Evangelist Dr Billy Graham died on the 21st of February 2018 at the age of 99. Dr. Tony Stone worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and we are recalling what it was like to be part of that work.

Paul: Where did you travel for the association?

Tony: It was worldwide because it was at a time when Billy Graham was holding crusades in many different areas. I was privileged to be involved in a number of the European crusades. Some were more memorable than others. We had a wonderful time in Belgium. There was also a visit to Paris in France and to a number of places in Germany. Dortmund being the outstanding one as it was one of the first crusades where the whole thing was transmitted by television all over Europe. I was very busy preparing for the many centres that were opened up in the UK. In the early days I also travelled to Eastern Europe; we went to Poland, Russia and of course many other of the satellite countries in those days.

Paul: What practical things do you need to do to put on a Gospel crusade?

Tony: I am glad that wasn't my responsibility but it does take at least 2 years before the crusade actually happens. First of all choosing the ground where it is going to be held, and with Billy Graham commonly it was sport stadiums. Then there is all the preparing. The first committee that was ever established was the prayer committee. As I have got older and reflected on that, that was good advice. All the other committees came after that including the finance committee, which ordinarily people would think that would come first. But that is not how Billy Graham did it. So yes, it is a long process preparing for a crusade.

Paul: Billy Graham came to the UK, what cities did he come to?

Tony: There are too many for me to remember or to list but of course there were a number of crusades in London over a period of years. Then there was Manchester, Liverpool, and Sunderland - that was a wonderful crusade. One particular time, which we called Mission England, he travelled to Norwich in the east, London in the south and then worked his way up to Newcastle. There was a great crusade in Scotland and he also went over to Ireland and then Wales.

Paul: Do you have any outstanding memories of any of the crusades in the UK?

Tony: To be honest, every one of them. You just look back in wonder at what God did. I think Sunderland was a very interesting crusade because the weather was absolutely appalling. It rained most nights and yet the crowds never once went down. It was just marvelous to look out from the platform at the sea of umbrellas. It was sensational that the newspapers had headlines and whole articles on the fact that Billy Graham said that he wore two lots of underwear because of the cold weather.

Paul: I was actually at that crusade in Sunderland, a long time ago!

Tony: The amazing thing is the weather didn't change anything, other than we got wet. And one of the biggest problems, because Billy Graham was on an open stage, they had to put extra covering on. He preached more than once during that week, he actually preached with a big overgrown umbrella over him to try and stop the worst of the weather.

Paul: Now he actually used football stadiums like you said. Why did he use football stadiums and is it expensive to hire a football stadium?

Tony: I cannot even imagine what it cost. Although I have a recollection of being in committee meetings where it was discussed, but to be honest that was not my interest. So all I know is that for every crusade, every penny was met and even to the extent that there was money left over which was distributed amongst missionary organisations.

Paul: Was it a football stadium because it was the most practical way of doing the crusade?

Tony: In those days we needed places that would hold the maximum number of people. Even now in many cities the local football stadium is the largest place to get people to gather together. Most of the crusades were in the open air, but of course we had the advantage that you didn't only use the stands, but there were also arrangements that boards were put down all over the pitch and so a few more thousand would sit down at the pitch level which was amazing.