The story of how God called Billy Graham from humble
beginnings into what has become a globally recognized ministry
speaks of God's faithfulness in response to simple
obedience.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada (BGEAC)
has grown from a small office established in 1953 for receiving
donations and fulfilling mail orders to today's multi-faceted
ministry center that is developing and leading a wide range of
uniquely Canadian initiatives to reach people with the Gospel
message in many cultural contexts.
From the Farm
Billy Graham was born on November 7, 1918 in a frame house on a
North Carolina dairy farm. Like many others in their day, his
parents were hard-working people who knew the value of a dollar and
the meaning of self-discipline. Perhaps less ordinary, however, was
their belief in God and devotion to seeking His wisdom and blessing
for their family and for a world in need.
To them, the Bible was the very Word of God, and their prayers
declared their dependence on Him through any circumstance. As the
times proved, circumstances were trying and challenging. From
drought to depression, dust and destitution, people everywhere
desperately searched the horizon for hope, that place where answers
to prayer lives. God's faithfulness, as always, would prove
gracious and absolute.
To the Pasture
In a time of penny candy, nickel sodas, hair tonic, blushing
brides, travelling preachers, and Sunday suppers, people were
optimistic and busy. With so many other things to do, most young
people were not thinking about things like Christian service and
dying to self. Although it is true that Billy Graham enjoyed having
fun, there was more. Somewhere deep, something fundamental was
working inside him.
In May of 1934, the Christian businessmen of Charlotte, NC,
secured permission to hold an all-day prayer meeting at the Graham
farm. On that day, a prayer was raised - that out of Charlotte the
Lord would raise up someone to preach the Gospel to the ends of the
earth.
It was in that year the previously reluctant Billy Graham gave
his life to the Lord at a revival meeting led by travelling
evangelist Rev. Mordecai Ham. At 16 years old, Billy Graham was
about to experience the transformation of a traditional farm boy
into an instrument of God.
In the Woods
In a time of burgeoning modernism, of science and philosophy,
Billy Graham walked in the woods one night seeking God's direction
for his faith. The answer? The Bible - sealed by a prayer: "Father,
I am going to accept this as Thy Word - by faith! I'm going to
allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and
I will believe this to be Your inspired Word."
Preaching Career Begins
After graduating from high school, Billy enrolled at Florida
Bible Institute, now Trinity College, and began to lead prayer
meetings at a nearby trailer park and downtown mission hall. He
also preached at a local church, as an ordained minister of the
Southern Baptist Convention. Other churches began inviting him to
speak.
In 1940, Billy enrolled at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL,
studying anthropology. He graduated in 1943 and two months later
married a fellow student - Ruth McCue Bell, whose parents were
missionaries in China. Billy applied to become a U.S. Army chaplain
but was told he needed pastoral experience first, and therefore
accepted a call to a small Baptist church in Western Springs,
IL.
While there, he was offered the opportunity to host a 45-minute
religious program called "Songs in the Night" on Chicago's largest
radio station. It was there he met and became friends with Canada's
George Beverly Shea, a soloist on the show.
In 1945, Billy was invited to become the first full-time
organizer for Youth for Christ - establishing a lifelong path for
him as an evangelist.
National Profile
Four years later, while Billy was conducting evangelistic
meetings in Los Angeles, the news media began covering him. There
were local stories, but also in the wire services and in Time,
Life, and Newsweek magazines. What was initially supposed to be a
few weeks of meetings attracted such large crowds that they
continued for months.
Shortly afterward, Billy began a national weekly radio program,
The Hour of Decision, that continues today on hundreds of
stations in the U.S., Canada, and overseas.
During this very busy period, it became apparent that a formal
organization would be needed to manage the growing momentum of a
ministry that was once informally known as the Graham-Barrows
Campaigns. In 1950, papers for incorporation were filed in St.
Paul, MN, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) was
born with the following mission: "to take the message of Christ to
all we can by every effective means available to us."
Since then, the BGEA has been comprised of a team of men and
women who work and pray, behind the scenes and in plain view, to
make it all possible. "We have a whole team of people and most of
us have been together for nearly 50 years. I'm introduced as though
I'm doing it all . . . but it's the Lord using this group of
people," Dr. Graham said.
Around the World
"I have had the privilege of preaching the Gospel on every
continent in most of the countries of the world. And I have found
that when I present the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ . . . He takes that message and drives it supernaturally
into the human heart," said Dr. Graham.
God's word has been spoken through Billy Graham in humble
sincerity to millions over the decades. Of himself he admits, "I am
not a great preacher, and I don't claim to be a great preacher . .
. I'm just communicating the Gospel in the best way I know
how."
Frequent and extensive travel exposed many of the realities of
human suffering, a fact which prompted the BGEA to form the World
Emergency Fund in 1973. When people began seeing Christ's love in
action, even more doors for evangelism opened. By the end of the
20th Century, Billy Graham had preached the Gospel on every
continent.
Today, the same message is communicated to hundreds of
thousands, bridging gaps of distance and change. Of this new day,
Dr. Graham says, "God has given us new tools to do His work -
electronic and visual tools, such as radio, films, television, and
telephones - and each of these has played an important role in the
expansion of our ministry."
From living room audiences gathered around radios and television
sets, to packed stadiums, images of God at work in the world are
entrenched in the hearts and memories of generations. Taken
literally is the invitation to "come just as you are" to Christ,
and countless lives begin anew.
North to Canada
Right from the start, unsolicited donations from near and far
poured in to the BGEA. Interest and support from Canada was so
great that the decision to create a full-fledged Canadian office
was made.
In 1953, George Wilson, a BGEA official, secured a young
Canadian attorney named Don McCarthy to help register the new
office in Winnipeg, MB. Mr. Wilson rode the overnight train from
Minneapolis and established the new Canadian ministry, complete
with office, furnishings, and a secretary, all in one day.
Since then, Mr. McCarthy has been an integral part of Billy
Graham's Canadian ministry, and helped to identify its mandate: to
share the Gospel with all Canadians and scatter the seed over a
vast landscape.
In 1955, Canada's first Billy Graham Crusade was held in
Toronto, ON. More than 7,000 men and women left their seats to
stand for Christ while tears rained and prayers ascended to Heaven.
Since then, Billy Graham has preached at 13 Canadian Crusades, from
Vancouver to Halifax, urging thousands to come to the Savior.
It was in Saskatoon, SK, that Franklin Graham, fourth child and
eldest son of Billy and Ruth Bell Graham, first preached on behalf
of the BGEA in November of 1983. Invited and encouraged by BGEA's
Canadian associate evangelist John Wesley White, Franklin stood
before an audience of 1,000 to tell the old, old story. Dr. White
continued his encouragement until Franklin's call to preach was
sealed six years later in Alaska. Since then, Franklin has preached
in many locations around the world, including 12 in Canada.
A New Day
After decades of ministry, Billy Graham knew it was time for a
successor. "I realized that my ministry would someday come to an
end," he said. "I am only one in a glorious chain of men and women
God has raised up through the centuries to build Christ's church
and to take the Gospel everywhere."
And, indeed, God raised up one to continue the ministry
entrusted to his father. "Sons are a heritage from the Lord,
children a reward from Him" (Psalm 127:3, NIV). In 1979, Franklin
joined the BGEA board of directors. In the same year, he also
assumed leadership of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian
relief organization founded in 1970 by friend and mentor Dr. Bob
Pierce.
Although Franklin Graham now serves as president and CEO of the
BGEAC, he and his father acknowledge God's ownership of all they
do. "It is God's organization, not mine," Billy Graham emphasized.
"And if we ever lose sight of that fact, God will withdraw His
blessing from our work."
Of his son's call, Billy Graham said: "Franklin's appointment
not only ensures the continuity of our organization, but it also
signals a renewed commitment by the board to the vision for world
evangelism that gave birth to the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association."
Here and Now
Franklin's eldest son, Will Graham, has assumed an increasingly
important role with the BGEA in Canada - preaching at BGEAC public
gatherings in many communities across Canada. There are now three
generations of Grahams proclaiming the Good News of Jesus
Christ.
In July 2003, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of
Canada (BGEAC) moved from Winnipeg to Calgary where it now resides
in a ministry center together with Samaritan's Purse Canada (SPC).
More than offices and warehouse space, the ministry center is a
place where people can come to learn, plan and prepare to take the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to a wide variety of cultures and
communities in Canada and worldwide.
"The programs the BGEAC has been initiating in recent years -
for children, for youth, for adults, or for people internationally,
plus the training - I'm so impressed with them," said Don McCarthy,
the now-retired Winnipeg lawyer and former BGEAC board member who
helped establish the BGEA in Canada in 1953. "There's always
something new going on to reach out to Canadians and tell them
about Jesus Christ. When I think about it, and I do often, I'm so
happy with what the BGEAC is doing today."
Thank You Canada
To this day, faithful Canadian partners, many of them dating all
the way back to the very beginning, continue to support the BGEAC
through their prayers and gifts. Those who remember the days of
Sunday afternoon broadcasts and jam-packed Crusades and the
resonance of conviction in Billy Graham's voice smile today at the
continuation of God's blessing through the lives of His servants.
Their faith and commitment is used by God to feed His Word to a
starving world, a work that will continue until the Savior's
return.
Through hearts submitted to the power of God, the BGEAC is
moving forward in a new millennium. The struggles of the world's
poor and suffering are a stark reminder that the Gospel message is
the only true and lasting answer. There will be hunger, pain, and
thirst. There will be war, anger, and grief. But one thing remains
sure: that hope, peace, and salvation are available through faith
in Jesus Christ.
Whatever the future holds for the BGEAC, its foundation remains
sure, its hope abundant, and its people ready to meet it with
boldness, joy, and unwavering faith.
In twilight reflection, Billy Graham admits, "As I look back
over the years, I know that my deepest feeling is one of
overwhelming gratitude. I cannot take credit for whatever God has
chosen to accomplish through us and our ministry; only God deserves
the glory, and we can never thank Him enough for the great things
He has done."
Of the future, Franklin Graham says, "I just want to be faithful
to the same message that he (my father) has been faithful to, and
that is the preaching of the Gospel."
Over the past 61 years, BGEA associate evangelists have preached
the Gospel at more than 200 Crusades across Canada. Leighton Ford,
John Wesley White, and Ralph Bell are among many Canadians who have
faithfully proclaimed God's word. Dr. Ford held Crusade events from
1962 to 1990, Dr. White 1964 to 1996, and Dr. Bell 1971 to 2003.
Through these events, tens of thousands of Canadians heard the
message of salvation and many have responded to the Good News of
Jesus Christ.
To learn where Franklin and Will Graham have preached in Canada,
see the Festivals and
Celebrations page.