Here is a promo for a film I produced with Larry Eskridge, “A Gathering of Souls: The Billy Graham Crusades”. The Rev. Billy Graham passed away on February 21, 2018. In 2012 I worked with Larry Eskridge from Wheaton College to produced a documentary, A Gathering of Souls: The Billy Graham Crusades. It was produced for the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College through a grant from the Lilly Endowment. You can order a DVD copy through Vision Video.

We recorded the open to this 50 minute documentary in Moshi, Tanzania. The site was chosen for two reason. 1. I was already in Tanzania with Godparents for Tanzania. 2. The 1960 Graham East African Crusade was a great example illustrating the enduring global impact of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on the lives of individual people from across the globe.

While producing this documentary, the possibility of actually meeting Graham came up. I declined to pursue it, mainly because Rev. Graham was in declining health and I didn’t want to be just one more person wanting a selfie with a famous person. Also, and most importantly, the Billy Graham Crusades were never really about Billy Graham. The BGA was a team effort from the get-go. Beyond the professionals, tens of thousands of local churches, pastors, and fundamentally, volunteer laypersons, poured years of effort into each crusade. Yes, he was the featured speaker, and yes, the organizations bore his name.

But my sense was that Billy Graham recognized that his public personality was nothing more than a useful tool in achieving his larger goal… evangelism. If Billy Graham thought they could draw crowds and change people’s lives by using a horse to tap out John 3:16 with its hoof, (they actually tried that) he would have done it.

Billy Graham was always about results. He would use any ethically responsible means at his disposal to preach the Gosple to as many people as he could. He just happened to have a great personality and an uncanny ability to preach in a way that struck a chord in millions of peoples hearts. Billy Graham always gave the glory to God alone.

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We followed three orphan children (HIV positive) as they went for water. The fresh water source came from a spring about half a mile away. The kids carry the water jugs down to the spring, fill them up and lug them back up to the house. The oldest boy carries the biggest jug. It must have weight about 25 pounds. The smallest girl, who couldn’t have been more than five, was responsible for carrying two, gallon jugs.

At the time, the ELCT was caring for 50,000 Aids orphans in the Bukoba district alone.

According to the WHO, an estimated 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic in the mid- to late 1970s.

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The Faraja School is one of only two primary schools in Tanzania that serve children with disabilities. Faraja School gives children hope and does it through a model of financial sustainability through agriculture. Emmanuel Nguvava is Director of the school.

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The Faraja School is one of only two primary schools in Tanzania that serve children with disabilities. Senorina Laurent is an Occupational Therapist and helps children adapt to their environments and gain independence

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Josh Garber is the youth pastor at Lombard Bible Church. Josh’s life-long faith journey was challenged while on a missions trip in Gabon, West Africa.

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We will also be working with the Faraja School, a primary school in Tanzania bringing hope through education and physical therapy to disabled children.

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Advocating for the Deaf: Rehema’s Testimony
CBM US, asked me to record this story at a disabilities forum at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. The event took place in advance of the 2012 International AIDS Conference.

Rehema works with Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), the largest indigenous provider of disability and rehabilitation services in that nation. CBM US partners with organizations like CCBRT at the local level. Every year, around 120,000 adults and children with disabilities and their caregivers achieve a better quality of life through CCBRT services.

My friend Cynthia Ebema narrates on behalf of Rehema.

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