Will Graham preaches in Bicol

The lives of many parents around the world in the Fifties and Sixties were transformed after listening to American evangelist Billy Graham speak about God’s love. Our generation harkened to the message of the second-generation Graham preacher, Franklin. The third generation Graham – William Franklin Graham IV – 36 years old, is in Bicol to preach the good news of love and salvation beginning today up to May 1st. At the Crowne Plaza in Mandaluyong Tuesday evening, he told a ballroom-full of adoring listeners that he was not just a youth pastor but that he was reaching out to people of all ages who need to have Jesus Christ come into their lives.

At the five-star hotel were evangelists, big church-founders and pastors, businessmen, academicians, entertainers, broadcast communicators, writers, bankers, lawyers and medical doctors. It was their opportunity to meet Will in Manila, as he will be in Bicol the rest of his stay in the country for the Will Graham Celebration of Hope, which falls under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).

Beginning today, the Bicol Celebration kicks off at the Pili Freedom Stadium in Pili, Camarines Sur, with the purpose of mobilizing the Christian community of Bicol “in order to assemble as many people as possible to hear the Gospel that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life; to give opportunity to inquirers to respond to that Gospel and be counseled personally by a trained counselor and referred to a participating church for follow-up and nurture.”

The participants, coming from different towns and churches, have been brought to Bicol by cars, buses and jeepneys through the sponsorship of committed Christians. They had already attended rallies and meetings prior to the Pili stadium event, studying with local pastors and lay persons in keeping with the Operation Andrew program. Andrew was a member of Jesus’ team, and in the Gospels, he brought people to know about Jesus.

Why Bicol was chosen as the site of the Will Graham evangelistic crusade was explained by Bishop Ephraim Tendero, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches. The Bicol Region, he said in a letter previously sent out to would-be sponsors, “has long been a calamity-stricken area. Deep poverty, devastation and uncertainty are a way of life for so many people. The Bicol Celebration of Hope was born out of the devastation of Typhoon Reming which struck in 2006. As a result, members of BGEA and local pastors met and committed to a partnership to bring the lasting peace and love of Christ to these people.”

A Billy Graham Crusade was held in the country in 1977, and a Franklin Graham Festival was held in Metro Manila in February 2006. More than 10,000 people are said to have committed to Jesus as their Savior in youth-oriented outreaches which Will calls “Celebrations.” These celebrations have been held in various parts of the world including North America, Australia, India and other parts of Asia.

Though he was exposed to his father’s preaching since he was little, Will became a Christian only at age seven. This happened when he felt dismayed over his not being allowed to take communion. That evening his father brought him aside and told him he could take communion only if he had accepted Christ as his lord and savior. Right there and then, Will decided to accept Christ.

He then decided he would become a church minister when he grew up. He studied for a degree in religion at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, a master’s degree in Divinity, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate degree in Divinity from Tococa Falls College.

For a time, he served as minister of the word, and steward of the flock as associate evangelist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, then assistant director of the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, pastor at the Wakefield Baptist Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and pastoral intern at Bay Leaf Baptist Church in Raleigh, Colorado. He was ordained as church minister in 2002.

Will started his celebrations with a one-day crusade-style, youth-evangelistic outreach in Leduc, Canada, in 2006. The first celebration in the US was held in Gatonia, North Carolina later that year, and since then, he has held multi-day evangelistic outreaches in Ohio, Kentucky, Texas and Ontario.

Will and his wife Kendra, and children Christine Jane, Rachel Anna and William Franklin V live in Swannanoa, North Carolina.

At the Crown Plaza dinner, banker and gardener Flor Tarriela told me Will had an enjoyable 40-minute meeting with President PNoy in Malacanang early that afternoon. Will said he told the President they had two things in common: they had families who loved them, and they both loved cars. Will did not say, though, if he also owned a Porsche.

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Tonight, “Love Becomes Classic,” a fund-raising concert for the benefit of Chameleon Association Inc. will feature Laure Favre-Kahn, a multi-awarded French pianist, at the Philamlife auditorium at UN Avenue, Manila. The concert is organized under FrancoPhil by Alliance Francais de Manille, The Embassy of France in the Philippines, and Ros Music Center.

Chameleon Association Inc. was founded by Laurence Ligier, as a non-profit, non-government, humanitarian organization to bring hope and healing to the lives of sexually abused girls. It provides support for a government-run center in Iloilo, in the Western Visayas, which takes care of a growing number of referrals from various local government units. Aside from the center, Chameleon is the only organization in Region VI which provides a comprehensive two-pronged rehabilitation program, namely, residential and post-residential rehabilitation.

The pianist Laure Favre-Kahn, 35, was awarded a Premier Pix at the age of 17. In May 2001, she was unanimously awarded first prize at the International Pro Piano Competition in New York.  

After performing at the Carnegie Recital Hall the next year, she was voted “Pro Piano Artist of the Year, 2001.” In November 2004 she became an ambassadress to Chameleon. A concert she gave in aid of Chameleon in Iloilo in 2005 was filmed by a French television team.

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