the simple message of John 3: 16 and to love each
other. It was such a simple thing but it impacted
both of our lives. He seemed like the guy next door,
that really nice guy.” Wayne Sollows changed careers from marketing to ministry. He’s now a full-time Baptist pastor.
Graham’s calling of people forward into a
new life in Christ, the building up of their faith
through carefully planned and executed follow-up and the encouragement that they become
involved in a local church – all have strengthened the Canadian Church probably millions
of times over.
On the national scene, Christian newspapers
have been started as a result of Graham crusades
(see Lloyd Mackey’s story on page 18). Canadian evangelists have been trained, encouraged
and brought into the Graham fold. City-wide
ministerial associations have been created or
made stronger because different churches have
to work together before Graham would contemplate coming.
Even organizations like The Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada (EFC) can trace its roots
back to Graham’s influence. Harry Faught, pastor of Danforth Gospel Temple in Toronto in
the early 1960s, was the visionary who thought
churches and denominations should be working
better together. “He was fired up by Graham’s
vision and started the EFC,” explains Stiller, the
group’s former president.
Billy Grahm’s international influence has also been remarkable,
says Bruce J. Clemenger, the EFC’s
current president. “His ability to
transcend American culture enabled
him to initiate movements like the
Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization that have promoted an
understanding of the gospel that
integrates evangelism and social
responsibility.”
Bring up Billy Graham’s name in
Canadian Christian circles and the
stories start to flow. People remember where, when and how many
times they heard him speak. It was
almost a Canadian television ritual
to gather around and turn the dial
(manually of course) to a broadcast
of the latest Billy Graham crusade.
In the personal spiritual history of many Christians in Canada,
there has been a trip down a flight
of stairs to the strains of “Just as I
Am.” It may not have been the first
time they said yes to Christ. It may
not even have been the last time –
but it was an important time.
And they are grateful.
major Canadian Events
featuring Billy graham
1955 - Toronto
1965 - vancouver
1967 - winnipeg
1967 - Toronto
1978 - Toronto
1979 - halifax
1980 - Edmonton
1981 - Calgary
1984 - vancouver
1988 - hamilton
1990 - montreal
1995 - saskatoon (mainly
Franklin Graham)
1995 - Toronto
1998 - ottawa
in total, over the past 50 years Graham association evangelists have preached the gospel
at more than 200 crusades across Canada.
leighton Ford, John wesley white and ralph
Bell are among many Canadians who have
faithfully proclaimed God’s word. Ford held
crusade events from 1962 to 1990, white
1964-1996 and Bell 1971-2003. Quite a few
have featured music led by the popular Ca-nadian-born gospel singer George Beverley
shea, who turned 100 in February. at least 20
recent events have featured the preaching of
Franklin Graham (Billy’s son) or will Graham
(grandson). Through all these events, tens of
thousands of Canadians have heard the message of salvation and many have responded
to the good news of Jesus Christ.
–source: www.billygraham.ca/
aboutus/history
Karen Stiller is associate editor of Faith Today.
REAChIng All AgEs
soul Chat combines the power of Tv and radio advertising, a website
( soulchat.ca) and local churches to reach non-believers and help them
into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thousands of people each
year also hear will Graham speak during multi-night Celebration events
or regional tours featuring one-night stops in several cities. The associa-
Pho Tos: Billy Graham EvanGElis TiC assoCia Tion
l-r: KidzFest reaches out to children through concerts, carnivals
and drama; will Graham preaches to a new generation of young
people; the rapid response Team provides chaplains and prayer
support for people who have experienced natural disasters.
tion also operates a Tv telephone ministry that provides spiritual support
and information to people who call a toll-free number after watching
BGEa telecasts.
The rapid response Team ministry provides chaplains and prayer
support for people who have endured natural disasters or the like. Teams
have been deployed to as far west as abbotsford, B.C., and as far east as
moncton, n.B., during the past two years.
Decision magazine, published from the united states, is continuing
its faith-building blend of evangelism, discipleship and stories of God at
work in people’s lives. about 20,000 copies are delivered each month in
Canada (plus 460,000 worldwide).
BGEaC schools of Evangelism bring pastors, leaders and their
spouses together for practical training in retreat settings to help them
reach people for Christ in and through their local churches. The next
school in Canada will be in ottawa, July 27-30. –Jeff adams/BGEaC
