Billy Graham Research Paper

Research Paper Rough Draft

Billy Graham has held crusades around the world and has preached to many different nationalities and religions. He has changed hearts and lives by sharing the word of God. Past and present celebrities, presidents, and world leaders have looked to Graham for counseling and in turn, Graham has forged lasting relationships with them. He has spoken to over 215 million people in many countries, cities, and territories worldwide. Billy Graham has done more to spread the Gospel of Christ and unify people around the globe than anyone before, or since.
William Franklin Graham Jr. had humble beginnings. The first of four children, Billy Graham was born on November 7, 1918 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Graham’s lived in a modest farmhouse with no indoor bathrooms or running water. Graham had many chores to do on the dairy farm every morning. He woke up around 2:30 every morning to milk twenty cows, shovel manure, and refill troughs. He would then take the milk over to his Uncle Clyde’s house in order to bottle and sell it. Graham had to work hard on the family farm in order to help his family bring in more money. At that time, no one would have ever guessed that he would go on to become one of the world’s greatest evangelists.
Billy had a hard time settling down to his schoolwork in high school.
He was smart, but he spent his time on other interests, which included baseball, girls, and fast cars (Wooten, 2001). Because of this, some of his teachers even worried that he might not graduate with his class. Graham said that he “had a rebellious heart and mind… I understood little and resented my parents, my teachers, my humdrum life as a farmhand and high-school student” (Wooten, 2001, p. 17). Even though Graham would go on to be a loving, caring, follower of Christ, he spent the beginning of his teen years in rebellion. These years of rebellion were about to turn around though because he was about to attend a life-changing
revival.
When a famous evangelist, Mordecai Ham, came to town in August of 1934, Graham’s life changed for the better. Graham didn’t want to go to Ham’s revival, but a group of his friends decided that they would see what the hullabaloo was about. While he listened to Reverend Ham, Billy was amazed by the music, the message, and the energy of the evening (Wooten, 2001). After his first night, Billy kept going back again and again (Wooten, 2001). Some nights it seemed like the Reverend Ham’s message was directed right at Graham (Bruns, 2004). One particular night, after Ham’s invitation to come to Christ, Billy found himself marching up to become a Christian. Graham turned from his bad, disobedient ways to a new life with Christ. This event would change his life completely. Graham’s conversion to Christ showed in many aspects of his life.
After Billy accepted Christ, his life changed in small, but noticeable, ways. Billy decided that he would work harder in school, be nice to everyone, and study the Bible more closely. He also became very critical of his friends’ behavior (Wooten, 2001). The kids would even sometimes call him the “Preacher Boy.” Since he worked harder in school, Billy was able to graduate with the twenty-five students of his class at Sharon High School. Even though Billy’s acceptance of Christ didn’t change many things right away, it would begin changing his life drastically very soon. This change would begin when Billy was accepted into a Christian college.