A Tribute to Billy Graham
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a special word about my friend Billy Graham.
You know, it was in 1976 that I first met Billy Graham. He had invited me to share my testimony on his crusade in Pontiac Stadium in Michigan. He had read the Joni book just a few months earlier and asked me to describe to his audience how God used my broken neck, my quadriplegia to draw me closer to Him. I was only 25 years old at the time and fresh off the Maryland farm — I had never faced a stadium filled with over 50,000 people, but Mr. Graham believed I had something to say about Jesus that could help those who hurt. And so that night, with him sitting just off to the left and slightly behind me, I wheeled forward and spoke boldly about the power of Jesus Christ to sustain, yes, even a quadriplegic in a wheelchair.
After that crusade, I began receiving letters. There was an appearance on another Billy Graham Crusade, and then more letters. I may have still been a young person, but I knew I needed to be a wise steward of this new sphere of influence that God had given me through the graciousness of Mr. Graham and his team. So in 1979, I started the ministry of Joni and Friends to help answer those questions, to help address many of the questions people were raising in all of those letters: questions about depression and miraculous healing; questions about coping with hardships and helping churches understand the needs of people with disabilities and their families. But I could not have started Joni and Friends were it not for the help and the support of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Because it was Mr. Graham and BGEA who provided staff support the entire first year Joni and Friends was up and running, along with a lot of wise counsel and a lot of practical assistance. Joni and Friends never would have gotten off the ground were it not for Billy Graham.
And although a giant of the faith has gone home to glory, Mr. Graham did a pretty good job of passing on the torch — millions around the world have hearts aflame with the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of His extraordinary love for the Savior, as well as his commitment to giving the Good News to everyone he ever met. I participated on many crusades with Mr. Graham, here in the States and around the world — and the man I saw was tireless in his graciousness, and consummate in his commitment to integrity, excellence of ministry, and the unvarnished truth of the salvation message. But as a person with a disability, I was blessed with the way Mr. Graham always — and I mean always — made certain the Gospel was accessible to everyone. I recall when I was with him in 1989 in Budapest, Hungary, he and the team underwrote the train fare of anyone with a disability, so they could come from far distances to the crusade. And that night, there were literally hundreds — maybe thousands — of disabled people whose friends and relatives carried them into the stadium on mattresses, blankets, straw mats, and even on their backs. I was so moved by that sight. And I was so blessed that Mr. Graham had that vision to make certain the poorest of the poor were able to come on the crusade. When I think of Billy Graham, I think of Acts 20:24 that says, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” He has finished the race and completed the task. And I am just grateful I had the chance to run alongside him. We will miss Billy Graham.
Yes, indeed, we will miss Mr. Graham, Joni — thank you for those thoughts. And if I may encourage you, listening friends, to go to the Joni and Friends website and see more of Joni’s wonderful tribute to this amazing man.
© Joni and Friends
