| Billy Graham | |
|---|---|
 Billy Graham, on April 11, 1966 | |
| Born | William Franklin Graham, Jr. November 7, 1918 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Residence | Montreat, North Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Diploma in Biblical Studies, Florida Bible Institute (Trinity Bible College), 1940 B.A. in Anthropology, Wheaton College, 1943 |
| Occupation | Evangelist |
| Title | Doctor (Honorary) |
| Religion | Evangelical Christian |
| Spouse | Ruth Graham (m. 1943–2007; her death) |
| Children | Franklin, Nelson, Virginia, Anne Ruth |
| Signature |  |
at 96 years old.
Billy Graham was born on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina.[4] His mother and father Morrow Coffey and William Franklin Graham managed the farm.[5] They were devout Christians[6] and Graham's mother had a big influence on his faith.[5]In 1933 Graham's father forced Graham and his sister Catherine to drink beer until they vomited. This made them hate alcohol for the rest of their lives.[7] The Billy Graham Center says Graham was converted in 1934 during a revival meeting in Charlotte led by local evangelist Mordecai Ham.[8] However, he did not become a member of a local youth group because he was "too worldly".[7] After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936 Graham went to Bob Jones College (now called Bob Jones University).
In his first year of college, he found both the schoolwork and rules too hard.[7] He almost had to leave school, but Bob Jones, Sr., the founder of the college, said that in doing that, he would throw his life away. He told Graham, "At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily."[7]
While he was at college, Graham would often take a canoe to a little island in the river. On that island he would preach to thebirds, alligators, and cypress stumps. In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida) where the Florida College in Temple Terrace, Florida now stands. Graham later transferred to Wheaton College and in 1943, graduated from Wheaton in Illinois with a degree in anthropology.[9] While he was at Wheaton College, Graham decided to take the Bible as the perfect Word of God. He accepted this as truth at the Forest Home Christian camp (now called Forest Home Ministries), southeast of the Big Bear area in Southern California. A memorial is there showing where Graham first made this choice.[10]
Family[change | change source]
 | Wikinews has news related to this article: Ruth Bell Graham dies at 87 |
In 1946, Graham married a girl who was in a class with him, Ruth Bell. Her parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China. Her father, L. Nelson Bell, worked as asurgeon there. When talking about Bell, Graham said "She looked at me and our eyes met and I felt that she was definitely the woman I wanted to marry." Ruth said that he wanted to please God more than any man she had ever met. They married two months after they graduated from college. After marriage, they lived in a logcabin that she had made. Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at age 87.[11] They had five children together:[12] Virginia (Gigi) Graham Foreman; Anne Graham Lotz; Ruth Dienert; Franklin Graham, and Ned Graham. They also have 19 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham
No comments:
Post a Comment