very loving parents. When he was quite a young boy he gave his life to Christ because, he jokes, he felt it was important to get his destiny 'secured'. It was only as a teenager that he began to understand what sin was and what Jesus had done for him in forgiving him of it.

Emerson felt called to church leadership and married young to Lindsay when he was 25 and she was 21. Tragically their marriage was cut short after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died. Emerson says he experienced an understandable darkness during that time but also knew that God was there with him in it.

That loss has gone on to inform his church leadership and in 2017, he published Luminous Dark, a memoir recounting the grief surrounding the death of his first wife and ultimately finding a deeper, more resilient faith through Scripture, and the support of others.

In his latest book The Cruciform Leader he distils his pastoral experience into guidance for leaders, encouraging them to follow Jesus’ model—marked by self‑sacrifice and servant leadership.

He also takes aim at the celebrity culture of some Christian leaders.

"I can only imagine the Apostle Paul walking into one of our Christian conferences and going into the green room and just flipping the tables and going, what on earth has this become? You know, that's, I think you would be horrified. You know, with so much of the razzmatazz that now comes with that."

In this interview with Deputy Editor of Premier Christianity magazine Emma Fowle speaks to him about his early life, the loss that shaped his early adult life and the example we have in Christ not to fall into the pride of celebrity but crucify ourselves for one another.

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity Magazine, the UK’s leading Christian magazine. Through our publication, you’ll access thought-provoking Christian content, including the latest news, inspiring interviews, and exclusive commentary. Take advantage of our special offer - just £6 for 3 issues plus full digital access to our website and back issues. Enrich your faith journey and subscribe today at premierchristianity.com/subscribe.