Book puts faces to 'dots' in the crowds

By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.com

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Basyle and Aram Tchividjian wanted to hear the stories of the people touched by the ministry of their famous grandfather, Billy Graham. So they set up a Web site, thankyoubilly.com, and invited folks to contribute their memories.

"I was often moved, sometimes to tears, when I would read through the stories," said Basyle "Boz" Tchividjian in an interview from Lynchburg, Va., where he is in his first year on faculty at Liberty University School of Law.

"We had collected so many incredible stories that we thought, 'Man, maybe we should do something with these, try to put you there in a book using words and photos.' There are so many books about Billy Graham, but we wanted to do something different. You see a photo of a stadium filled with little dots. We realized there are stories behind each one of those faces. We've heard about what kings, presidents, even Larry King think about Billy Graham. This book is less about Billy Graham and more about how God is using him to change lives. Hopefully, God's in the limelight in this book."

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS

The result, "Invitation: Billy Graham and the Lives God Touched" (Multnomah, $19.99), contains photos through the decades of the man the authors called "Daddy Bill" and his crusades. The introduction paints this picture of the famed evangelist before he began his ministry:

"As he practiced preaching to squirrels, rabbits and palm trees, Daddy Bill thought up excuse after excuse for why he could never become a preacher. But as time passed, the excuses diminished. He knew he couldn't escape the powerful calling of his heavenly father to preach the word to all people. During these struggles, he was often reminded of God's encouragement to Moses: Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. ...

"As grandchildren, we have been blessed to know Daddy Bill in a more intimate and personal way than most people have -- after the cameras have been turned off and the crowds have gone home. Here is a man who will get off the phone from speaking with the president of the United States and immediately invite the cook to sit down and join his family for dinner at the kitchen table. ...

"Daddy Bill has always had time for us, and for that we have been so blessed."

The book includes the story of Boz Tchividjian's father, Stephen, who grew up in Switzerland and accepted Christ at age 15 after reading Graham's book "Peace With God." Years later, he met and married Graham's oldest daughter, Gigi; they have seven children. Boz is the third child in his family and also third oldest of Graham's 19 grandchildren.

Asked when he knew that Graham wasn't an ordinary grandpa, Boz Tchividjian responded, "He's been Daddy Bill to us our entire life. He's such an everyday man, the most humble person I've met. So when you're with him, you don't sense he's this world-famous person.

"When I was young, walking out to a stadium with 30,000 to 40,000 people waiting to hear him speak, I knew. We've met presidents and other people we never would have met. But he's always related to everyday people. I think that's what people love and value about him."

TALES OF HOPE

He said two stories in the book touched him the most.

The first is the story of Theresa, daughter of an abusive father and a loving mother who left her husband to get her two daughters out of harm's way. But at age 6, Teresa was hospitalized for mental illness due to the trauma she had experienced and witnessed. One evening, as the nurse was changing TV channels, Teresa saw a Billy Graham crusade and begged, over the cries of the other children, to watch it. It had brought back one of her few good memories, of watching past crusades with her mother and sister.