An Unexpected Gift
Most of our Billy Graham Library testimony stories talk about times where guests receive a blessing. For Library employee Terry Hazen, the tables were turned. On one particular day in March, Hazen, who is on staff with the Library, received an unexpected gift from a visitor.
“One of the security men motioned me to the information desk to answer some questions for a guest. As we talked, I asked him where he was from. He told me he was from Savannah, Ga.,” She remembered. She went on to explain that she is also from Savannah, and the man asked her maiden name.
Recognizing her former name, he asked if she was related to the owner of a car dealership back in their shared hometown.
“I was stunned, because that’s my dad who passed away when I was 7. He went on to tell me things about my dad, how they went to grade school together, and other interesting things I didn’t know about him,” she recalled. “It was just a real unexpected gift from God to me that day. God didn’t let that man leave until we had met and the great blessing I received by meeting him. Isn’t God good?”
The Search is Over
One day in February, a 74-year-old woman named Lorraine, whom the Lord has been wooing for sometime, visited the Billy Graham Library. Her brother and sister had been planting seeds of the Gospel in her heart for many years. The day before–at church–her sister tried to persuade her to go forward and make the decision to accept Christ.
Lorraine refused, saying she felt unworthy.
That statement prompted her siblings to bring her to the Billy Graham Library. With tears in her eyes following the final theatre of the tour, she sat down in the prayer room. Volunteer Teresa Yurkovich had the opportunity to counsel her.
“I felt so honored to share the Gospel with this dear woman who received Christ and now has full assurance of her salvation,” Yurkovich explained. “The Holy Spirit is her new Friend and Counselor, and she left with the joy of the Lord.”
More Than He Bargained For
A young man from Aden, N.C., recently came to Charlotte to interview for a job. As he was driving down Billy Graham Parkway, he approached the Billy Graham Library. Although he had not planned on coming by, he found himself turning into the entrance and parking his truck.
He came to the front door and asked a volunteer if there was someone he could talk with about spiritual matters. He was escorted to the prayer room and talked with volunteer James Ferguson.
Through conversation and prayer, Ferguson came to understand that the young man, named David, had received Jesus as a young boy but had gone astray. It also became apparent that his life was in shambles, and he needed Christ in his daily life.
“Once he prayed to rededicate his life to Jesus, he felt immense relief and cried for at least 30 minutes,” remembers volunteer Elizabeth Puckett. “He had to continually wipe his face and eyes with tissues. He wanted to just sit a few minutes and meditate on what had happened.”
Before David left to drive back to Aden, Ferguson asked several prayer room volunteers to send him off with a group prayer over him.
“David seemed so relieved and full of joy! It was unspeakable joy that only comes from God,” explained Puckett. “We all gave him a big hug and gave him our blessings. He said he was so glad God had him turn in. Yes, he did have an appointment. Not only for a job interview, but with our great God!”
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“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”—Zephaniah 3:17
