Billy Graham will go down in history as the greatest evangelist of all time.
On behalf of the Trinity Broadcasting Networks, Laurie and I send our love and prayers to the family and ministry of Dr. Billy Graham as this humble, one-of-a-kind servant of God has finished his earthly mission and taken his place with Christ and the saints of the ages.
On a personal level, as a teenager working the Reno, Nevada, and later the 1985 California Anaheim Stadium events in my early 20s, I always saw Billy as larger than life. I still do, but at that time, I could not have been more impressed if the Apostle Paul and the sitting President of the United States both walked into the greenroom after my first event working as a young cameraman. Beyond the thousands and thousands who gave their hearts to the Lord in those stadiums and watching on television (this was the first time Christian television worked together, with both TBN and then CBN covering the event live), what made an unforgettable impression on me was that he made me feel like the most important person in the room when we shook hands—a room full of dignitaries. He was without a doubt one of the most gracious human beings I’d ever been privileged to meet.
Over the years, my family’s relationship with Dr. Graham grew closer and closer in the common vision we all shared: to see individuals and families around the world transformed through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In my mother’s final days, she would often travel to Billy’s mountain home, share a meal, and read the Bible to him—this happened numerous times, and they became extremely close in their twilight years.
In his final public days, I was honored to have served on the executive committee for his last stadium events held in Los Angeles and New York, a committee chaired by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer and Pastor Jack Hayford. And again, Dr. Graham was as kind to me as he was the first time he met that young cameraman.
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