Breakout Box

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Oct 10, 2004 by Capital-Journal

THE REV. BILLY GRAHAM

Born: Nov. 7, 1918, in Charlotte, N.C.

Married: Ruth McCue Bell, 1943

Children: Virginia, born 1945; Anne Morrow, 1948; Ruth Bell, 1950; William Franklin III, 1952; and Nelson Edman, 1958. Nineteen grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Residence: Near Montreat, N.C.

College: Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill., 1943

Ordained: 1939, by a church in the Southern Baptist Convention

Ministry: Pastor of First Baptist Church, Western Springs, Ill., 1943-45; charter vice president, Youth for Christ International, Chicago, 1945-50; president, Northwestern Schools, consisting of three institutions: a liberal arts college, Bible school and theological seminary, 1947-52; founded Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Minneapolis, 1950

HEART OF AMERICA CRUSADE

The final day of the Heart of America Crusade is from 4 to 6 p.m. today at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Musical guests are Gaither Vocal Band and Michael W. Smith.

Testimony is by Peter Herschend, founding partner in Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., which owns the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Mo.

Admission is free. Parking is $9 per car.

ANSAS CITY, Mo. --- Near the conclusion of Thursday night's first meeting of the Heart of America Crusade in Arrowhead Stadium, the Rev. Billy Graham shared an intimate moment with a rain-soaked audience of 7,750.

"Bob Schuller says 'God loves you and so do I,' " Graham said. "And I love all of you. I wish I could come home with you and visit with you and have a cup of tea or coffee with you, but it's impossible.

"But we'll do it in heaven, and we can make appointments and spend five years together."

The audience tossed a bouquet of mutual love and affection back to the 85-year-old Graham as it cheered wildly.

Twice before --- in 1978 and 1967 --- Graham has led crusades in Kansas City. He said he had a desire to come back to the area for the past five years.

"I thank God for the privilege of coming back and the strength to come," he said. "And now, people have been praying and I'm going to preach the same message I preached 50 years ago --- that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. My message hasn't changed. It's still the same."

While Graham's message hasn't changed, his body has begun to show signs of his age.

He had planned on coming to Kansas City in June for his first crusade since a June 2003 event in Oklahoma City, but a fractured pelvis and resulting surgery prevented that.

He also had a hip replacement earlier this year.

While his mind is alert and his spirit is willing, his body is weak. Even Graham acknowledges that much.

"I got too old and fell too many times and broke too many bones," he said a few days ago. "But I'm fine and looking forward to preaching the Gospel."

An aging ministry

Graham is a far cry from the fiery, Bible-waving preacher of his younger days. He has mellowed and perhaps is more gentle than in his younger days.

Many spectators who came to this weekend's Heart of America Crusade acknowledged that the Kansas City appearance would, in all likelihood, be the final time they would get to see Graham.

In spite of his precarious health, Graham has two more crusades scheduled --- one in November at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and another in June 2005 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Graham has said that he read nowhere in the Bible of any of God's servants retiring, so he figured he shouldn't either.

Since his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade catapulted him into the public eye, Graham has preached to more people in live audiences than anyone in history --- more than 210 million people in 185 countries and territories.

At Thursday night's opening service, the beloved preacher clutched both hands on a walker as he came slowly onto the stage. As soon as he came into view, the audience stood and cheered for two minutes.

Graham was assisted on the stage by his son, Franklin Graham, who already has been named his successor in the ministry.

The elder Graham preached his Gospel message from the third chapter of the New Testament Gospel of John and, as he always does, invited audience members to come forward to the stage area to seal their decision to invite Jesus Christ into their hearts.

"Tonight, you can start over," Graham told the audience. "You can be born again."

As the familiar strains of "Just As I Am" were sung by the crusade choir with piano accompaniment, hundreds heeded the call and streamed from the stands to a large area in front of the stage.

While in Kansas City this week, Graham spoke about his increasing years --- and those of some of the other stalwarts on his "team."

He said he was sorry that longtime crusade soloist George Beverly Shea was unable to be at the Kansas City event. Shea, 95, is resting at home after suffering a heart attack a few months ago.

Cliff Barrows, another longtime crusade member, was on hand. Barrows, a relative youngster at 81, directed the 3,500-voice mass choir in Kansas City.