Some 27 years ago, a young evangelist came to Juneau, Alaska, preaching the Gospel for the first time in a Crusade-style event.
Georgia Sepel, 72, remembers that weekend quite well. And that up-and-coming preacher who spoke with conviction?
Franklin Graham was back in Juneau on Friday.
“He knows what he’s called to do, what his mission is,” said Sepel, a counselor and choir member at the 1989 event with John Wesley White. “I’m so in awe of his conviction.”
This time, Franklin Graham led a Decision American Tour prayer rally three miles from where he preached in March 1989. This time at Savikko Park, which sits on the bank of Gastineau Channel, flanked by snow-capped Mount Roberts.
The core message was the same—“God loves you.” But this time, Franklin Graham’s crusade is a 50-state campaign to every capital city in America with a critical, time-sensitive message that involves every God-fearing American citizen.
“The only hope for this country is God,” Franklin Graham told an estimated 750 people gathered in 59-degree drizzling conditions. “And the most important thing we can do is pray.”
So that’s exactly what happened at Savikko Park. As a Disney cruise parked in the distance, hundreds of passionate Alaskans gathered to cry out to God to save the nation.
One of those was Marie Ivers, who flew down Thursday afternoon from Yakutat—a small town of 600 people and a couple grocery stores—located 200 miles north of Juneau.
Why?
“Just to be a part of what God’s doing,” Ivers said.
“I think we all see the urgency of the hour. America is in trouble.”
Franklin Graham urged everyone to pray, vote and get engaged in the political arena. “It was men and women of God who built this country,” he told the crowd. “I’m running a campaign for God.”
Yes, the presidential election gets the headlines, he said. But it’s at the local level where American citizens can help turn their country back to Almighty God and biblical values.
“We need Christian men and women to run for school board. Every one of you here could run for something and probably win,” Franklin Graham said. “Now you say, ‘Franklin, c’mon you don’t understand. We’re busy. In fact, this is fishing season. We barely have enough time to come over here.’”
But fishing season didn’t stop Nick Holcomb, the great-nephew of Ivers and commercial fisherman who came from Yakutat to Juneau by boat earlier this month. After catching 6,000 pounds this week, he decided to take a break and do something for his country.
“I’m kinda tired of the ways things are going,” Holcomb said. “Abortion, gay rights, all this stuff going on. There’s no end in sight.”
Holcomb knows it’s up to him. Or rather, every person, to take action.
“I know Franklin or Billy [Graham] is not going to change that,” he said. “But we each have to do something.”
Count Barb Sandberg in.
The Auke Bay resident first accepted Christ into her life after watching the World Wide Pictures outreach film Time to Run in a Juneau movie theater in 1972.
Nearly two decades later, Sandberg saw Franklin Graham preach live in Juneau in 1989. She wasn’t about to miss his return. And a chance to gather with fellow Christians to pray.
“It was wonderful,” Sandberg said. “He’s all grown up.”
And Franklin Graham’s heart for Alaska continues to grow, with his organization Samaritan’s Purse hosting wounded veterans each summer north of Anchorage in its Operation Heal Our Patriots ministry. He’ll spend most of his summer in Alaska.
“I’ve been following Franklin Graham’s ministry for a long time. I love what he’s doing around America. And all around the world,” Sandberg said.
