Billy Graham was arguably the most successful evangelist of the twentieth century. He died at his home in North Carolina on 21 February at the age of 99 having long suffered from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments.
Many millions of people have heard the gospel message from him through his city-wide crusades and his weekly ‘Hour of Decision’ radio programme broadcast around the world. Later millions more were reached through TV, video, film and webcasts.
He was born on 7 November 1918, just as WWI was coming to an end in Charlotte North Carolina to a well-off church-going family. His father had a 400-acre dairy farm and he grew up during the Depression having to work long hours helping to keep the family business going. It was in the Autumn of 1934 that Billy Graham, aged 15, was asked to drive a group to hear the ‘fire and brimstone’ evangelist Mordecai Ham. He challenged people to recognise their sinfulness and to cry out to the Lord Jesus to save them from hell. During one of these nightly meetings the young Billy Graham turned to Christ.
