It is exactly two years that one of the world’s greatest evangelist, Billy Graham, passed away.
Graham died on February 21, 2018 at the age of 99.
He was president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association based in North Carolina, USA.
In his life time, Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ for about six decades to almost 215 million people in 185 countries and territories.
He organised his last crusade from June 24-26, 2005, in New York.
He handed over the baton to his son, Franklin Graham, who now leads BGEA and his grandson, Will Graham. Both are carrying on with his legacy.
As a tribute, we bring you some stories about this God’s General as told by Robert Liardon in his book, “God’s Generals.”
Six Decades Spreading the Name of Jesus
Billy Graham has preached in person to nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories – an unprecedented number. Millions more people have been reached through television, video, film, literature, and Webcasts. In his 417 crusades, more than 3.2 million people have come forward in response to his altar calls. This is not counting the millions of others who have responded to his books, television broadcasts, or other media he has used to spread the Gospel. In April 1996, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association sponsored a rebroadcast of one of Billy’s sermons to an audience of around 2.5 billion in forty-eight languages and 160 countries – a remarkable feat, as it represented a truly global simulcast.
As I write these words, eighty-nine-year-old Billy is all but retired from ministry, and he battles Parkinson’s disease, the same disease that removed his “good friend,” Ronald Reagan, from public appearances. Billy still gave a remarkably lucid interview for the book The Preacher and the Presidents, which was released in August 2007. Though not involved in the day-today affairs of his ministry, he is still consulted from time to time by his son, Franklin, who has taken over the reigns of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Billy’s wife of sixty-three years, Ruth, died on June 14, 2007, at the age of eighty-seven. Ruth’s body is buried next to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Billy will one day be laid to rest beside her. He now lives in Montreal, North Carolina, in the house his wife had built as a retreat from public, not far from where he was born. Billy’s legacy will live on through his organization and his sons, with his place secured as one of the greatest evangelists of all time.