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Author's
NOTES~ |
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I
don't have a
real big story of how Christ came into my life. As a young child I had asked
Jesus into my life. I had Christian parents but if it wasn't for my mom's
prayers I would not be writing this. |
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One
part of my life that was especially exciting happened a couple of years
ago when Billy Graham came to Toronto in June, 1995. In Nov. '94, I was
invited to go to an Introductory Seminar related to the up- coming crusade
called Mission Ontario. I went and was surprised to see no one there from
my home region of Niagara. |
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I
phoned head office
that evening and casually asked why no one was present from Niagara Region.
She explained that Niagara was not invited to the Crusade in Toronto, even
though Toronto is a 1 hour drive from our region. Many other areas were
invited and they were 1-2 hours drive to the Crusade and the Crusade ironically,
was called Mission Ontario. I explained that I received an invitation to
come but she told me that I should not have received that invitation and
whoever sent it erred. Somewhat vexed, she suggested that I write a letter
explaining my situation. |
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I
wrote a letter and shortly thereafter, I received a reply from Stan Izon,
asking for a dialogue. Perhaps I could try to arrange a meeting with some
area pastors. I knew a few of them so the alert went out. W We met and discussed
the idea of planning a Crusade for Niagara Region and would call it Mission
Niagara. An executive was formed and we decided to invite Franklin Graham,
son of Billy Graham to come in early May, 1996. Much planning took place
and lots of prayer was offered for Mission Niagara. When Mission Niagara
was over we thanked God that more than 900 people had recommitted their
lives to Christ. It was truly awesome! |
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As
you can tell, a small mistake by some secretary has shown how great God
can be. I am honored that He would chose me to initiate Mission Niagara.
It was only through Him and much prayer that Mission Niagara could have
been a success. I was in a prayer group just before the start of one of
the nightly meetings with Franklin Graham and someone had a word from the
Lord that as the ice in the Niagara River would break up and rush away,
that's how God would break up traditional patterns in people's lives to
show His Power. When I heard that I was overwhelmed. Then I knew that Mission
Niagara was not from me, man or whoever, but was from God. He had planted
the seed and now He would bless it. I thank God for the changed lives. From
that prayer time came the Daily Wisdom of Niagara Falls. |
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I
do have to say Mission Niagara has given me a deep awareness of how God
can operate in our lives. But I feel like Billy Graham, however, when he
was asked on 20/20 what would be the first question he'd ask God when he
came to heaven. Billy said that he would ask, "God why would choose a person
like me, Billy Graham to follow Jesus?" |
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I
would love to hear from you. You may email me at:  |
