Life treated me quite badly, even after this life-changing episode. Space does not allow me tell everything, but I have to confess that I reacted in ungodly ways at times. But God has been faithful in restoring me to fellowship with Himself time and again.
I’m extremely thankful to Dr. Graham for not only leading me to Jesus Christ but also for being a role model for me ever since God saved me. His humility, integrity, and faithfulness are more attractive to me than his great accomplishments. His compassion for people, and his love for dear Mrs. Ruth Graham and their children, are so appealing to me that I want to emulate him. He’d be the third person I’d meet (and hug) in heaven, after my Savior and my mother. Once again, my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Graham for leading me to “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
GOD IS SO GOOD
The crusade was shown on a huge screen at our local ice rink. When Billy Graham gave the invitation to follow Jesus, I could not stay in my seat. I had gone to church all my life, but I had never been told about Jesus in this way. The experience has changed my whole life and my family’s life. Praise God for Billy and Ruth Graham.
In 2006, I went to North Carolina as part of the Scotland Connection group. We were blessed to be allowed to visit and tour the Billy Graham headquarters. Dr. Graham sent us a message, which his sister read to us. I felt this experience was so special in view of having been saved through his ministry.
SEARCHING
Unfortunately, I was too young to know anything about Billy Graham when he was doing his crusades. It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I heard him speak on TV. I thought he was a powerful speaker, and there was a warmth to him that was comforting. I remembered something he said that had me thinking for ten or fifteen years. He said he knew that if he died he was sure he was going to heaven—not because of what he had done but because of what Christ did for us. I thought, How can he be so sure? I wasn’t sure whether I was going to heaven, yet I believed in Christ also. So I put that in the back of my mind for many years.
My dad got sick in 1999 and had a stroke due to many years of abusing alcohol. Even though he was a recovering alcoholic for twenty-five years, he struggled from time to time and went on drinking binges. As a result of the stroke, he was in a coma for four months, and then he died.
It really had me wondering what God’s plan was for our lives. It seemed to me that we were just here to “live a good life” and then die. What was the purpose of that if we were to struggle our whole lives with problems or addictions? I read the book Left Behind, which made me wonder whether I was really going to go to heaven or would be left behind during the Tribulation. I thought, How can I live a life pleasing to God so I would have a guarantee of going to heaven?
I asked myself, “Who do I know who leads a life pleasing to God?” and Mr. Graham was the only person who came to mind. He was the only evangelist out there that you never heard anything questionable about. I also remembered what he had said about going to heaven, and I also wanted to be sure. I thought if I read something about him, I could find out where he was coming from, and then I would know what I should be doing.
I read Mr. Graham’s autobiography, Just As I Am. It amazed me how he let God be in control of every aspect of his life. He opened up my eyes to a lot of things, but mostly that I needed to seek God and let Him work in my life. I also read Peace with God, The Holy Spirit, and Facing Death and the Life After, by Mr. Graham. I finally gave my life to Christ in March 2002, and now I know for sure that I will someday be in heaven for eternity with Christ.
THE BABY HAS GROWN!
How did I become a Christian? Well, I often say, “I am a Billy Graham baby!” I had just started my nursing career in 1966 and was beginning to wonder whether I would make the grade. An old school friend invited me to go with her to Earl’s Court to hear Billy Graham. I had never been to such an event before, so I agreed to go.
As a very young child, I can remember an experience of something or someone bigger than I. As I grew up, I felt drawn to discovering God, and I had even asked my non-churchgoing parents if I could go to church. I later sang in the choir and helped in the Sunday school, but I did not know a personal God.
Earl’s Court 1966 became a turning point in my life when I went forward to accept Jesus as my personal Savior. I have no idea what Billy Graham preached—all I know is the Holy Spirit convicted me of my need of Jesus. Thank you, Billy, for being obedient to God’s call to come to the UK.
What since? Following Earls Court, I was referred to a Bible-believing church near the hospital where I was training. I had a great grounding in the foundation of God’s Word, and after qualifying as a nurse and midwife, I moved to my current church, where the Holy Spirit is using me now in prayer ministry.
Billy, this “baby” of yours was not “stillborn,” but is still growing in Christ. Thank you!
THANK GOD I’M SAVED!
I was sixteen when I attended the crusade with my cousins. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. In spite of all the bad decisions I’ve made, by far this is the best one. Please give my love to Brother Billy, for he is an inspiration to us all. We love him, and we need him. Peace be to you all!
CHANNEL SURFING
I was flipping through the TV channels to see what was on. I heard you speaking and decided to listen. I was raised in a Lutheran church but had never heard anything about the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I knelt before the TV and gave my heart to Jesus. I sent for your lessons that were available at that time. I have been to one of your crusades and have watched you on TV over the years. I also read Decision magazine for many years. I thank you for bringing me to the Lord; I love Him more than I can ever say. Again, may I say thank you, Billy, for your faithfulness to the Lord.
JOB WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!
I’m not sure of the exact year, but I will never forget the night Billy Graham allowed the Lord to reach through him and grab hold of my heart! I was asked to help a friend volunteer at a Billy Graham crusade to sell sodas in the stands of the stadium in Orlando, Florida. I agreed, not knowing that God had planned this entire event for me (and I am sure for many others). While selling sodas, I heard the message Rev. Graham delivered and was touched beyond control. The next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the field asking Jesus Christ to enter my heart. And He certainly did!
Though I did not surrender my entire life to Him at that time, He was faithful to remain in me, and the Holy Spirit continued to lovingly tug on my heart. I went through some very difficult times, including two divorces, before the Lord gently reminded me that all I needed was in Him and with Him, just as Rev. Graham had told me so many years before. I found myself in church that next Sunday and completely and totally gave my entire soul, mind, and body to Jesus! Besides the night when Rev. Graham allowed me to receive Jesus into my heart, this was the best day of my life! Since that time, the Lord has blessed me beyond belief. He has brought me a wonderful, God-fearing husband. My home and my family are serving the Lord.
At times, servanthood is difficult, and at times it would be easier to let others reach the lost. However, I am often reminded how a faithful servant by the name of Rev. Billy Graham touched my heart and was used to save me from an eternity in hell and allowed me to walk in the glory of all God has planned for me. How could I not push forward and do my utmost to touch at least one other person as Rev. Graham has touched millions.
Thank you, Rev. Graham, for being a faithful servant, for giving so much of yourself and your family to reach lost souls. Your reward will certainly be your entering heaven and being greeted by the Lord with, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!,” which is so well deserved by you!
SALVATION!
I was only twelve or thirteen when I sang in the choir the year that the crusade came to Birmingham, Alabama. My mother had faithfully brought me to church every Sunday, and I loved Sunday school. However, it had not occurred to me that salvation was something I had to as
k for! I loved singing and enjoyed being in the crusade choir. When Brother Graham preached that night, I went forward and prayed the sinner’s prayer. The ministry sent me some material after that to help me along my journey.
I will forever be grateful to my heavenly Father for the obedience of Dr. Billy Graham! My salvation has lasted through all of my ups and downs. I still remember the joy of my salvation as a young girl. Wow! God had spoken to me, and I loved being able to feel Him with me. I still feel the wonderful “knowing” that God is always with me! Thanks!
WALKING THE SAWDUST TRAIL
I was a young teenager and at a church camp in Winona Lake, Indiana. There was a Billy Sunday tabernacle there, and this new evangelist was preaching. We got to go to see him, and I got saved that night. It took a lot of years for me to learn that I had to grow up and be an adult Christian, but by the grace of God I did. Years later, we saw Billy Graham again in Columbus, Ohio, but I forget the date. Thank you, Billy, for being the person you are. It says a lot when no one can dig up any “dirt” on you. I know that you had strict guidelines for yourself and your worship team. We praise God for that. By the way, my husband also got saved—at the Columbus crusade.
Linda
YOU GOT ME WHEN I WAS READY
My story is short and sweet. I watched you on your TV specials off and on. There was not a crusade that came near my hometown. One evening, I felt that you were looking at me through the camera, and I nervously called the phone number on the screen to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and repent of my sins, to be born again. The operator was friendly and led me in prayer, just as you said. I received some literature in the mail soon afterward. I am saved because the Holy Spirit was working on me that evening, and I was open to your words of salvation and forgiveness. You got me when I was ready and willing to pick up the phone. Thank the Lord! I pray that many, many people will continue to come to Jesus before it’s too late.
Carol
MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Thank you, Dr. Graham, for faithfully preaching God’s truth for decades. I watched you on TV growing up. My parents took me to Sunday school and church regularly as a child and teenager. I went through confirmation as a teen and became a member of my local church. In 1966, I entered the US Air Force. My parents gave me a small Bible to take with me as I left home. One Sunday evening, in the fall of 1967, I was alone in my barracks room at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, and I started reading my Bible. I didn’t get very far in Genesis before I quit reading because I “wasn’t getting anything out of it.” I then turned on my radio and was tuning across the stations and heard a voice that I recognized as Billy Graham’s, so I listened. As Dr. Graham was speaking from Matthew, he made a comment that just because a person goes to church and is a member of a church, it doesn’t mean Jesus will automatically receive you into heaven. Those words laid heavy on me, and at the conclusion of the radio program, I knelt at my bunk as Dr. Graham prayed and extended the invitation. It was that night that Jesus entered my heart as my Lord and Savior, and someday He will receive me into His heaven. Praise God! I went on in my life to receive my ordination into the pastoral ministry and am still serving our Lord from a small church in Ohio. Thank you, Dr. Graham, for being an important part of my spiritual journey!
Ron
BECAUSE OF YOUR FAITHFULNESS
Because of your faithfulness, I found Jesus Christ in 1986, watching a crusade on TV. I had been curious and had gone to church as a child; but as I got into my teenage years, I took my own path, which led to alcohol, drugs, and an abusive marriage that just topped my life off. I didn’t care whether I lived or died. Drugs and alcohol were a way to cope with life.
I got involved with someone I met in a bar and had a two-year relationship that ended when I became pregnant. I was now a single parent, working in bars and using drugs to get me through, until one night, out of curiosity, I began to watch your crusade on TV. At the end, I remember that you asked people to accept Jesus as their Savior, and right there I bowed my head and asked Jesus to come into my life. I felt the presence of God in that room that night and called my sister-in-law to let her know that I had gotten saved. Her question was “saved from what?” Hell, I explained. I just received Jesus as my Savior watching Billy Graham. That was twenty years ago, and there have been ups and downs during that time, but I have always known that, no matter what, God was with me.
Thank you, Billy Graham, for your faithfulness to God. Because of you, I was saved from the fires of hell, and one day I hope to be able to tell you in person what you have meant to me.
TWICE BLESSED
Billy Graham came to our town when I was a young girl. I went forward at the crusade, which was held at the Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, California. After years of mistakes and falling away from the Lord, I found myself going through a sad divorce. Thankfully, Billy Graham came back to Fresno again. It had been more than thirty years, and I went forward again, promising the Lord this time that he would be the center of my life. I have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and my walk with Christ has been a daily learning experience. I feel like I’m finally home. Thank you, Billy, for being His messenger all these years. God bless you.
“WHAT ABOUT ME?”
My sons and I were watching Billy Graham on television when we were in Washington, DC. At the end, when Billy Graham was having the altar call and the number was put on the screen for people to call, my oldest son (who was six years old) asked me, “Mom, are you going to call?” I told him I was already saved, and he said, “What about me?” I told him you have to understand what accepting Christ means before you can give your life to Him. He replied, “I am ready.” So I led him to the Lord after watching Billy Graham. My son is now serving in the US Navy, and I am very proud of him. I thank the Lord for you, Brother Graham, for all your wonderful work around the world. Also, I rededicated my life at one of your crusades here in Atlanta. May the blessings of the Lord continue to be with you and your family.
Thank You, Billy Graham … for Reaching Me with Your Books
THANK YOU
I just want to thank you for the book offers you have. Your books have been such a blessing in my life. My finances never would have allowed me to purchase them, but the fact that you send them for free is so deeply appreciated. Each book has helped me in one situation or another in my walk with the Lord. Thank you for being Kingdom minded. All that you do is truly a blessing. I would think you will definitely hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
“BUY THAT BOOK”
I’ve loved reading since I was a small child, and so it was fitting that my difficulties in raising three little children virtually alone took me to a Christian bookstore, twenty-eight years ago, on a doctor’s recommendation. I had avoided such stores in the past, but wanting to follow the full course of the doctor’s “prescription,” I went as he suggested. The doctor’s recommended Christian counseling book was there, but more important was a table display I saw as I walked in the door. The book had a black cover and in large red letters said, “How to Be Born Again.”
Boy, I thought, that’s what I need. I moved past the display and picked up my assigned reading, but as I walked past that table again to check out, I felt a tremendous pressure in my mind and body: Buy that book.
I replied in my head, I’m too embarrassed to buy that book. Too bad. There was no way I was going to get out of that store without that book. Eventually I picked it up and tried to laugh it off with the young girl at the counter. I remember how she looked at me like, “You’re in for it.” But she smiled sweetly throughout the transaction, and off I went.
The book went into my top drawer at home, but two days later, with the inner pressure building again, I called a sitter, grabbed the book, jumped in the car, found a great private parking place, and read How to Be Born Again cover to cover.
After I went through the steps in the final chapter (even though I wasn’t sure about this “sin” thing), Jesus
came into my heart. It didn’t seem to matter to Him that I didn’t completely “get it.” Nevertheless, my cup runneth over … tears of joy, love, and gratefulness poured forth. And then Jesus spoke to me: “Go home and do the best job you can.”
I couldn’t wait to get back to the house. When the door opened, my two-, four-, and five-year-olds came running into my arms, and I could hardly believe the three gifts I held in my arms. No longer feeling overwhelmed by responsiblity, I was overwhelmed with gratefulness beyond measure. Absolute pure joy. My children had always been so wonderful, no terrible twos, no discipline problems, just loving; but the handling of the maintenance left me so tired. Their dad was not involved, but none of that mattered anymore. I floated, and the whole journey changed.
My kids are now in their thirties. They continue to be so wonderful. I can’t imagine having raised them without Jesus. During those growing up years, I wrote Billy to thank him. He wrote back and said how much the note had meant to him, for he hadn’t been feeling very well lately. Can you imagine?
I am now married to a wonderful born-again man, who is also another of God’s gifts. He certainly knows the Billy Graham story, as do all my children. I owe my life to Jesus and to Billy Graham, whom Jesus used to change my life. Mr. Billy Graham, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am forever grateful.
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