May 2018 Newsletter

Billy Graham

May 2018

The Faith behind the Legacy by In tern ationa l President Dic k Ea stm a n

“Well done, good and faithful servant!” — Matthew 25:23 (NIV)

here is no limit to what God can do in the life of a believer who is fully surrendered in faithful obedience. And there may be no better example of such a believer in modern history than the Reverend Billy Graham. Though Billy would go on to counsel multiple U.S. presidents, he began his life as a son of a Depression-era dairy farmer. Yet, through his passion to share the simple message of the Gospel, Billy ushered millions into the Kingdom of God. I can only imagine the welcome he received in heaven as multitudes gathered to thank him for his witness which led them to the Saviour. In this issue of Every Home, we look back on the legacy of Billy Graham — how God fulfilled a promise through

Billy’s global Christian influence — and how God has also kept His promises to Every Home for Christ. As you read, I hope you will consider that the impact made by giants in the faith could be made by anyone willing to follow wherever God leads. You may not preach to stadiums filled with thousands of people, but you can pray for thousands of believers who are taking the Gospel every day to doorsteps in their nations — and you can let your light shine in your own sphere of influence, be that your nation, your city or the street where you live. By sharing the simple message of the Gospel, that God loves every person and died so they could know Him, there’s no limit to how God could use you, too.

"I count it a privilege to express my convictions about Every Home for Christ. In almost every country of the world, millions of people are now literate. Many will not come to listen to a gospel service in a church or evangelistic meeting, but they will read a printed gospel message. Therefore, one of the greatest means of world evangelism today is through the printed page." - Billy Graham The 1979 Sydney Crusade

eeks have passed since the homegoing of evangelist Billy Graham, and much has been said of the impact of this dynamic leader in Church and human history. Like so many other leaders and laypeople of all streams of Christ’s Body who attended his funeral, I have my personal Billy Graham memories, as does my wife, Dee. While attending the funeral service at The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, I couldn’t help but reflect on some of those memories. I’m certain many others in the crowd did so as well. Dee’s memories of Billy go back to the early ’60s. While in Bible school in Minneapolis, Minnesota (where we met and eventually married), Dee worked for the Billy Graham Association at its Minneapolis headquarters. She began in the mail room (buried under a daily deluge of letters, as you can imagine) and soon became one of Billy’s correspondence secretaries. It was during those days (54 years ago) that I had a powerful afternoon prayer encounter in my dorm room closet that would lead to our marriage and set us on an amazing journey to the nations. In those moments of intercession, thoughts of Billy Graham’s impact gave me something of a vision for our future — but more on that to come.

cows daily as a teenager. Years later, he would explain that his desire during those younger years was to one day be a professional baseball player, but he confessed, “The talent for baseball obviously was not there!” No, Billy’s future involved not a talent but a gift — a supernatural anointing to preach the Good News of Jesus to more than 200 million people, in person, by conducting some 417 crusades stretching well over half a century in more than 180 nations. Little could young Billy have anticipated that fruitful future as he stood on a sawdust floor under a huge tent on that warm North Carolina evening. It should be highlighted that Billy’s ministry to the nations was born uniquely out of prayer — and, over the years, sustained by prayer! Just a few months prior to the Mordecai Ham meetings, where Billy was to receive Christ personally, Billy’s father had gathered several pastors and others at their family farm for prayer. One of the powerful prayers lifted up that day was for the Gospel to spread throughout the whole world from that very place. And from that very place, it spread indeed — in an astonishing way. None of those present that day could have known how their prayers would be answered in the decades to follow. And how would Billy later account for the amazing fruit of his ministry? Decades later, he was asked how he would define the keys to his success. He replied that there were actually three keys: “First,” he said, “pray. Without prayer, there could be no success.” Then he added, “Secondly, pray! You can never have enough prayer. Finally,” he concluded, “pray! Those are the three keys — pray, pray, pray!” - Dick Eastman

Pray Pray Pray

BORN OUT OF PRAYER Of course, we knew something of Billy’s story back then, but we could not have imagined what his ministry would accomplish in the many years to follow. We had heard how he came to Christ as a 15-year-old at a 1934 tent meeting conducted by a popular evangelist of the day, Mordecai Ham. Billy had grown up on his family’s dairy farm, milking

Following his conversion and a time of study at the Florida Bible Institute, Billy attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. There he met Ruth Bell, the daughter of medical missionaries to China — and the rest is history. Billy certainly could not have imagined during those Bible school days that every president from President Truman in 1950 to President Trump in 2017 would seek his prayers and advice. Nor could he have

imagined that during his lifetime he would be listed 61 times in the top 10 names of Gallup’s annual “Most Admired Man in the World” poll. Interestingly, President Trump would testify in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on February 28, 2018 (as Billy Graham’s casket lay in repose in the rotunda), that he remembered well the day when his father and mother took him as a child in 1957 to a Billy Graham crusade at Yankee Stadium.

May 1954 - About 120,000 people were at Wembley stadium London.

Auckland 1959 Billy Graham Crusade

Sydney 1959 Billy Graham Crusade

Eric Leach of Every Home for Christ attending the 1959 Sydney Crusade and, on staff with Open Air Campaigners, preaching at open air meetings every day during the 6Crusade.

Melbourne 1959 Billy Graham Crusade

APOLOGIES We could not find or have space for photos of all the Billy Graham Crusades in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738 New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738 www.everyhome.org.au E-mail: ehc@everyhome.org.au www.everyhomeforchrist.org.nz

KOREA - SOWING SEEDS TOGETHER Every Home for Christ’s early years (1946-1949) were the same years Billy Graham’s ministry emerged on the global scene with great impact. Billy would later say of the EHC ministry: “As I have travelled around the world, I have become convinced that one of the greatest needs in the missionary enterprise is to scatter the Gospel by the printed page in every part of the world, something that is central to the work of Every Home for Christ. May God continue to bless Every Home for Christ.” Over the ensuing years, the

ministry would partner significantly in numerous Billy Graham crusades. In 1973, for example, Every Home for Christ and other ministries like Campus Crusade for Christ helped spearhead an Every Home campaign to reach every home in greater Seoul, South Korea, with a gospel witness and an invitation to Billy’s Seoul crusade. More than a million households were visited. That crusade would convene Billy’s largest crowd ever, more than 1.2 million people in a single meeting.

(Few may have known, however, that a visit to every household with a personal invitation had a significant impact on the attendance at that crusade.)

In 1992, Every Home for Christ helped lead another campaign over many weeks to visit every home in greater Moscow with an evangelistic gospel message and an invitation to Billy’s historic Moscow crusade — just months after the December 1991 fall of Communism in the Soviet Union. So many people responded to Billy’s invitation to receive Christ during the Moscow crusade that hungry souls literally ran to the altar, in some cases causing others to stumble. Billy had to repeatedly shout, “Don’t run! Don’t run!” Especially amazing was the night of the crusade, when the Red Army Men’s Choir sang the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” phonetically in English, slowing down the tempo for the last stanza:

As I watched, I wept and prayed aloud, “Oh Lord, imagine that — the Red Army Men’s Choir, with the red star of Communism still stitched on their caps, is singing about the transforming power of Jesus at a Billy Graham crusade in Russia!” In those very same months, Every Home for Christ launched a campaign to reach every home in all of Russia (Siberia included), and to date, 33,510,347 homes in Russia alone have been personally visited and given the Gospel.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ Was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that Transfigures you and me. As He died to make men holy, let us Live to make men free, While God is marching on.

PERSONAL MEMORIES: A GOD OF PROMISES NOT FORGOTTEN Go back with me to that unusual afternoon prayer encounter 54 years ago that led my wife and me to this season of celebrating 30 years of leading the ministry of Every Home for Christ. It was during my deeply moving prayer time that day that Billy Graham’s name came up. It wasn’t the Lord who brought up Billy’s name, but something I brought up in response to what I heard the Lord say. To this day, what I heard seems stunning, passing far beyond the bounds of what I could imagine. But today, I understand the significance of what I heard. The still, small voice of the Lord said, “You will be involved in seeing millions of souls come into the Kingdom.” This unusual word came as I was praying about my future ministry and especially, whether Dee would be a part of it.

You see, just three days earlier Dee had told me she wasn’t so sure I was the one to share her future. It had been a miserable three days. And now the Lord was talking about souls — millions of them. So I thought immediately of Billy Graham. I responded (weeping beneath sweaters and shirts dangling above me as I knelt at a folding chair in my closet), “Lord, do You mean I’m going to be another Billy Graham?” I’m sure I must have let out a bit of a chuckle like Sarah of old did when God told her she would have a child at such an advanced age (Genesis 18:12). At that time I had never conducted any kind of an evangelistic campaign (not even a small one) and “millions of souls” seemed clearly laughable. I was just 20 years old. What I heard in my heart next was equally stunning. It was something I wouldn’t fully understand for more than a decade. The Lord added: “No, these souls will be prayed into the Kingdom!” What followed was the real hallelujah moment of my entire prayer time. I again heard the still, small voice of the Lord: “And Dee will be your wife!” Yes, I really heard that — a mere three days after Dee had expressed doubts about our future together. Still praying, I responded, “Pardon me, God, but would it be all right with You if You told this to Dee before I do?” God’s gentle reply was, “I am taking care of that now!” (I’ve sometimes wondered if the Lord was chuckling as He said that!) That same evening, Dee surprised me by asking if I would like to go out to dinner with her. It was the first time I hadn’t been the one to initiate a date. She had something she wanted to tell me. Only a few hours after the Lord had said “I am taking care of that now,” Dee let me know through tears that she was willing to spend her life with me in whatever ministry God called me to do. We were married the following

December and two months later (February 1965), we entered full-time ministry. That was 53 years ago. Several years into our ministry, during another memorable prayer time, God spoke again, reminding me of His promise to take care of that matter of telling Dee before I did that she was to be my wife. He simply said: “Remember how I kept that first promise?” After a pause, He added: “I haven’t forgotten the second!” I knew He was speaking of those millions of souls to be prayed into the Kingdom. A decade later, I joined the ministry of Every Home for Christ as Director of Prayer Mobilisation. We immediately developed The Change the World School of Prayer that to this day has equipped more than 3 million intercessors in more than 150 nations and those intercessors have helped “pray in the harvest.” In 1988, 12 years after joining the ministry of Every Home for Christ in 1976, I was appointed the ministry’s international president. This year is the 30th anniversary of that appointment. God’s second “closet promise” of 1964, that millions of souls would be prayed into the Kingdom, is clearly being answered. God, indeed, is a God of promises not forgotten. Oh, and if you want to know the keys to the success of the EHC vision? Yes, indeed, there are three: “Pray, pray, pray.” Thank you, Billy Graham! Editor’s Note: Since Dick Eastman assumed the role of president of Every Home for Christ in 1988 (30 years ago), God has blessed the EHC ministry by enabling it to take 3,123,498,249 (3.123 billion) printed salvation messages personally to 1,783,620,745 (1.783 billion) homes in more than 150 nations. During those same 30 years, 170,178,224 (170 million-plus) people have responded by making a decision to receive Christ or requesting more information on how they might know Jesus personally. As a further fruit of Dick’s call to mobilise the Church to “pray in the harvest,” God has allowed our global teams, during those same 30 years, to plant 281,279 New Testament church fellowships called Christ Groups.

How a missionary family returned home and reached thousands by Josh Skaggs

rom the time she was young, Chris had always wanted to be a missionary. But when she married Jim and settled down, that dream seemed impossible. Jim had a great job at home in Texas, and even though he shared Chris’ passion for Jesus, he wasn’t interested in leaving the United States. “So I decided to be the best ‘home missionary’ I could be,” Chris says. “I would try to reach people in my neighbourhood and just do whatever I could to reach people for Christ. We have six kids, so I tried to include them.” Together, the family painted faces at the county fair, telling people about Jesus any chance they got. Some Saturday mornings, they went on outreaches to a nearby caravan park. They also supported Every Home for Christ, funding the work of missionaries around the world. “I was just so thrilled to be able to support them,” Chris says. “I think of them riding their bikes. I think of the tremendous sacrifice they’re making every

day, the physical difficulty and all that they endure to preach the Gospel.” For years Chris and Jim shared the Gospel at home and worldwide through their partnership with Every Home for Christ. But when things started becoming difficult at Jim’s work, the family decided it was time to take a leap of faith. They sold everything and moved to Russia. “I loved it,” Chris says. “To sit at the table every night and listen to everybody share who they talked to about the Lord that day — it was just like my dreams came true.” In the years that followed, their family moved from Russia to Australia to New Zealand, doing missions work in each country. But when they applied for permanent residency in New Zealand, they were denied. With heavy hearts, the family returned home to Texas. Chris got a job at a local school, and Jim worked at a crisis pregnancy centre. Chris sensed that her time as a missionary had come to an end.

“That was really heartbreaking for me,” Chris says. “I don’t understand it all. But I don’t have to understand. I know God’s working it for good even though we have struggled financially.” Jim has driven without air conditioning through several Texas summers, and Chris currently works two jobs. They have sometimes struggled to make ends meet — but they have not stopped giving. Every gift is a sacrifice, but Chris continues to think of the missionaries they’re supporting. “Their sacrifice encourages me to keep going,” she says. “It makes me really happy that people are being reached.” Because of Chris and Jim’s sacrificial giving, thousands of people are being reached with the Gospel. When asked if she still considers herself a missionary, Chris is adamant: “Yes! I definitely do. Even though we can’t go anymore, we can give to other people who go. Now I’m reaching a lot more people than I could ever reach before.”

BILLY GRAHAM'S MESSAGE ROMANS 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

1 JOHN 1:8-9 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

ROMANS 5:8 "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

JOHN 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

JOHN 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Confess and ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sin and surrender your life to Him, inviting Him to take control of you.

MAY 2018

Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from 1 Chronicles.. For those wanting to do the one-year Bible reading program these chapters are in brackets.

As plans are being considered to visit every house in Australia and New Zealand with gospel literature, pray God will make this possible. PRAY EVERY DAY

8,284,648 houses 1,561,956 houses

PRAY FOR YOUR FAMILY Sons, daughters and grandchildren, plus others to come to Christ. Get a piece of paper and write down their names. Get their photos and pray every day for their salvation;eternity without Christ is a long time! 1 Chronicles 3 (Judges 6-8) FRANCE Pop. 67,000,000 Map. 89 EHC workers have been distributing literature in villages near Brest, in northwesten France. About 6,000 gospel booklets were distributed recently. Pray for hearts to respond to the Good News and for the follow-up work among those who are seeking. 1 Chronicles 4 (Judges 9-12) SLOVAKIA Pop. 5,400,000 Map. 81 Over the last few months, EHC Slovakia helped establish a new church community in the city of Levice. Please pray that this new gathering of believers will find a true spiritual home there and they will spread the Gospel to those around them. 1 Chronicles 5 (Judges 13-16) CREATIVE ACCESS Several EHC workers in this country and even their wives have been beaten and imprisoned for the Gospel. Pray for courage, strength and an abundance of grace for the workers and their families and for a great boldness to come on the Church in this nation. 1 Chronicles 6:1-21 (Judges 17-21) GUADELOUPE Pop. 406,000 Map. 202 Pray for a former homeless drug addict who went to prison but whose life was transformed by the Gospel. With his team, he now travels around the country in a truck called "The Caravan of Hope". He shares Jesus with drug users and people living on the street. 1 Chronicles 6:22-80 (Ruth 1-4) ETHIOPIA Pop. 102,400,000 Map. 29 Currently, the Eritrean refugee camp in Ethiopia is overflowing with Christian Eritrean refugees. Please pray for safety for the refugees and that those ministering to them will be encouraged. 1 Chronicles 7:1-20 (1 Samuel 1-7)

Send us your prayer request and we will pray for you.

CAMEROON Pop. 23,400,000 Map. 24 In spite of a difficult socio-political climate in the northwest region of this country, gospel workers managed to reach small communities that had not received the Gospel previously. Dust and respiratory diseases did not discourage the persistent evangelists. Praise God! 1 Chronicles 7:21-40 (1 Samuel 8-12) CROATIA Pop. 4,200,000 Map. 69 Pioneer missionaries in Croatia want to reach new regions of the country that are poor and still hurting from war and its consequences. Pray that they will find motivated churches and that many people will be willing to go home to home to reach others for the Lord. 1 Chronicles 8:1-20 (1 Samuel 13:1 to 16:13)

VENEZUELA Pop. 31,600,000 Map. 214 EHC workers have ongoing problems with transportation in Venezuela. There are very few regular buses, and livestock trucks are used for travel. Spare parts are very expensive. Please pray for this situation, as it affects evangelists working there. 1 Chronicles 8:21-40 (Psalm 23) MEXICO Pop. 127,500,000 Map. 218 An EHC leader in Mexico has helped organise outreaches in the state of Nayarit, an area controlled by narcotics dealers. People are afraid to open their doors to receive gospel literature but the Lord has protected the workers, and 73 percent of the homes there have been reached. 1 Chronicles 9:1-22 (1 Samuel 16:14 to 19:11) LIBERIA Pop. 4,600,000 Map. 42 Pray for the town of Gowhien. It is known as the birthplace of the Sande female secret traditional society. Pray for the Gospel to break through to the hearts of the residents and change lives to the glory of God. 1 Chronicles 9:22-44 (Psalm 59) BURKINA FASO Pop.18,700,000 Map.40 Praise the Lord for recent outreaches in the province of Nayala. For about two years, workers were not able to share the Gospel in this area. They now have a good partnership with some of the churches, and outreach is going well. Many people are coming to Christ. 1 Chronicles 10 (1 Samuel 19:12 to 21:15) CREATIVE ACCESS Pray for this nation and for the hearts of the people to be open to the Gospel. Pray that the women will come to know Jesus and that their transformed lives will be a witness to their families. 1 Chronicles 11:1-23 (Psalm 34,56)

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PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28

CREATIVE ACCESS T. has many books about Jesus, but it is difficult for him to accept all of Jesus' teachings. He wants to read more about Him in order to decide. Please pray that God's Spirit will convince T. of the truth and he will have the courage to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. 1 Chronicles 11:24- 47(1 Samuel 22:1-2, Psalms 57, 142) COTE D'Ă?VOIRE Pop. 23,700,000 Map. 41 EHC workers who thought they couldn't share gospel literature were overjoyed after being powerfully used by God to present the Gospel during an outreach at Duekoue. One person even decided to offer land to the local mission in order to build a church. 1 Chronicles 12:1:-20 (1 Samuel 22:3 - 23, Psalm 52) BULGARIA Pop. 7,100,000 Map. 77 Pray for the Seeds Project outreach in Bulgaria. EHC workers are encouraging new churches to participate in this special home-to-home gospel literature project and to reach as many villages as possible. Pray for workers to have a burden for those without Christ. 1 Chronicles 12:21-40 (1 Samuel 23, Psalms 54,63) UNITED KINGDOM Pop.65,600,000 Map.92 Pray for Christian young people in this country and all around the world to be passionate disciples and witnesses for Jesus to those around them. Pray for protection from the pressures of their culture and the strategies of the enemy. 1 Chronicles 13 (1 Samuel 24-26) CREATIVE ACCESS Gospel workers have given out literature in towns all around the country. Pray for the people who received the Good News, that it will change their hearts. 1 Chronicles 14 (1 Samuel 27-31) MICRONESIA Pop. 105,000 Map. 165 Please pray for the young people who will commit two years of their lives to reaching a specific island in Micronesia. Pray for grace, strength and provision for them and that they will see many come to Christ through their labours. 1 Chronicles 15 (2 Samuel 1-4) ITALY Pop.60,600,000 Map.65 Please pray for upcoming projects in Italy and for overall unity to continue to grow among the churches in this nation., making it possible to reach every home with the Gospel. 1 Chronicles 16:1-24 (2 Samuel 5-7, Psalm 30) ETHIOPIA Pop. 102,400,000 Map.29 There is conflict between the military and civillians in the northern part of Ethiopia, close to where an EHC Mobile Training Coordinator is working. Four people have died. Pray for safety and continued effective minisry there and also stability in the region. 1 Chronicles 16:25-43 (2 Samuel 8:1-14, Psalm 60) TOGO Pop. 7,600,000 Map. 38 Gospel workers in Togo are thanking the Lord for helping them reach hundreds of villages with the Gospel with more than 500 churches involved,. Continue to pray for a harvest of many souls from the seed.1 Chronicles 17 (2 Samuel 8:15 to10:19)

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MALI Pop. 18,00,000 Map. 49 Praise God for EHC home-to-home outreaches in the Mande area. Many people received gospel literature and five of them have decided to follow Jesus as their personal Saviour. 1 Chronicles 18 (2 Samuel 11:1 to 12:14, Psalms 51,32) PAPUA NEW GUINEA Pop. 8,00,000 Map.146 Praise God for the continuing effects of 21 days of prayer and fasting. More than 100 people from different church groups were engaged in a 24/7 prayer network for these 21 days. Many of these people want to continue this 24/7 prayer with EHC Papua New Guinea. 1 Chronicles 19 (2 Samuel 12:15 to 15:37) CREATIVE ACCESS EHC leadership in this country has laid out plans for presenting the Gospel in 2018 and is in the process of implementing this strategy. They have plans to start two new Christ Groups in the country. Please pray for courage to share Jesus and open hearts to receive Him. 1 Chronicles 20 (Psalm 3,69) CEN. AFRICAN REPUBLIC Pop. 4,600,000 Map. 25 Please pray that volunteers engaged in the home-tohome evangelisation outreach near Mokala will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Pray that many of those hearing the Gospel will accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. 1 Chronicles 21 (2 Samuel 16-20) BANGLADESH Pop. 163,000,000 Map. 132 During a yearly revival meeting, more than a thousand people gathered from various parts of the country. Many of them surrendered their lives to Christ. Praise God for providing all the finances for this conference and for the lives that were changed. 1 Chronicles 22 (Psalm 64,70) KENYA Pop. 48,500,000 Map. 27 Please pray for God's favour on pastors and church leaders who will participate in training and evangelism efforts in strategic areas in this country. Pray that many will respond to the gospel message and that members of Christ Groups will mature in their faith. 1 Chronicles 23 (2 Samuel 21-22, Psalm 18) CZECH REPUBLIC Pop. 10,600,000 Map. 82 Pray for people in the area of Chrudim in Eastern Bohemia. About 17,000 families have received EHC literature in the last few months. Pray they will desire to know more about Jesus and open their hearts to receive Him. 1 Chronicles 24 (2 Samuel 23-24) HONDURAS Pop. 9,100,000 Map. 182 EHC workers are praising God for a wonderful time sharing the Gospel in the municipality of Ojojona. Many people were touched, and some made a profession of faith. Praise the Lord. 1 Chronicles 25 (Psalm 4-6) ALBANIA Pop. 2,900,000 Map. 75 Evangelists are sharing the Good News of salvation with students in the city of Tirana. Praise God, many students have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and are now part of the Church. 1 Chronicles 26 (Psalm 7-9)

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