Billy Graham Library

On July 7th, we had the privilege of taking my family to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. I don’t think any of us really knew what to expect, but we had heard from some friends at church that we had to go visit. So, on one of the hottest days we had suffered thus far, we packed in our cars and caravanned out to see it. It was not just a visit; so much as it was an experience. They had transported the home that Billy grew up in to this piece of property where the library was built. So, we got to walk through his childhood home (the building on the left in the picture below) and see many of their family pictures and heirlooms.










From there, we walked through the prayer garden (where Ruth Bell Graham was recently laid to rest).










My mom made a comment to Lauren about this being a wonderful place to pray and talk to Jesus. As you can see, she really took that to heart…










After our time in the garden, we proceeded onto the “barn”.










Once inside the barn, we were given tickets and told to go stand in front of Bessie, the cow. So, we walked over to what looked like a real cow – she was moving her head, swishing her tail and blinking her eyes. After a few minutes, she began to talk and tell the story of living on the Graham Family Farm and all about a little boy named “Billy Frank” and his heart for Jesus.










After her speech, we were directed over to a mini-theater and sat down to watch a video. It was a presentation of different testimonies of people that had a difficult time in their lives and hadn’t yet experienced Christ’s love and forgiveness. Once the video ended, the doors to our left opened and we were ushered into another room with a video screen. This screen showed the story of Billy Graham, how he was raised up and called by God to become an evangelist, and how many lives he was able to touch and win for Christ because he obeyed the Lord. As this video wrapped up, the doors to our right opened and then began our self-guided tour through different “rooms”, each designed to walk you through the many phases of Billy Graham’s life and ministry.

The first room was a re-creation of Billy Graham’s first tent “revival” meeting in Los Angeles. It was complete with street signs, brick walkway and the huge tent where it all began…so it really felt like you were there. They explained how he had planned to have it for 3 weeks, but it was so successful that they extended it for an unprecedented 2 months. There was also black-and-white video playing of a very young-looking Billy speaking at that first crusade.

The next room was decorated like the inside of a living room in a cozy home…and introduced Ruth Bell. There was a TV on one side of the room that was telling her story of growing up in China and her desire to have a ministry there someday. Then, Billy talked about seeing Ruth for the first time at Wheaton College in Illinois and how he knew that he would marry her. Although, it took some convincing for her to reach the same conclusion. They were married and settled in Illinois, where Billy took his first job as pastor of a small church. The video continued to talk about the progression of his ministry and the expanding of their family. As Billy began traveling more because of his evangelism, Ruth stayed home and was a full-time parent to their eventual 5 children.

The third room we entered was a typical 1950's sidewalk storefront. In the glass display windows of the stores were old televisions. This room explained how Billy used TV to reach a wider audience for Christ. He realized what a powerful tool this kind of media was and wanted to do whatever he could to tell the American public about the Good News.










We then walked into the first of many exhibit rooms with cases full of memorabilia documenting The Graham’s life and ministry. The first of the exhibit rooms housed a large cross at the back. There was a spotlight shining on it, making it the focal point. Lauren immediately saw the cross and solemnly walked over to gaze up at it. Ryan and I stood back and watched to see what she would do. She stared up at it for a while and then knelt down in front of it, bowed her head and folded her hands like she was praying. After a couple minutes, Ryan bent down to ask her what she was praying about. She said, “I was just telling Jesus that I was sad he had to die.” Needless to say, my mom and I started crying and it was one of those incredible “parent moments” when you are so thankful that the message is reaching and touching your child’s heart in a powerful and meaningful way.













We proceeded through more exhibit rooms and took our time looking through the memorabilia displayed. There were items such as Ruth’s engagement ring, Billy’s briefcase he carried with him for over 30+ years of crusade trips all over the world, gifts from various heads of state, decades of presidents, etc. One of the items that stood out to us as particularly impressive was a certificate and Presidential Medal of Freedom given to him by Ronald Reagan.










We completed our tour by entering the last theater room and watching a final video with the same people that began to share their testimonies at the beginning. They completed their stories by explaining that although they had faced trials and hardships, felt empty and unlovable, Jesus had loved them just as they were, forgiven them and changed their hearts. What an incredible message of hope and what a blessing to have our daughter with us and to know that she is hearing the gospel, along with countless other people who have walked through this library and been witnessed to. The overall message was not one of praise for Billy Graham and his accomplishments…but rather one of the incredible love of our Savior and how He can use anyone to impact the world if we are willing to say yes when He calls.