A SICK LITTLE GIRL
I was ten years old. My dear grandmother had died the year before and my mom was still terribly sad. She started listening to Christian programs on our old radio and in 1950 gave her heart to the Lord. We lived in a very small house and the radio could be heard easily into my bedroom. It was February 14, 1950, and I was sick. The radio was on and Mom was listening to a new preacher everyone was talking about—Billy Graham. I listened, too, and through my fever and misery, the Lord touched my heart, and I gave my life to Him.
Fifty-eight years have passed, and I still love the Lord. I lost my husband and my father. My mother is still teaching a Bible study class every Tuesday at age ninety-three. I raised two beautiful daughters, and both accepted the Lord at early ages. One is married to a wonderful pastor; my other daughter and her husband love the Lord, and one of her jobs is at a Christian radio station. I thank God for Billy Graham and his uncompromising message.
THE WORLD STILL NEEDS A “BILLY GRAHAM”
My parents came to America in 1951, Ukrainian immigrants from Germany. Because the quota to America was full, we were delayed immigration for two years, during which time my parents became Christians. When I became a Christian at age thirteen, my parents began to listen to The Hour of Decision on the radio. When we heard that Billy Graham was going to have a crusade in Chicago, we were all excited. I signed up for counseling and singing in the choir. It felt like heaven. I got my first Bible training at the counseling meetings. I also met a godly woman who mentored me after the Billy Graham crusade was over at McCormick Place. My brother came forward at the crusade, and that completed our whole family.
Years later, I got married and had three sons. My family moved to Tampa, Florida. In the 1990s, Billy Graham “followed” us to Tampa and had a crusade. I sang in the choir again and brought a nonbeliever with me. I made her sit with me in the choir. I told her she had to mouth the words, even though she didn’t know the songs, because the cameras would be on her at any given moment as the program was filmed and aired. It was very difficult for her, but she had no choice. I told her I would go spelunking with her if she came to the crusade. She liked her sinful lifestyle, but when Billy Graham spoke, she was convicted and gave her heart to Jesus.
As I grew older, my friends and family and I would talk about the method of preaching that Billy Graham used. We all agreed that it was very simple and unadulterated, yet it had you spellbound…. It was simple for the unsaved to grasp the truth, and convicting to the saved to grow further in Christ…. The world still needs a “Billy Graham.”
ON SOLID GROUND
Billy, my father, who was born in Puerto Rico and had a second-grade education, began as an usher at the 1950s Bronx crusade. He always referred to you as the most truthful preacher he has ever heard. Your messages meant so much to him, and he passed his experiences to all of his four children. Today, my husband and I do the same with our children, and we thank God for your obedience and passion for God…. We believe we are on solid ground because of your obedience to sacrifice yourself to help families all over the world. Billy, we love you!
“LET’S GO HEAR WHAT THIS YANK HAS TO SAY”
It was right after World War II when Billy came to England for a crusade. My dad said, “Let’s go hear what this Yank has to say.” Well, they did hear, and hearing is believing, so both my parents came to know the Lord. Dad was drafted to the coal mines during the war; but when the war was over, he set out to work in a machine shop. Not long after that, my dad and mom came to the States to live and settled in Pennsylvania. Dad felt the Lord calling him to be a pastor, and he did … serving the Lord for thirty-five years till the Lord called him home. Both Dad and Mom are gone now, but through their conversions, my granddad and grandmom were saved, my sister and husband and three children, my brother and wife and four children (and my brother works with Wycliffe Bible Translators and has served on the mission field for thirty years), my wife and I and three children … and I could go on and on. All of these generations touched by the love of the Lord because of this one Yank who listened to the voice of God.
THE ONLY TELEVISION PROGRAM SHE WOULD EVER WATCH
My grandmother, born in 1883, was the finest Christian I ever knew. The only television program she would ever watch was when Billy Graham spoke. She was as strong and bold as he was in urging everyone of the necessity to give their life to Jesus. Thank God for these courageous people who lived by example. My grandmother did not see most of the fruits of her efforts, but she never gave up, and most of her family is serving the Lord now. The Graham family is loved and the most highly respected family in America.
A STANDARD AND A LIGHTHOUSE
Dear Mr. Graham, thank you for your faithfulness for all of these years. You are in my prayers regularly. Your ministry has been an integral thread that has been woven into the fabric of my family. Several of my great-aunts, great-uncles, great-grandparents, and grandparents were saved and/or participated in one of your crusades. As for me, your ministry has provided instruction, guidance, and sometimes correction. I thank God that you answered the call all those years ago—but most important, you have lived a life above reproach that has served as a standard and a lighthouse for this mighty nation of ours. God bless you richly in the coming years!
YOU WERE HIS HERO
My grandparents watched you faithfully on TV as I was growing up. I continued the tradition, and when my son was four, you were his hero. He would stand outside and preach to the children in our neighbourhood, telling them that they “must be born again if they want to go to heaven to be with Jesus.” Today, he is a mighty man of God, still preaching the Good News.
We are so grateful that our children grew up with a mighty man of God (you, Billy) as their inspiration. Thank you, Billy, for having been a part of four generations of our family. My father, who never went to church, wept while watching one of your crusades just days before he died suddenly. I often wonder if he made a commitment to Christ that day. May God bless you and keep you forever in the palm of His hand.
BILLY GRAHAM AND HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE
My father became a preacher in 1966, when I was seven years old. We moved to Wyoming from Nampa, Idaho, where my dad had been going to Northwest Nazarene College. The church, on a good day, had around twenty-five in attendance. We were there every time the doors opened.
We got a TV in 1968, and while we didn’t get to watch it much, whenever Billy Graham was speaking we had to watch. Then, as soon as the service was over, we had to go to bed.
My mom used to like Hershey’s chocolate bars, and she would buy the big, family-size bars and would give each of us kids a couple of squares of chocolate while we watched Billy Graham. There were five of us kids, and we all lined up in front of the TV. Mom would always tell us that she got to go see Billy Graham when he went to Iowa in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
I would dread when I knew that Billy Graham was on TV, as that meant we would have to sit still for hours. Now, looking back, it is a great memory that we did as a family. It was also a change of pace from listening to my dad the preacher—because most times, our family was half the audience for him. Thank you, Billy Graham, for all the years, memories, and truth you have given to us.
WE ALL STOPPED WHATEVER WE WERE DOING
I was raised in southeast Georgia on a big farm with five brothers and a Christian mom and dad. We went to the Baptist church. We got our first TV when I was about nine years old. Before that, however, I would hear my dad playing a Gospel station from Ohio on his bedside radio at night.
When the Rev. Billy Graham came on TV, we all stopped whatever we were doing and watched all the people he was preaching to. So many people were there, and his words were so interesting that I could not leave the TV. I loved it—from the beginning songs until the invitation at the end. And I loved watching all those people who came to know God! I would always get closer to the TV and wish I was there, too, praying in my heart that God would hear my prayers, too.
I have kept that faith all my life, and I will be sixty-four next month. I am forever grateful to this man God picked to preach His Holy Word in so many nations. If I could meet anyone, it would be him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND THANK YOU, BROTHER GRAHAM!
Dearest Brother Graham, I was introduced to your ministry by my grandmother (via the television) when I was ten years old. My brother and I went to live with my grandparents for a short while, and I remember watching all of your crusades on television with my grandmother. I soon came to love you as much as she did. I wanted so badly to be able to go to one of your crusade revival meetings in person!
My children were invited to go with our dear neighbors and their church to one of your crusades in Fresno, California, in 2000. I threw proper manners to the wind and invited myself as well. I did not want my children to miss such a wonderful opportunity, and I wanted to see you in the worst way! Well, of course, my friends responded to my request with an immediate, “Certainly!” and I was afforded one of the most wonderful experiences of my lifetime!
I could barely make out your features … but, that was okay. I know your face by heart. I have always jumped at every opportunity to watch a rerun of one of your crusades on television. You are a beloved man of God, respected by many, and I know that we will meet one day face-to-face in heaven.
A FAMILY CHANGED
It was a Monday night under a starry sky—July 13, 1964. Billy Graham rose to the platform, and it was electrifying. In our fourteen years of life (we’re triplets), it was the biggest crowd, the biggest event we had ever been a part of. Our whole family was there: our parents, the three of us, our younger sister, and two younger brothers. We were church attenders in a fairly liberal church, so we had never heard the plan of salvation before Dr. Graham came to the podium. That night, he made it clear, even for our young understanding, that we needed a Savior.
I’m not sure what text Dr. Graham used, but what I do know is that when “Just As I Am” began, the three of us and our twelve-year-old brother all went forward. I look back on that night and realize that I didn’t completely understand all that took place. And still, almost fifty years later, I am awed and stand in wonder at the truths I learned that night. I am amazed at the complexity of a plan that offers forgiveness because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also the simplicity of a plan that says “whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Again, I’m not sure what the counselor said, but I do remember that, later that evening driving home, I looked up to the sky from the car window, knowing, knowing, that if something should happen, I was going to heaven. I am still amazed by that.
Today, all of our siblings, our children, and our grandchildren who are old enough to make a decision for Christ, have done that. In our family, we have pastors, full- and part-time missionaries, Sunday school and Bible teachers, counselors, and soul winners. That night, we made the best decision any of us could have ever made. Not only were individuals changed but the legacy of an entire family, the direction of generations, was changed. Thank you, Dr. Graham, for being faithful on July 13, 1964, to share the plan of salvation. That night, our names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and we are eternally grateful.
Kris, Karen, and Kathie
HE READ DECISION MAGAZINE COVER TO COVER
I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in 1966 at the age of twenty-eight. It was the most important decision I ever made in my life. I started attending a Christ-centered church, taking my two little girls with me. My husband was not interested and would not go with us.
I had a very strong desire to share Jesus with my father, who lived almost two thousand miles away, clear across the United States. He was not a religious man and was an alcoholic. He and my mother were divorced. I decided to send him a subscription to Decision magazine, hoping he would read it and learn about the saving grace of my precious Lord. When I attended my father’s funeral service four years later, his wife (he had remarried) told me that when Decision magazine was delivered each month, he read it cover to cover. That was all she told me.
A few weeks later, while sitting in church one Sunday morning during the worship service, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart, revealing to me that my father was with Him in heaven and I would see him again one day. I am so thankful to God for speaking to my father through His Holy Spirit. That thrilled my heart. Decision magazine had a great deal to do with that.
BILLY AND “BIG MAMA”
My grandfather (Big Daddy) died in 1963, leaving a grieving, lost widow. Big Mama didn’t drive and had never written a check or bought groceries. She was a child bride at fifteen and a widow at sixty-nine. I was one of the youngest grandchildren, and as such was able to devote more time to my Big Mama. Over the next thirteen years, we bonded as loving family members, friends, and Christians.
Because Big Mama didn’t drive, her church attendance was spotty. But she was the first person I knew who read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as if it were a novel! And she achieved that goal several times in her lifetime. And, every time—I mean every time—there was a Billy Graham crusade on television, we sat and watched. In those days, the crusades might be on every evening for two weeks. Didn’t matter! We were watching.
Big Mama would say, “Wow that Dr. Graham can really preach,” and, “Doesn’t he know the Bible?”
In those formative years of my life, I learned more about my Christian walk from my Big Mama and Dr. Graham than anybody else. For the rest of my days, I will cherish those evenings listening with Big Mama to the Billy Graham crusades. Thanks!
TOSSING TURTLES
In 1952, my mother divorced her first husband, an alcoholic, gambling womanizer. In Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1952, divorce was rare and socially unacceptable, but my mother took her one-year-old daughter, set out on her own, and became a working single mom. In 1953, she married my father, who, it turned out, also was an alcoholic, gambling man. I was born in 1954.
In 1955, Mom asked Christ into her heart at a Billy Graham crusade, and her life took a remarkable new direction. Her sins were forgiven, and she found new life. The change in her life was so dramatic that, within a year, my father accepted Christ into his life. As their faith in Christ grew over the following ten years, my father felt the call to be a pastor.
Despite pervasive financial hardships and health problems throughout her life, Mom had a joy and light that always shined brightly. The hallmark of her life was offering grace to everyone. She judged no one and treated strangers as lifelong friends. She brought soldiers stationed at a nearby army base to our home for Thanksgiving, because they had nowhere to go. When adulterous women were thrown out of their homes by their husbands, Mom brought them into our home and gave them refuge. One stranger that Mom brought home stole her diamond wedding ring from the windowsill over the kitchen sink, where she put it when she washed dishes. After she had fed this stranger breakfast, washed the dishes he’d dirtied, and changed the bed linens he’d used, he repaid her by lifting her ring. He then said his good-byes, never to be heard from again. Even losing her only prized jewelry didn’t change Mom’s behavior toward strangers. She never let anyone rob her of her joy and commitment to be like Christ.
Mom passed away in 2003 at the age of seventy-four. More so than anyone else, my mom was the most Christlike human I’ve ever known—and she was a spiritual offspring of Billy Graham!
When I think of the impact that Billy Graham had on my mom, I am reminded of the boy who was trying to rescue hundreds of sea turtles that had washed up onto the beach after a storm. A giant sandbar had formed and the turtles couldn’t make it back to the water. They were dying from the heat and sun exposure. One at a time, the boy would pick up a turtle and carry it hundreds of yards across the sandbar to the water’s edge and release it. A man came along and said, “Son, what are you doing?” After the boy explained the task, the man said, “Well, son, you’re wasting your time. You’re not going to be able to save a
ll these turtles, and it really doesn’t matter.” The boy replied, “Well, mister, if this turtle was you, I bet it would matter.”
I imagine there were times when the enormous task that Reverend Graham accepted from God’s call seemed impossible … that he couldn’t reach everyone who needed the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. I want Billy Graham to know that he reached my mom … and it mattered.
Thank You, Billy Graham … for Your Personal Touch on My Life
WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE BILLY GRAHAM
Allow me to write these few words in the form of a personal letter to a man who has, for most of my life, occupied a unique place in my heart. As I humbly try to share why this is, I think many will understand.
I was born in the mountains of Switzerland and raised by two wonderful parents who gave me not only their love but also more than anybody needed in love, guidance, education, and comforts of all kinds. They worked very hard and sacrificially for many years.
We were taken to church and taught to pray. At times we were read the Bible. God was there, but not close or personal. As I reached my early teens, I grew restless in my heart, not knowing why. I had all the world could possibly offer, and yet no peace, no contentment, and no joy. Gradually, I realized that my need was a spiritual need. I had nowhere to go to find answers; I didn’t even know the questions to ask. I knew down deep that neither my parents nor my Sunday school teachers had the answers—nor anyone in the church. At least, if they did, they didn’t seem able to communicate it to me.
Thank You, Billy Graham Page 3