Billy Graham’s Mission to Manila

Evangelist Billy Graham traveled to the Philippines last month and preached the Gospel for five days to the high and mighty as well as to the masses. Afterward, the Metro Manila Crusade office reported that 412,000 people had gathered at Rizal Park to hear him, and that 22,512 persons—three-fourths of them under age 30—came forward in response to Graham’s invitations to make a commitment to Christ. More than 60 per cent of the inquirers made first-time decisions for Christ, according to crusade officials. But much more happened than what took place at Rizal Park.

The government, which is under fire in some circles for allegedly repressive politics, went out of its way to accommodate the Graham crusade. President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Romualdez received Graham and his wife Ruth in private audience, and they had the couple as house guests when a water main burst at the hotel where the Grahams were staying, leaving it without air conditioning and water for twenty-four hours. Marcos hosted a state dinner in the evangelist’s honor. Graham said that he had been entertained five times by Queen Elizabeth and many times by presidents of the United States and chancellors of Germany, “but this is the first time I have ever been honored with a state dinner.”

Mrs. Marcos delivered the opening address at schools of evangelism and Christian writing held in conjunction with the crusade, and she stayed to hear Graham, who followed her on the program. The president and the first lady attended the third National Prayer Breakfast, where Marcos was a speaker along with Graham. The Daily Express commented: “The first couple have extended every support and assistance to Dr. Graham’s crusade.” (A local church leader said that Marcos is a member of the Philippine Independent Church, and his wife is a Roman Catholic.)

Mrs. Marcos, who is the governor of Metro Manila, stated in one address that as “we strive to make Metro Manila the City of Man, its basic foundation is the City of God.” She said she foresees a new society in which man’s temporal condition is improved. “The president and I,” she affirmed, “are fully conscious that our temporal powers are bestowed by God, and we clearly realize that this gift of love can only be used in the purest of motives.” She said that “it is the consciousness of Christ that motivates and informs our labors.” She agreed that “America came to greatness because of the strong foundation of spiritual and religious freedom that initiated her birth.… The Plymouth Rock of the early Americans remains a symbol of freedom and spiritual strength of modern Filipinos.” And she thanked Graham “and all of you ministers of God gathered here in the name and in the love of Christ” for ministering to the nation.

President Marcos at the National Prayer Breakfast stated: “I have come … to demonstrate to our people and to the whole world my personal belief in prayer.… The time has come again to pray.” Addressing Graham, he said: “For those of us in government, the success of your ministry here is indelible confirmation of the sources of strength of our society.” He declared that “there is a strong tradition of reform that derives its roots from our Christian heritage, and it is not uncommon for Christian leaders to serve in the highest offices of government.” In the search for the “new” society, Marcos observed to Graham, “we share your view that [Christianity] can be a tremendous force for reform and change in society and in the world.” The breakfast event was telecast live on all four television channels in the Philippines.

The Graham campaign in Manila was framed against the complex backdrop of Philippine history. For more than four centuries the land was under the yoke of Spain. Following the war of 1898 the United States took control. This lasted until World War II, when the Japanese conquered the islands. At that time. General MacArthur fled from Corregidor with the promise that he would return. Marcos was one of the survivors of the infamous Bataan march. At the end of the war the Philippines became free, and the work of building the republic without outside interference began. Twenty years ago Graham visited the islands for his first crusade there, a much smaller one than this year’s. Fourteen years ago he was unable to preach in a scheduled campaign when he had to be hospitalized in Hawaii, and his colleague Grady Wilson substituted for him. When Graham came this time, the response was overwhelming.

Preparations for the Metro Manila Crusade began eighteen months ago. Advance man Henry Holley of the Graham team welded together an impressive cooperative venture under the chairmanship of Nene Ramientos, a prominent evangelical pastor and leader. The crusade was sponsored by the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, by the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, by numerous para-church groups, and by 350 individual congregations (there are about 400 Protestant congregations in Metro Manila). Fifty per cent of the nearly $300,000 budget was raised in the islands. The Graham organization provided the other half. A 5,000-member choir was recruited, some 30,000 people volunteered for a variety of tasks, and almost 1.5 million homes were contacted before the meetings began.

Some of the separatist fundamentalist groups refused to participate, and the second largest Protestant church in the Philippines—the 500,000-member Church of Christ—declined to cooperate. The latter group packs a political wallop, stresses tithing, and has for one of its distinctives the disclaimer that Jesus is true God. Likewise, the executive committee of the three-million-member United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) refused to give backing. (Some UCCP officials have been critical of the government.) Many UCCP leaders, pastors, and churches, however, actively supported the crusade.

The school of evangelism, headed by President Grove F. Tyner of the Philippine Baptist Seminary of Baguio City and Kenneth Chafin, a Texas pastor, ministered to more than 5,000 registrants and a large number of daily visitors. Many spoke of the school’s impact upon their lives and work, The students were challenged to start 5,000 new churches in the next year. Concurrently, the school of Christian writing, led by Roger Palms of Decision magazine, attracted nearly 400 students. They were charged to take seriously the possibilities inherent to the printed word. Members of the Graham entourage filled more than 100 speaking engagements during the crusade, including Rotary clubs and churches. Mrs. Graham held two meetings for people of Chinese extraction.

At Rizal Park, 5.000 counselors came night after night to deal with inquirers. At the final meeting, on a Sunday afternoon a crowd estimated by local officials to number 150,000 gathered under a hot sun. Graham spoke on the great “I Ams” of the Gospel of John. When he gave the invitation, 9,183 people surged to the counseling centers—a single-meeting record, according to the charts kept by the Graham organization. The meetings were taped for television to be shown in the Philippines in late November and early December and in America early in 1978.

The chairman of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, Eugenio R. Filio, declared: “In my fifty years as a Christian, and forty years as a minister, I have seen nothing like this. Asia is searching for something, and many found it here tonight.” He declared that the crusade may have had its greatest impact on the upper echelon of society and particularly among those in government.

Graham summarized his impressions: “We didn’t know what to expect when we came here because the Protestant population in the Philippines is very small. But during the crusade we have seen some of the greatest unity among churches that we’ve ever experienced, and we have received marvelous support from the Catholic Church. We’ve seen the hand of God at work here. This crusade has truly been historic in my ministry.”

Immediately following the crusade the Graham team left for India for campaigns in Calcutta, Madras, Hyderabad, and Kottayam.

When he arrived in India, Graham toured the cyclone-ravaged coast of the Bay of Bengal. The cyclones struck Tamil Nadu state on November 12 and Andhra Pradesh on November 29. Estimates of the number of deaths ranged from 12,000 (the official figure) to more than 100,000, mostly in Andhra Pradesh. Some two million persons were left homeless in more than 2.000 villages. Livestock and property losses amounted to many millions of dollars. Many of the victims were Christians, say leaders.

“This is one of the greatest disasters of the century,” said Graham with tears in his eyes. “It is far worse than the world has been told.”

Graham had said earlier that his organization would give $100,000 toward relief, but after touring the area he said he would try to raise more.

A number of religious organizations have joined government agencies in mounting relief efforts. World Vision International officials say their organization has committed $500,000 toward the rebuilding of villages. Caritas International, the coordinating agency of Roman Catholic charities worldwide, announced it was seeking $1 million from its members and other groups. Church World Service, the relief arm of the U.S. National Council of Churches, pledged $500,000. Many other organizations have also sent funds and goods.

Graham told government officials he would ask the American people to pray and to give. “I pray that Americans and Europeans will not soon forget this tragedy and neglect their responsibilities to these people,” he said.

D. Bruce Lockerbie is chairman of the Fine Arts department at The Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, New York. This article is taken from his 1976 lectures on Christian Life and Thought, delivered at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado.

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