Thank You, Billy Graham

by Jerushah Armfield

  GRATEFUL TO “DADDY BILL” AND THE GRAHAM FAMILY

  I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home, so I learned early what it means to walk with the Lord. As a young girl, I went with my parents to a Billy Graham revival in New York City. I will never forget this experience; it’s as if it happened yesterday. It helped me understand how important it is to always remain close to Jesus. It left a lifelong impression on me.

  After graduating college and getting married, my husband and I moved to Florida. I was further blessed by meeting and becoming dear friends with Gigi Graham and her family. To this day, we remain close. Little did I know, as a young girl at the Billy Graham revival, that one day I would cross paths with one of “Daddy Bill’s” daughters! As I think about this, as believers we really are all one family. Someday this family will join together with our heavenly Father….

  Amen!

  MY TESTIMONY

  I was a senior in high school in 1970. I was one of the few long-haired kids at my school. With the divorce of my parents, the Vietnam War, the drug scene, etc., I was looking for the answers to life. I met a fellow classmate at school one day. It was the first day of one of my classes, and this guy was sitting across from me with a Bible on the table in front of him. My first thought was, Oh no!

  We talked a little and I told him that if religion was good for him it was okay with me. Throughout the semester, we got to know each other, and he invited me to church many times. Eventually, he won and I went to church with him a few times. He gave me a small Gideon Bible, and I took it home with me. I finally started to read the Gospel of John. I read that Bible a little bit just about every night. The more I read it, the more I thought this Jesus guy was right on! I still hadn’t made a decision to believe in Christ.

  One day, my friend and some of the folks at the church invited me to a Billy Graham crusade in Oakland. By that time it was 1971. We were at the Oakland Coliseum, and it was packed. Billy Graham preached that day on how King David’s son Absalom was caught up in his long hair. He then went into the Gospel message. At the end of the sermon, thousands went forward to receive Christ. I was blown away. I did not go down with the others, but I made a decision in that stadium seat to accept Christ and follow Him.

  After the crusade, I started attending church regularly with my friend from school. It wasn’t long before we both graduated from high school. We had become close friends by then. He decided to go to San Jose Bible College that year, and I tagged along. I wasn’t ready for college, but I learned a lot from all the activities, street ministry, and fellowship at SJBC. The school was about half “Jesus People” and half regular church kids wanting to be pastors. I only attended one year and then moved into a “Jesus House.” There I learned more about the Word and more about outreach ministry. We had outreach meetings at the house, attended all the church services, and some of us would minister at the local juvenile hall. It was there at the Jesus House that I became more involved in music.

  I eventually realized that I needed to learn a trade of some kind, and I enlisted in the US Air Force. The Vietnam War was still going strong, but I was sent to the US Army base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I continued to attend church and participate in outreach. I even spent a year or so as a live-in counselor in a Christian children’s home. After four years, I got out of the Air Force, went back home, and eventually got married. My wife was not alone, but had three children. I then decided to go back into the Air Force to provide for my new family. We traveled from base to base and even did a tour of duty in Italy. All those years, I became more involved in worship teams and being in Christian outreach bands.

  Eventually, I left the service and finished my military career in the National Guard and Reserves. We then moved to our current location in Humboldt County, California. I continue to be involved in church and participating on worship teams. Through these latter years I have been a minister at the local jail, a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, and a chaplain in the United Bikers of Northern California (a secular group). I am also involved in men’s ministries and am a member of the local camp of the Gideons. Throughout my life, I have been committed to tell others about Jesus. I have had many opportunities to spread the Gospel and see it as a direct result of Billy Graham and his ministry.

  MY FIRST BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

  When Texas Stadium opened in Irving, Texas, the first event was a Billy Graham crusade. I was lucky to be raised in a great Christian environment by my parents and grandparents. I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord on September 18, 1968. To make a long story short, I thought I knew what salvation was all about—being raised in the church and all—but when I had the opportunity to go with my family to the crusade, it seemed as if Billy was speaking directly to me. A lot of things fell into place in my young mind, and I answered the altar call and rededicated my life to Christ.

  I still feel blessed to this day. I am still learning and growing in the Word and have learned from many great teachers over the years. But Billy Graham is the one who stands out above the rest. He really was the one who started me down the right path, and for that I am truly grateful. May God bless and keep him and his family.

  MY FATHER’S FAVORITE PREACHER AND SINGER

  I come from a small, First Nation Cree community in northern Saskatchewan. My parents were trappers and fishers, raising a family of thirteen children. It was hard work, but my childhood memories of life in the bush are good.

  As a child, I would wake up on Sunday mornings to the powerful singing of George Beverly Shea on the radio and the powerful preaching of Billy Graham. It did not matter whether we were out living on the trapline in our log cabin for the winter, or in our summer fishing camp in a tent, my father always listened to the weekly radio program. His favourite song (and mine) was “How Great Thou Art.”

  My father, who passed away two years ago, was one of the first Christians in the community, and it wasn’t an easy journey. But today we are blessed because of his faithfulness to God and that of the ministry of Billy Graham. Through Billy’s ministry, the whole community was reached. It was through programs like The Hour of Decision that my own faith was awakened and the Gospel message made simple and easy to understand. God bless Mr. Graham and his family.

  A DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF YOURS

  Mr. Graham, you are truly an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believed in God before I knew you, when I was a child, but from the moment I saw you on television, I could never miss a program. When you were on TV, I just had to be there—my hero was on!

  My faith deepened as I watched and listened to you, read your books and the Bible, and went to church every Sunday, like you said. At one point in my life, I was not certain if I was saved. If I had died, would I live with Jesus—would I go to heaven? Therefore, I wrote to you, and you sent me a little package (which I still have). After I had read and followed everything it said to do, then, and only then, did I feel I was saved.

  I am a dedicated follower of yours and a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ—in great part because of you, Mr. Graham. This is why I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will be forever in my heart. I also want to thank you for all the wonderful work you did for Jesus, and for all the souls you helped save throughout the world. I know you’ll have a special place in heaven.

  FROM BLANKET TO BLESSINGS

  When I was two years old, my mother and father took me to a Billy Graham crusade in Augusta, Georgia. I don’t remember much—I slept on a blanket on the floor just in front of the first row—but perhaps what Dr. Graham shared planted a seed that sprouted when I was nine years old. That’s when I received Christ as my Savior. Through my growing-up years, we listened religiously to Dr. Graham on the radio. Seeds were planted, watered, and were growing. After calling me to vocational ministry, the Lord allowed me the privilege of working on committees to bring Billy Graham to Tallahassee. God used both father and son to introduce hundreds of people to Christ. To God be the glory.

  O
NE OF THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF MY LIFE

  In 1963, when I was ten years old, I attended a Billy Graham crusade at our local high school in Lancaster, South Carolina. I was saved that night, but being a very shy little girl, I didn’t go forward during the invitation. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I was going to die, but I knew it was the Lord talking to me.

  I went home and told my parents, and the next night they had our pastor come to our house and talk and pray with me. The following Sunday morning, I went before the church, along with one of my friends who was also saved at the crusade. We were both baptized that night. That was April 10, 1963.

  I still remember that day as being one of the happiest days of my life; and even though I have had a lot of ups and downs in my spiritual life, I have gotten back on the correct path and try to live every day for the Lord to the best of my ability. Thank you, Rev. Billy Graham, on behalf of everyone who has been led to the Lord through one of your sermons.

  A GREAT LIFE EXPERIENCE

  I had the pleasure of seeing Billy Graham twice when he was in the Dallas area. The last time was at Texas Stadium, and I remember the traffic moving so slowly and being so excited to see Rev. Graham in person again. I had watched him on television, but to see the people respond and move down at the invitation in person was a great life experience. There was a powerful moving of the Spirit that night. During the time when other evangelists were under scrutiny, Rev. Graham shined bright, without blemish or question of his integrity. Thank you for reaching so many with God’s message and for being the inspiration you have always been.

  BILLY GRAHAM, THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND ME

  My parents started taking me to church every Sunday from the time I was about six. When I was nine, a well-meaning Sunday school teacher pressured me into accepting Christ. I said I accepted Him so she would leave me alone. In my young mind, I was afraid to tell my parents, because I knew it was not true, yet I felt trapped in a situation with my Sunday school teacher. So I lived a lie around her, hoping Mom and Dad would not find out and confront me. The thing is, I believed that Jesus existed, I believed He died for our sins, and I believed He rose from the grave. I believed everything in the Bible that I was taught. However, I did not believe in Him, I would not give myself to Him, confess Him as my Savior, or believe in Him with all my heart.

  One night, at a church revival, I came under conviction; I was around thirteen. I started crying, and my dad took me outside to see what was wrong. I told him I was afraid that if I died I would go to hell. He read some passages in the Bible to me and asked me if I understood. He said he would take me to talk to a minister who was a close friend of our family’s. It was over a week before we met with the minister.

  We went to the minister’s home, which was full of adults and children. When he talked to me and shared some passages with me, I still did not understand everything about true salvation, but I was afraid to ask in front of the adults in the room, who were all staring at me. I thought they would think I was stupid. So I said that I understood and I believed what he said, but at that time I wanted to be out of the room and away from the adults’ eyes.

  During the next several years, I ran from the Lord, coming under conviction at least three other times. While in college, I dropped out of church, living however I wanted to without thinking of the consequences. After college, I married a woman who was a Christian, and I started going to church every so often with her. I could act like a Christian and I could talk like a Christian, but I was not truly walking like a Christian, nor did I really want to. Besides, I saw what I thought were a lot of hypocrites in the church, and I fell into Satan’s trap of selfish pride.

  One evening at home, tired and alone after working all day roofing a house, I turned on the TV. As the screen lit up, Billy Graham was just starting to speak. I started to change the channel, but I had always respected Dr. Graham, so I lay on the floor and listened. Although he was speaking on TV to thousands of people, it was as if he had stepped into my living room and was talking just to me. At that point, it was Billy, the Holy Spirit, and me, together in the room. Every word of the Gospel out of Romans that Billy spoke cut through me like a knife, and that night, at the age of twenty-five, I confessed the Lord Jesus as my Savior.

  Jesus has walked with me and picked me up after so many times I have failed Him. He has taken me places where I was afraid to walk. He has delivered me time and time again when I didn’t want to go on, when I wanted to quit.

  When I was sixty, the Lord called me to be a minister. I was so afraid when He started calling me to this church, but I remembered something I once heard Billy say, which is found in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In one of my recent sermons, I used a story I found about Brother Graham. Apparently, for his first sermon, he prepared four sermons and preached them all in ten minutes. I certainly can relate to that. I am so thankful that he didn’t decide to quit after that first sermon. Where would I be if Billy and the Holy Spirit had not been in that room with me that night? Where would hundreds of thousands of others be without the Lord putting Billy and the Holy Spirit in their living rooms?

  I praise the Lord for Billy Graham and his wonderful family, who have allowed the Lord to use them as mighty vessels for Him. When we all get to heaven, I hope to see and thank Brother Billy for allowing his heavenly Father to use him to reach so many lost souls, and for the night that he was in my living room.

  MY WISH CAME TRUE

  When I was growing up in North Dakota in the early 1950s, I remember listening to Billy Graham on the radio, and later watching him on TV. I will never forget how big his crusades were and wishing I could attend one. My wish came true in 1987, when he appeared in Denver. I went forward to recommit my life to Jesus, and I felt so honored to have been in the same stadium with Billy Graham. In his lifetime, he has made so much difference to people who needed to hear God’s Word from a man who truly loves Him and His Son. Billy always stands by the Bible, and he taught the truth that it reveals. I thank God for putting Mr. Graham in our lives, and I pray that he will continue to be with us until Christ returns to take all His followers home. Thank you, Billy Graham, for your many years of evangelism to the world.

  THE STIRRING VOICE OF GOD

  I was raised Catholic, and I questioned whether there was more to knowing God than what I knew as a teenager. I watched Billy Graham’s TV crusades back in the 1970s. At the time, my dad questioned my watching, but I would say, “If we are of the same faith, why the concern?” I watched because I could sense the stirring voice of God coming through the scriptures when Billy Graham spoke. And I always wanted more of that. In October 1974, I became born again.

  Thank you, Billy Graham, for planting the seeds of faith in my life.

  I FELT A SENSE OF BELONGING

  Thank you so much for your faithfulness and obedience to God. I have seen you preach on television and read books you have written, but what I will always remember is when I saw you preach in person. I was nine years old. My father was stationed with the US Army in Japan, and my mother and I rode a bus to Tokyo to attend a crusade. I had never seen so many people in one place! There were many more Japanese people than Americans, but I felt a sense of belonging. I don’t recall the entire sermon, but even as a child I felt a peaceful spirit of unity. I was touched by the number of people responding to the altar call. I am so grateful my mother took me along with her. Thank you, Billy.

  A DOUBLE BLESSING

  I was a children’s counselor at the Billy Graham crusade in San Antonio. One of my close friends, who was not a believer, decided she wanted to attend the crusade with me one night. I decided I would sit in the stands with her rather than go down to help out after the crusade.

  When my friend saw the sea of people on the floor, she said, “Lisa, I think they need you, but I’d like to go with you.” I was blessed to lead an entire family to Christ, and my friend told me afterward, “When you prayed with the family, I prayed
as well and asked Christ into my life.” I received a double blessing that night at the crusade! Thank you Billy.

  THANKS FOR YOUR MINISTRY TO THE WORLD

  In the Calgary crusade, in the early 1980s, I was a member of the choir. I recall how much I enjoyed the choir and Cliff Barrow’s leadership of it. I also remember the news that Mr. Graham received during that crusade. Mrs. Graham was hospitalized with a broken hip, if my memory serves me correctly. He could have had another member of the team continue the crusade while he returned to Charlotte to be with her. However, he stayed and finished the crusade. I remember how struck I was with the dedication of this man of God. I have grown up with the Graham team, The Hour of Decision, and George Beverly Shea, and have enjoyed the movies made by World Wide Pictures. I thank God for this spiritual giant. His message has been consistent, and to my knowledge he has never strayed from the Gospel. Let us all remember the contribution of this man to the cause of Christ. He believes that God is keeping him here for a reason. I believe that to be true, and I trust that his godly legacy will continue until the Lord comes for His bride, the Church. Thank you, Billy Graham, for all you have done to help a lot of us grow in our faith, and for your example. I thank God for the crowns you will receive from the One whom you have served so faithfully.

  YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AN INSPIRATION FOR ME