Tribute to Billy Graham 1918 – 2018
As the world pays tribute to this great but humble man of God, it’s heartening to remember some stories of our family and our connection to His ministry.
YOUTH FOR CHRIST ‘40’s
In the 1940’s, my Mom Faith Krantz, who was probably in her late teens or early twenties, went out to dinner with Billy Graham and a few others. Faith was involved with the beginnings of a youth ministry named Youth for Christ in the Moline, Illinois area. Billy Graham worked with her new group, as his role with the organization. They shared the day’s work and then went out for dinner. She recalled being a part of the small group that dined with him at a Chinese restaurant in town. She said he showed promise of things to come even then. He was quite personable and well-spoken: “quite something”. Of course, with simple faith and folksy charm, he spoke of the one who was quite someone, the Son of God.
TENT MEETINGS IN LOS ANGELES ’49- ‘50
Faith and Bob Beard, my Mom and Dad, attended Billy Graham’s huge tent meetings in downtown Los Angeles, 1949-1950. . Dad led groups of Christian students from USC, where he was getting his Masters in Business, over from the campus to the tent meetings. Mom and Dad came to Los Angeles in 1949 after they married in 1948. Graham launched a movement with his first major crusade in 1949. What were huge crowds for that time gathered in and around a tent at Washington Boulevard and Hill Street. A photo of the long, large tent shows several tents stitched together to accommodate crowds. Thousands in the tent heard Graham preach his simple salvation message. Many gathered outside in long coats and hats in cold weather to line up to get inside the tent entrances.
MADISON SQUARE GARDENS ‘50’s
When I was about 5, Mom and Dad packed up my young sister Robin , who was 2, and we traveled east to see relatives in the Midwest (Minnesota and Wisconsin) and attend the Madison Square Garden, New York, Billy Graham meetings. Grandmother Maude Minnie was the oldest of nine Nelson children. A supporter of World Vision, Aunt Nannie was a nurse in Minneapolis, and Aunt Violet (Vi) had a farm in Amery, Wisconsin. We called them our city and country aunts as they were twins from the twin cities. We had a family picnic and gatherings with the twin aunts, Uncle Lawrence, Uncle Harold, Uncle Jim, two Uncle Bills, Aunt Gusty, and others. Aunt Olive had already passed. Some of them had homes in the rural areas, while others lived off the land at Vi’s farm, tending to livestock and fishing at the lake near the Old Mill. It was sadly during this trip that we found out sister Robin had childhood leukemia, which would soon take her life despite the care of City of Hope.
My parents took me into the Madison Square Garden Billy Graham meeting where I accepted Christ. When Graham preached so powerfully and clearly, there was no choice, but I still said “yes” to Christ a few more times that year and the next to make sure God heard me. It was a memorable sequence of meetings as Billy Graham was getting publicity from Randolph Hearst’s newspapers; furthermore, it was evident that God was at work bringing people to him on both the west and east coasts. Reports were that many New York gang members also came to Christ. As Billy Graham influenced our family and others with his power of example, it was clear that we were experiencing a Christian movement lasting well into our generation and those that follow.
