© 2014 by Jerushah Armfield, Basyle Tchividjian, and Aram Tchividjian
The compilers are represented by Bruce R. Barbour, Literary Management Group, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee.
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Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Inspiring My Christian Walk
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Your Spiritual Legacy
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Your Personal Touch on My Life
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for the Time I Met You in Person
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for the Day I Got Saved
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Reaching Me with Your Books
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Reaching Me with Your Movies
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Setting Such a Good Example
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Your Classic Crusades
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Helping Me Deal with Death
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Helping My Marriage
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Touching My Life When I Was a Child
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for How You Explained the Gospel
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Planting Seeds of Faith
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Helping Me Find Jesus
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Bringing Me Back to Jesus
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for How You Touched My Family
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Helping Me Deal with Adversity
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Saving My Life
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Everything
Thank You, Billy Graham …
for Sharing Ruth with Us
Foreword
As the son of Ronald Reagan, I have enjoyed a unique perspective on the ministry of Billy Graham.
People call him “America’s pastor,” and with good reason. We’ve had presidents, including my father, who knew that they could pick up the phone—any time of the day or night—and Billy Graham would pray with them. And he wasn’t only praying with and for presidents. If Billy Graham had not been interceding regularly for our whole nation, where would the United States be today?
I’ve had the privilege of knowing Dr. Graham and his family since my father was governor of California. And it was in two of Billy Graham’s California crusades that I experienced moments I will never forget.
In 1985, during a ten-day crusade at Anaheim, I watched Billy Graham preach to a full stadium. I had walked away from the church years before, but had recently been drawn back by the influence of my wife and the ministry of Pastor Jack Hayford of The Church on the Way. Billy’s message that night was so powerful and compelling, I almost felt badly that I’d accepted Christ just weeks before!
Nearly twenty years later, in 2004, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association asked me to speak during his Los Angeles crusade. My first thought was that his staff had called the wrong Reagan—but if Billy Graham asks you to give a testimony, it really is like a message from God. With an earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit’s help, I told the huge Rose Bowl crowd my own story of God’s grace and forgiveness.
“As you listen to Dr. Graham tonight,” I said in my wrap-up, “I want you to think of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He’s standing at the doorway of your life with His arms wide open, waiting to give you a hug.”
Turning from the podium, I came face-to-face with Billy Graham, who shook my hand and said, “Michael, you should have stayed out there and kept speaking!” I was so grateful to hear those words from a man who has accomplished so much in his long life of service to God.
Now, in this book, we all have the opportunity to say “thank you, Billy Graham.” Millions of people have heard him preach the gospel, and many of them have posted messages of gratitude on the web site ThankYouBilly.com. In the pages to follow, you’ll read real-life stories of people who are thankful that Dr. Graham helped them find Jesus … inspired their Christian walk … touched the lives of their loved ones … and set such an example of honesty and integrity.
Billy always told us that “God loves you.” Thank you, Billy Graham, for faithfully communicating that simple, but incredibly profound, message. Billy, we love you!
MICHAEL REAGAN
Author of Twice Adopted and the New Reagan Revolution:
How Ronald Reagan’s Principles Can Restore America’s Greatness
Introduction
For as long as we can remember, people from all walks of life have approached us to say they came to know Jesus Christ through the work and ministry of Billy Graham. Beyond all the White House visits, magazine cover photos, worldwide crusades, books, movies, and television appearances, the true testimony of his life are the masses of ordinary people whose lives have been transformed by God through an ordinary man we’ve always known simply as “Daddy Bill.”
As grandchildren, we have been blessed to spend more time with Daddy Bill than most who have come to know and love Billy Graham during his seventy-plus years of public ministry. After the cameras have been turned off and the crowds have gone home, he is our grandfather. We know him as a man who simply loves people, who is as comfortable conversing with a cab driver or busboy as he is with a president, CEO, or movie star. And we can honestly say it
never mattered where he was or what he was doing—Daddy Bill always had time for us. We consider ourselves so very blessed.
Not only has Daddy Bill been a blessing to us, but what a joy to know that he has blessed and inspired countless other people, in their own times and places and ways. Daddy Bill has affected literally millions of individuals around the world since he first entered the ministry so many years ago. With every changed life comes a story worth sharing—stories from those who sat in the stadiums, watched him on television, listened to him on the radio, read his many books, or enjoyed a personal encounter of some sort.
Daddy Bill’s own story is best told by the people God touched through his life. Through the website ThankYouBilly.com, hundreds of people have shared stories of hope, forgiveness, joy, redemption, and God’s amazing grace. These are stories of how God chose an ordinary North Carolina farm boy for an extraordinary purpose. Whether they address him as Rev. Graham, Dr. Graham, Mr. Graham, Brother Graham, or just plain Billy, these precious individuals all share the joy of knowing Jesus through Daddy Bill’s preaching.
These stories cover many years—several decades, actually—of our grandfather’s ministry. They come from many states and several countries. They describe people of all ages—from young children to the elderly—who were impacted by the simple but profound gospel message communicated by Daddy Bill. The stories have been lightly edited for readability, but retain the voice of each contributor and the raw power of their faith experiences. Last names have been dropped to protect the privacy of those who contributed, and not everyone who responded on the website provided a name. But every testimony you’re about to read came from someone whose life was touched by Daddy Bill.
As we compiled this powerful book, each of us found ourselves encouraged to examine our own faith. Our hope is that as you read these amazing stories of God’s love, you will also be encouraged to examine your own faith and understanding of the gospel and the indescribable love of Jesus.
Through the dozens of testimonies that follow, you’ll be encouraged by the ringing affirmation that God is the God of all comfort and strength. Most importantly, we pray that this book will remind you of the most beautiful truth that Daddy Bill so often told packed stadiums, “God loves you!”
We are so grateful to God for Daddy Bill, and the amazing love and awesome power of the God who introduced this man to us and to the world.
JERUSHAH ARMFIELD
BOZ TCHIVIDJIAN
ARAM TCHIVIDJIAN
Thank You, Billy Graham … for Inspiring My Christian Walk
ALWAYS THERE
I first heard Billy Graham when he was preaching in a crusade on the radio. I felt God’s presence through the message and came under the influence of Billy’s preaching from that night on. As a youngster, I wanted to be a preacher like Billy; my sister thought I would be. Well, I never became a Billy Graham, but I did become an ordained minister and am now completing my career as a Veterans Administration chaplain.
My tribute to Billy Graham is that he has been a constant in my life. I have heard him preach numerous times over the radio and have seen many of his crusades on TV. It seems that Billy Graham has always been there for me, whether I was watching him on TV, listening to him on the radio, or reading an article in Decision magazine. I never heard Billy Graham speak without being inspired or challenged to a closer walk with God. The Holy Spirit’s presence in Billy’s sermons has always uplifted me and encouraged me in my daily walk with God. The simple message of the Gospel that he preaches is so clear and convicting.
I once got to meet him personally. While at the Jackson, Mississippi, crusade, he visited Reformed Theological Seminary, where I was attending at the time. Our whole study body was invited to hear him speak to the local clergy in Jackson. George Beverly Shea sang, and Billy preached a message to encourage us pastors and would-be pastors. After the sermon, I had the privilege of shaking his hand. He looked more like Christ to me than any other person I have ever met.
I don’t know how it would have been not having Billy Graham’s touch on my life through his ministry. I truly think that God gave him to the church as the “Evangelist of the World.” There may be other evangelists, but there will never be one of the stature of Billy Graham. Thank you, Billy, for faithfully preaching, teaching, and living out God’s Word in your life.
Ron
DEDICATED FOR MINISTRY
My youth director took a busload of teenagers to your crusade at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1963. I was thirteen and seeking to know God more deeply. I remember we sat in a top section, and it was a long way down, but I was determined to make a public statement of my desire to completely follow Jesus.
I was raised in a Christian home but knew I had to make a personal decision for myself. My mother had desired to sing in your choir, but she was at my father’s bedside in the hospital. The week your crusade ended, my father died of a stroke. Though it was a tragedy to lose my earthly father, your crusade reminded me that my heavenly Father would now come alongside me.
I went on to start a Youth for Christ club at my public junior high school, worked at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship book table at my secular university, taught in an inner-city Christian school, graduated from seminary, became an ordained minister, and served as a hospital chaplain.
In November 2005, I was privileged to serve as a ministerial counselor at your crusade at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Near the end of the week, a thin, fair-haired young man (“Roman”) sat down next to me. I learned that he was from Russia and had been in the country for just a year. He had seen the crusade ads in a store and had come on his own. He had never heard of Billy Graham but was curious to attend such a large public, religious gathering. He said he had never accepted the atheistic curriculum taught to him in Russia but believed there was a living God. He had sneaked into the backs of cathedrals to try to experience God. Roman accepted Christ that night at the crusade and was delighted to receive the Bible on CD-ROM. I couldn’t help but think that someday he will take his faith back home to Russia.
Debbie
I FOUND PURPOSE
As a restless fourteen-year-old, with no understanding of God and no awareness of Jesus, I saw no purpose to my life. Then my sister invited me to a free film, which turned out to be Oil Town USA. I remember little of the story and none of the facts about Jesus, but I do remember that these people clearly had a purpose and it seemed to be connected with Jesus. A few weeks later, I went to the Harringay crusade and discovered that this Jesus was real and important! Now, over fifty years later, twenty-seven as an ordained minister, I thank Billy Graham for showing me the purpose of my life—serving Jesus!
SALVATION IN SOUTH FLORIDA
In the spring of 1985, my mother and I went to your crusade. I went forward, and my mother said she accepted Jesus in her seat. (She was a very private person and had cancer at the time.) When she died in January 1986, it was nice to know I would see her again in heaven. Her last words to me (in German) were, “ ’Til we meet again.”
After that, my sons accepted Jesus, and last year I believe my dad called on Jesus before he died. Thank you for leading us to Christ!
It will be great to have the family together in heaven. I’ll introduce you to them when we’re all there, to thank you.
God’s blessings to you, your family, and all the people who sacrificed so my family and I would be saved through Jesus Christ.
PRAYER
During my time at Moody Bible Institute (1954 to 1957), Billy Graham came to speak to the student body. The class I had before chapel let out early so we could get good seats. I was in the third row, center section of Torrey-Gray Auditorium. I had been to his crusades before in Upstate New York—I think Syracuse and Rochester—but this was the first time I could really see him.
What was most impressive to me was that he talked about the importance of prayer to his ministry, and the humility he showed as he talked to us.
I also heard George Beverly
Shea that night at Moody. He sang “How Great Thou Art,” which was still fairly new.
Thank you both for the encouragement you’ve been in my life.
GOD’S HUMBLE SERVANT
It seems as if Billy has always been with us. It is because he has spoken the Word of God with humility and power and brought God’s Gospel and timeless truth wherever he has preached to any and all who would listen.
My family and I saw Billy twice in the mid-1990s, in Louisville and Indianapolis, and came forward both times to dedicate our lives to Jesus. Billy always gave the same message of saving grace, how we all are loved by God “just as we are,” and how we can find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ!
Thank you, Billy and Ruth, and all those related to this wonderful man, for your many, many years of devoted service to God and the speaking of His glorious Good News throughout the world!
IT ALL STARTED WITH YOU!
Mr. Graham, when I heard you were coming to Cleveland to our “old” stadium, I asked my girlfriend Mary if she would go with me, and she agreed. At the time, my divorce had come full circle—meaning that the man I left my husband for had left me for another woman. Surprise, surprise. Well, I was, and I was devastated. When you made the call, I went forward. At the time, I was also drinking heavily and doing drugs to ease the pain—and because I thought I liked it. I was blessed by you through many tears.
I would love to tell you that I lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, Satan is alive and well and was living in my brain. So although I picked up my Bible after many years of not reading it, I was justifying my drinking because my drink of choice was wine and I would say that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water to wine. I also found the passage about “enjoying the green herb of the earth” (and I’m sure you know what I did with that). So I was drinking and drugging for another nine years.
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