Thank You, Billy Graham

by Jerushah Armfield

  I accepted Christ into my heart at the young age of ten. I can still recall and feel the exhilaration of that moment. Over the years, I have watched and listened to your sermons, seen the multitudes respond to the invitations, and known the exhilaration that each of them feels at that moment. Thank you so much for all you have given us over the years, and for being such a faithful servant of God. May He bless you and all of your family.

  MY FAITH JOURNEY

  Mr. Graham has been one of God’s greatest instruments in my faith journey. I remember listening to Billy Graham on TV when I was young, and it really pulled the strings of my heart. His words made me want to follow Jesus as the Lord of my life. I know if I hadn’t heard him and believed, I might have taken a different way. Thank you, Mr. Graham, for your faith, and for the courage to speak publicly of our Savior so that people might come to believe. As they say, faith comes by hearing.

  A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART

  Dear Rev. Billy Graham, I just want to thank you for your ministry. Back when I was in high school in the early 1980s, my high school sweetheart and I went to a crusade you were having in Fort Lauderdale. During that crusade, we both went forward and received Jesus as our Savior. Today, I have been happily married for twenty-seven years to that man. We are doing well and continue to be thankful for you. Thank you for allowing Jesus to use you to help the lost sheep in this world. Your ministry changed my life. May God continue to bless you and keep you in good health. You are a man after God’s own heart, and that makes my heart leap for joy!

  “DON’T FORGET TO GO TO CHURCH”

  After my mother died, I stopped going to church for ten years. During those years, I would always watch your broadcasts when they came on, and at the end you always said not to forget to go to church on Sunday. Those simple words were used by the Holy Spirit to convict me, and He worked in my life and I became a born-again believer, along with my husband and two daughters. Thank you for those words at the end: “Don’t forget to go to church this Sunday.” Because I listened, they changed my life.

  LEGACY

  I have loved listening to you preach ever since I was little. Thank you for your faithfulness to God. It’s clearly evident in your family, of whom I have been doubly blessed by reading and learning from your wonderful children. Thank you, Dr. Graham, for simply loving Jesus and never being afraid to tell the world. I look forward to meeting you someday.

  THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT

  I thank God each day for someone like Billy Graham who stands for the truth, and for his family also. I admire the way Billy Graham has conducted his life in preaching the Gospel. My oldest son was only sixteen years old when we took the whole family to the crusade in Atlanta. At the end of the sermon, when Mr. Graham gave an altar call, my youngest son punched me and asked what was wrong with his brother. I turned and immediately knew that the Holy Spirit was talking to my oldest son. He was crying, and my husband and I talked with him about giving his life to Jesus and following Him. That next Sunday was Christmas, and he was baptized at our church. It was the best Christmas gift any mother could ask for. My other two children followed in their older brother’s footsteps, and they, too, in the following months gave their lives over to Jesus. I am so thankful for that day in December when Billy Graham’s crusade came to Atlanta. Thank you so much, Mr. Graham, and all of the people who worked with you. Your life and your family’s lives have been a true blessing.

  BILLY GRAHAM STOPPED THE CHAOS

  From the time I was a tiny girl, my father had a raging temper. He abused my mother physically and mentally. My two sisters and I would wake up to hear him cursing my mom, the church, the country, and anything else he could think of. When I was about eight or nine, I remember the only time my dad would quit was when he would listen to the many Billy Graham crusades on the TV. No one could talk when he was listening to the crusade message. I think my father liked the sincerity, honesty, and simple down-home way Billy Graham talked about God. He said, “I like that man.”

  My father seemed to mellow and soften when Billy spoke, especially of Jesus. No man was better than another in God’s eyes, my daddy agreed. Thank you, Billy, for bringing peace and quiet into our little house and telling my daddy about the love of God. Mom took us to church every Sunday, but my daddy would never darken the doors. She prayed and prayed for my daddy’s heart to be changed and clung to God’s promises. She said God loved my daddy but that He was not pleased with the things he said and did. She wouldn’t let us hate our father. Even though she took the brunt of violence in our home, he never touched us.

  My daddy was saved when he was eighty years old, because of the seed you planted. Because of your obedience, I will see my daddy again.

  —Carolyn

  ONE NIGHT, I COULDN’T SLEEP

  Among the millions who have come to the Lord as a result of a Billy Graham crusade, I am only one, but the impact the Rev. Graham has had on my life is immeasurable. I was what I’d call a casual believer: I grew up in a parochial school and went through the usual customs of the denomination at the appointed times, but they didn’t mean much to me. Looking back, I was kind of herded through the process of becoming an “official” church member.

  I honestly can’t remember really being touched by the message of the Gospel until I was twenty-two. I was newly married and had recently had a miscarriage. My father, a former alcoholic who developed stage 4 lung cancer at forty-six years old, had died about ten months earlier. I was sick, and I was scared.

  One night, about three a.m., I couldn’t sleep, so I started flipping through the channels on the TV. When I came across a rerun of a Billy Graham crusade, I wanted to change the channel, but I couldn’t. I had always believed in God and loved Him, but I had never really known about salvation through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ … not until I heard it from the Rev. Graham. I was amazed … I had heard the stories about Jesus in church, but I didn’t really “get it” until that night. I was a sinner … God hates sin … God loves me so much. He allowed His only Son to be tortured because of my sin, on my behalf, to be the perfect atoning sacrifice. Repentance and salvation from an eternity in hell are available to those who believe and receive. These were the truths I learned that night and have hung onto for the last five years. I have never looked back with regret about making my decision for Christ.

  Other ways that Billy Graham has impacted my life? My husband’s grandmother was a Christian Scientist until she went to a crusade as a young wife and mother. Because of those few hours she spent listening to Billy Graham, and as a result of God’s grace in listening to her righteous prayers, her husband, her sons, their wives, and their children all have asked Jesus into their hearts. I know that Grandma’s witness to my mother-in-law inspired her to pray for me before I was born and that those prayers have kept me safe in some incredibly unsafe situations.

  Thank you, Rev. Graham, for your obedience to God’s calling. Thank you for your fearlessness. Thank you for your honest biblical presentation of the Good News. We love you!

  ANSWERED PRAYER

  Bonnie’s side of the story: I got saved on April 20, 1962, but by 1968 I had gone my own way. When I first saw my future husband, the Lord told me, “That’s the man you are going to marry.” We eventually married, and within a year of our marriage I gave birth to our first daughter. She had a problem with her heart, and the doctors told my husband to get ready for the worst. We prayed all night and I told God I would get back into church. The next morning, I arrived at the hospital and a nurse was singing and said, “Your little girl is all right. Something worked last night, and you can take her home in a couple of days.” I knew God had answered my prayers, but even then I didn’t get back to church.

  In 1970, I was watching TV and a Billy Graham crusade was on. As I watched, Billy said, “Come back to Jesus,” and then he looked right at me and said, “Go to church this Sunday.”

  While getting ready for bed, I prayed for Mike to stay home instead of playing
basketball with his friends. When he came home limping, due to a sprained ankle, I thanked God again for answered prayer. I then began to pray that Mike would watch Billy Graham the next night. He likes to surf the channels, and every time he came to Billy Graham, I would pray, “Stay there, listen,” and sure enough he did. He came to me afterward and said, “We are going to church tomorrow.” Again I thanked God for answered prayer.

  We went to the church where we were married, and that day God spoke to Mike, and the pastor watched him struggle in his seat. Afterward, the pastor asked if he could come by that afternoon. We agreed to a visit, and I once again began to pray for Mike’s salvation. That afternoon, he prayed with the pastor and got saved. Thank you, God, for Billy Graham, for saving my husband, and for answered prayer. God has used you, Billy Graham, with your simple message and piercing eyes. (I felt God looking at me, and I rededicated my life to Him.) Thank you for your service to our Lord, and thank you to your family for sharing you with us.

  Mike’s side of the story: I had been familiar with Billy Graham since I was eleven years old. I remember the crusade at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1959. I wanted my folks to take me so badly. But we were poor and did not own a car. I returned home from Vietnam, where I had served as a US Marine and been wounded three times in battle.

  When I went to Vietnam, I took some Billy Graham crusade literature with me. I read it constantly. I did ask Jesus to save me in Vietnam, but I don’t know that He did. My language was that of a typical US Marine. I attended services occasionally but got nothing out of the services. I remember writing in my diary how I left the Christmas services in 1967 feeling empty. The Gospel was not preached by the chaplain, and the service was more about how God was for us killing the godless Communists than about Jesus Christ.

  I had a friend who was a Christian, and he talked to me about Jesus, and I later asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me. But because my job required me to kill so many human beings, both enemy and noncombatants, I felt as if God could never save someone like me.

  I returned home in February 1968 and married my bride, Bonnie. We have been married forty years this past September.

  One August day in 1969, I had gotten dressed to go play basketball with my friends. However, I noticed that the Billy Graham crusade was going to be on, and my wife begged me to stay home and watch it. My wife had been saved when she was twelve years old. Anyway, to make a long story short, I did not go to the game and I listened intently at the Word of God preached by Dr. Graham. Afterward, during the invitation, I gave my heart to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. The next day, August 17, 1969, I went to church with my wife. When the preacher gave the invitation, I wrestled with the devil about going forward. I wanted to be saved but was fearful of all the people looking at me.

  As we were leaving the church, the pastor must have seen the battle going on in my heart. As I left the church, he asked if he and his wife could come by our home and speak with us. I said, “I would like that, Pastor.” He said he would be there at 1300 hours, and he was prompt. We spoke for a short time, and then he preached unto me Jesus Christ. Afterward, he asked me if I would like to ask Jesus to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I said, “Yes, Preacher, oh yes.” We kneeled at our coffee table, and I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. All because of the Gospel I had heard preached to me by Billy Graham, the Prince of Preachers.

  I went on to serve actively in our church in California for twenty-one years before the church was handed over to a Spanish ministry. My wife and I then went to a church in Long Beach. During the thirty-seven years I have been saved, I served in many capacities in the church. I was an assistant lay pastor, deacon, Sunday school bus driver, and Sunday school teacher, teaching from first grade through young adult, and also adult men. Who would have thought that the message of one man could have wrought such righteousness out of unrighteousness?

  That August night, Dr. Graham preached on John 3:16. When he was done preaching and invited those who wanted to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I was on my knees at the same coffee table, crying and asking Jesus to save me. I was baptized August 24, 1969. Words cannot explain what Dr. Graham has meant to me. Like Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress, I felt the load of sin and guilt fall from me, and I became “a man made new by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Billy, God bless you, thank you for being there for me. Though I was not personally at the crusade that August night, I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to salvation, and I responded. You shall always hold a very special place in my heart and life.

  SALVATION CALL

  In 1993, when Mr. Graham came to Pittsburgh, I decided to volunteer and take the crash training course to help those who had dedicated their lives to Jesus. When I got back to my seat that day, I noticed that my twelve-year-old daughter had gone down and accepted Jesus as her Savior. It was the most satisfying moment of my life, for I had talked to her of the importance of having God in her life, but I didn’t realize she was actually listening. Thank you, Mr. Graham, that the Lord placed you there for this salvation to take place. May our heavenly Father bless you abundantly.

  Mabel

  JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, 1952

  In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1952, when I was twelve years old, I watched my father join others and Billy in removing the ropes that separated blacks and whites. Then, in 2000, at Amsterdam, while working as a steward for the ten thousand itinerant evangelists, I saw how the power of God used Billy to influence His servants. Thank you, Billy Graham, for taking the stand that God wanted you to take.

  A DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S GRACE AND POWER

  In 1954, on Easter Sunday in Winston-Salem, my dad asked Jesus into his heart while listening to Billy on the radio at The Hour of Decision. After his conversion, he wanted his three children to know the Lord, and shortly thereafter we all came to Christ. It is a demonstration of God’s grace and power to see how God has worked in our entire family over the years. The Lord used you to change the course of our entire lives. Thank you, Billy, for your faithfulness in preaching the Gospel all over the world. The message stays the same, and our prayer is that the Association will be preaching the same Gospel when Jesus comes again.

  UNCLE HERB’S AMAZING TRANSFORMATION

  In 1965, on a cold winter Sunday night, my Uncle Herb was watching one of your crusades on TV. His wife had gone to church, and he was home alone. Though Herb wanted nothing to do with the things of God, as he listened to your message the Spirit of God convicted him of his sins. When his wife came home from church, she could see that something was bothering him. She asked him what was wrong, and he told her about your message and how God was dealing with him. She asked him if he wanted to give his heart to the Lord, and he eagerly said yes. From that moment on, Herb’s life changed. Everyone who knew him was amazed at the change. Just looking at him, you knew that something had happened. Everywhere he went, he told people about Jesus. About eighteen months later, Herb and his wife and adopted baby boy were killed in a car accident. His life and his death changed the lives of many people. Billy, I thank you for your faithfulness to preach the simple yet powerful Word of God. Herb and many others are in heaven today because of you and your wonderful message.

  Ron

  I COULD WRITE VOLUMES ABOUT HOW THE LORD HAS WORKED IN MY LIFE

  Dear Billy Graham, I was born in 1946, but my life did not really begin until the spring of 1971 in Pittsburgh. At that time, I was a young mother of two, very unhappy, and feeling as if life had no meaning whatsoever. I could not understand why we had to die. I was fearful of many things, but most fearful of dying. At that time, I believed that when we die, that’s it. No eternal life. I had never even heard of it. That is, until I heard Billy Graham’s message on my TV. I was ill that evening, too ill with fever to get up and turn off the TV. (No remotes in those days.) So I was forced to hear his message. Something happened inside me when he spoke of eternal life and about Jesus. I knew of Jesus but had never heard that you
could have a personal relationship with Him or with God for that matter. I jumped off the chair, ran into the kitchen to find some paper, and immediately wrote to Billy Graham that I had accepted Jesus into my heart. I mailed it the very next day.

  I could write volumes about how the Lord has worked in my life and the lives of others because of that event. Today, I am a grandmother of six, of whom four are attending Christian schools, and they all love Jesus. My daughter has led many to Christ. I have been involved in ministry work for years, mentoring others, heading a Bible study, designing evangelistic bracelets that speak of God’s love, helping with less fortunate children, all in the name of Jesus. I live my life for Him.

  Life has not been perfect, but Jesus makes the difference in each and every storm that life takes us into. I am so grateful that Jesus makes the difference in my life. He has healed my body several times, healed my son’s crooked foot when he was eight years old. (He is now thirty-seven.) I have seen the hand of God working over these past thirty-six years. I am truly grateful that Billy Graham made the sacrifice in his personal life so that others could have a better life in Christ.

  WHEN WE WERE LITTLE

  When we were little, my mom used to make my sister and me take a bath on Saturday nights so that we would be nice and clean for church the next morning. I remember that if Mr. Graham was on the television (this was back in the 1970s and it was a huge console television), my mom would wrap us up in towels and deposit us in front of the TV. We couldn’t have been more than four and six years old. I can still remember seeing Mr. Graham on the TV and thinking what a wonderful person he must be. There wasn’t a single time growing up that, if Mr. Graham was on TV, we weren’t tuned in.