Billy Graham Comes Home to BGEA

To mark the reopening, a ceremony was held Tuesday that was attended by Billy Graham, himself, who has been largely out of the public eye for the past couple of years due to health-related issues.

At a dinner following the dedication ceremony, the 91-year-old preacher said the library, “which has been largely the vision and the work of Franklin, has gone far beyond our expectations.”

“The reason we decided to renovate it was to make it a different type of library that would totally and completely honor the Lord Jesus Christ, where people could find Christ in almost every place,” said Graham. “And I’m grateful to those that have worked and prayed, and I believe that God is going to use it in the future.”

Surrounded by hundreds of donors, family members and friends, the 91-year-old evangelist - his hearing nearly gone, his eyesight fading - had come home to Charlotte to help celebrate the reopening of the library bearing his name.

It was his first public appearance in Charlotte since May 2007, when three former presidents - Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush - joined him in dedicating the barn-shaped Billy Graham Library, which traces his trek from son of a dairy farmer in Charlotte to preacher to presidents and millions around the world. About 288,000 people have visited the library.

At the dinner Tuesday night, Graham thanked everyone, said a prayer and spoke about how memories of his Charlotte childhood are still with him: 'I still dream about milking cows,' he said to laughter from the crowd. 'The other night I woke up and I was milking cows!'

I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody for being here. There are so many people here that I have known for many years – and I love you all. It is wonderful to be back in Charlotte. I consider Charlotte my home city. I love this city. I was born and bred about 5 miles from here.

We had a lot of cows. I was born, in my mind, milking cows. I still dream about them – the other morning I woke up and I was milking cows. My father owned a farm and we had four other children – five of us in all. One of them sits beside me – the most beautiful, wonderful young woman in Charlotte – Jean Ford – and her handsome young husband. They never seem to get old.