Reverend Billy Graham: Testifying to the Gospel of God’s Grace

The ministry of Joni and Friends owes much to Billy Graham, given that his organization helped me get started.

But my friendship with Mr. Graham goes further back than that.

It all started when his wife, Ruth Graham read my book Joni: An Unforgettable Story and then shared it with her husband. She suggested he read it with the idea that I come and share my story on one of his Crusades. That’s just what happened in October 1976. Mr. Graham asked me to come to his Detroit, Michigan crusade to describe to his audience how God used my broken neck to draw me closer to Jesus.

I was only 25 years old and fresh off the Maryland farm. I had never faced a stadium of 80,000 people. I sat on the platform, nearly breathless!

Yet, I recalled how I’d been asking the Lord to give me opportunities to tell my testimony… and here I was!

So there, in the massive Pontiac Stadium with Mr. Graham sitting just off to the left and slightly behind me, I wheeled forward. I shared how Romans 8:28 had been such a help to me after my accident. I spoke boldly about the power of Jesus Christ to sustain even me, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. I described how God had fit my broken neck into a glorious plan – a plan to make me more like Jesus and to tell others of his life-transforming grace.

The 1989 Graham Crusade in Hungary was held in the gigantic sports stadium in Budapest which held over 100,000 people.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wanted to make sure the event was totally accessible to the disabled, and so they sponsored the train fare of anyone with a disability who had to travel to the crusade. That night, there were literally hundreds — maybe thousands — of people with disabilities who had come great distances to hear the gospel message. Many relied on friends and relatives to carry them into the stadium.

They were dragged in on mattresses and blankets, filling the area of the running track. The people who had no wheelchairs sat on folded beach chairs or cushions. I was deeply moved by the sight. And so, before the crusade began, I slowly wheeled around the perimeter of the track, greeting as many people as I could. Later, I thanked Mr. Graham and his team for making the effort to pave the way so that the poorest of the poor could come.

That night, I shared my testimony, sang “Joni’s Waltz” in Hungarian, and thousands opened their hearts to Jesus Christ!

Then in 1992, my husband Ken and I were invited to come to Russia where I shared my story at the Billy Graham Crusade in Moscow. When I spoke the first night, the arena was overflowing and the Graham Association had to put up giant TV screens outside the gates for the overflow crowds. Then the following night, the Russian Army Choir arrived to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It was a surreal moment, watching the Russian Army Choir sing this rousing hymn exalting Jesus Christ.

Ken leaned over and whispered, “Thirty years ago, almost to the week, the US and the USSR were in a nuclear standoff over the Cuban missile crisis. And now… look at this!” It was an historic moment I’ll never forget.

Those are precious highlights for me. And I am so grateful for the way God used Billy Graham to open my eyes to the global sphere of influence with which God was blessing me.

With each crusade appearance, I received more and more letters from across America and around the globe.

Each mail delivery brought letters with questions about depression, miraculous healing, coping with hardships, and helping churches understand the needs of people with disabilities and their families. Though I was still a young woman, I knew I needed to be a wise steward of the trust people had placed in me to answer these questions.

It was clear that God was directing me to start the ministry of Joni and Friends to help answer those questions. But I could not start it on my own.

Mr. Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association provided a tremendous amount of wise counsel and practical assistance that quickly laid the foundation for Joni and Friends. They even went so far as to loan me a BGEA staff person for an entire year. Joni and Friends never would have gotten off the ground were it not for Billy Graham.

I will forever be blessed by Billy Graham’s commitment to integrity, excellence of ministry, and the unvarnished truth of the salvation message.

Whether preaching before thousands in a stadium or enjoying a cup of tea in his modest home in North Carolina, Mr. Graham was truly a humble, gentle, and completely authentic Christian. To the end of his days at the age of 99, Mr. Graham continued to serve the Lord as a powerful prayer warrior.

God used this humble man to open untold millions of hearts to Christ, as well as open nations to the gospel. Innumerable people around the world have hearts aflame with a passion for Jesus Christ because of Mr. Graham’s extraordinary love for the Savior, as well as his commitment to giving the Good News to everyone he ever met.

When Ken and I attended Billy Graham’s memorial service in 2018, I kept thinking of the words of Acts 20:24:

“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.”

Reverend Billy Graham did just that. He finished the race and completed the task. And I am grateful I had the chance to run alongside him.

–Joni Eareckson Tada