Bill Graham's life in view

Billy Graham is, arguably, the most successful Christian evangelist in the world. Christened William Franklin Graham, Jr., Billy was born on November 7, 1918 in a small town outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, and grew up on the family dairy farm. Reared in Scottish Presbyterian heritage, his family believed in strict observance of moral values, but also took time to laugh at his father’s many jokes.

As a teen Billy attended his first Dr. Mordecai Fowler Ham evangelistic meeting expecting to see a good fight as some students at a local high school threatened to disrupt the meeting and maybe even physically harm Dr. Ham. Fortunately for Dr. Ham, no fight ensued that night. Soon after, though, Billy was convicted of his own sinfulness and rebellion.

Billy said he finally came to understand his need for a personal relationship with Jesus at Dr. Ham’s meetings. He felt that the Graham family’s consistent Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance  was valuable; but he still felt empty inside, restless and resentful of all the work he was doing to earn his way to heaven.

Near his sixteenth birthday in 1934, Billy went forward at a Dr. Ham meeting and committed his life to Christ. After his conversion, Billy wanted to go to church as much as possible and admittedly even began to sing hymns while milking the cows.

Billy’s heart was completely surrendered to Jesus Christ at that point, and the foundation was laid for his future ministry to people around the world. 

He was as accepted into Bob Jones College and began attending classes September, 1936. Soon after, however, he found the College too strict and began to think about transferring to another school. As a result, in January of 1937 Billy became an official student at Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College) where he was exposed to many different denominations through the people who rented rooms in the hotel complex on campus. It was there that Billy experienced the “unity of God’s people who sincerely held Jesus at the center of their hearts and lives.”

One Sunday after preaching in February, 1939, Billy was ordained a Southern Baptist minister. Offering himself as a military chaplain during World War II, he was declined and advised to return to Wheaton College to finish his degree which he completed in 1943.

God’s call on Billy’s ministry life included:

1. First Youth for Christ (YFC) preacher at Chicago’s first rally on May 27, 1944.
2. Youth For Christ National & International Organizer beginning January, 1945. (* YFC was reportedly active in 300 American cities by the end of the first year.)
3. Preached at the first citywide Crusade in September, 1947 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
4. Became Interim President of Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis at age 29, just four years after graduating college himself.
5. Began The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in 1950.

Though early Crusades were up and down, and some were even considered “flops,” Billy contended that they could never know everything God was up to, though it was not evident to them, or to the world.

In addition to Crusades, despite extreme guerilla threats, Billy traveled with Grady Wilson and Bob Pierce (founder of World Vision) to Japan and Korea during the Korean War for two weeks under military supervision. While there, Billy preached the Gospel to G.I.’s, missionaries, and the Korean people, and encouraged wounded American soldiers at various hospitals near the front line.

At age 35, Billy preached his first international Crusade in London, England beginning March 1, 1954, and by the end had spoken to 2 million people, delivering seventy-two major addresses in twelve weeks at Harringay Arena. Thousands of decisions were made for Jesus Christ during that three month period.

Graham died from natural causes on February 21, 2018, at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, at the age of 99.