As the year approaches its end, one much anticipated event I had been eagerly looking forward to was the proposed visit of Rev. Franklin Graham which was christened as “Legacy Visit” by the organizers. However, as admitted by the KBPF, due to circumstances beyond their control, this much anticipated and much awaited visit could not materialize. Nevertheless, the preparations and the excitement leading up to this event had once again re-ignited and rekindled the historic visit of Rev. Billy Graham to Kohima in November 1972.
The 1972 Kohima crusade of Billy Graham is a watershed moment in the Christian journey of the Nagas. Franklin must have heard from his father accounts of his father’s journey to Kohima where massive unprecedented crowds turned up at the Kohima football ground to hear what the Man of God had to say despite the turbulent times in the Naga lands at that time.
Billy Graham was undoubtedly the most iconic and the most illustrious of all evangelists in modern times. In the 20th century world of Christian mission, he is in a league of his own and there is not even one who comes close to him in terms of global appeal and recognition. During his lifetime Billy Graham was recognized by many Americans as “America’s Pastor” and he was a close friend and confidant of all American Presidents of his time. Billy Graham provided spiritual counsel to every U.S. president since World War II, beginning with a meeting with President Harry S. Truman in 1950. This included presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and every president up to Donald Trump.
So, when the eldest son of such an iconic global figure of the 20th century was to follow in the footsteps of his father and pay another visit to our lands after more than half a century, it was sure to ignite and excite many emotions, nostalgia and spirituality in the hearts and minds of Nagas cutting across church denominations. And that was exactly what happened.
The well-known international magazine “Time Magazine” has the culture of featuring in its cover the photographs of well-known personalities who have made a difference in global affairs and touched lives all over the world. And for any great man of the 20th century, to be featured in the cover of this magazine is a testament to their international global status and also the impact and the difference they are making in the lives of others.
Here, it is interesting to note that Billy Graham was featured on the cover of Time Magazine four times the first being in 1954 and the last being in 2007. And in our present context it is really interesting to note that Billy Graham appeared on the cover of Time Magazine with none other than his son Franklin Graham in 1996.
So, if Franklin had also set foot on Naga soils as planned, it would have been a remarkable moment for all Nagas as two illustrious international personalities who had been endorsed by Time Magazine as influencers and history-makers would have set foot in our humble abode. History was made in 1972 when the father landed in Kohima and history again would have been made in 2025 if the son had also set foot in our land and breathed our air and tasted our water. But unfortunately, that was not to be.
Sure enough, we certainly cannot undermine the significance of the visit of the iconic preacher of the gospel to our land 53 years ago. I was not even born when the great man visited our land and preached to our fathers, mothers and grandparents in 1972. But like Jesus said in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”, for most of us seeing Franklin Graham would have been no different from seeing his great father Billy Graham and the experience would have remained with us for our lifetimes.
Billy Graham was 54 when he held crusade at Kohima in 1972. I have seen video footages of Billy Graham preaching his heart out standing on the soils of Kohima. And to realize that such a world renowned personality actually came to our land way back in 1972 at the peak of his fame and mission and touched our lives in an unspeakable way is indeed awe-inspiring. In fact I would say Billy Graham preaching the word of God at the Kohima local ground in 1972 at the peak of his fame and glory is still unfathomable in many ways.
The world of the Nagas which welcomed Billy Graham in 1972 was very different from our times of 2025. Today Nagas are also part and parcel of the global community and we cannot remain aloof from whatever is going on around us. When Billy Graham first saw the Nagas the experience must have been like seeing people living in another planet. But for his son Franklin it would not have been so since tell-tale signs of modernity (though haphazard and funded by the Indian government) are all around us.
Billy Graham was an American citizen and inviting him for our 100th year of Christianity was very befitting because it was the American missionaries who first brought the gospel to us in the second half of the 19th century. Some may want to say that the visit of the son can never be as impactful or groundbreaking like the visit of his father 53 years ago. But in its own way, the visit of Franklin Graham would have also gone down in the annals of Naga Christian history as a milestone in our journey with the true god.
Besides, there has always been something undeniably fascinating about a son taking on the role of his father and walking in the father’s footsteps. Billy Graham became one of the most gigantic global personalities after World War Two and he preached to audiences all over the world alongside witnessing the birth and evolution of some most extreme ideas in American and elsewhere. Whereas, his son Franklin did not have any such accolades behind him and people may want to say that he just took on the mettle from his father. But it is also no ordinary feat to stay rock solid behind what your father has established and not just maintain the legacy but also carry it forward making it a global brand and benchmark for others to follow and emulate. And that is exactly what Franklin has been doing.
Apart from the physical resemblance to his father, Franklin also represents and symbolizes everything that his father stood for i.e. a life of integrity, unwavering faith in the gospel of Christ and the desire and commitment to carry the gospel of Christ to the ends of the world.
Billy Graham visited Nagaland on the 100th year anniversary of Christianity in our land. And like all foreign visitors, he was also deeply touched and moved by the epitaph at the Kohima war cemetery which says “For yours tomorrow, we gave ours today”. I believe these unforgettable words will continue to echo in the hearts and minds of all mankind who set foot on our soil because history was indeed changed when young men in the prime of their youth laid down their lives for the sake of peace, brotherhood and a better future.
By the time Franklin was born in July 1952, his father Billy was already a well-known preacher across America and in great demand all over the world. And so it is highly probable that growing up in the hills of North Carolina, Franklin rarely saw his father at home. Living under the shadow of a so called absentee father can have lasting imprints on a child. But when your father is out changing the world and touching lives and reaching out to people in the remotest corners of the world with the only true living word of God that every man born into this world needs to hear, the boomerang that would come back to the family will become evident sooner or later as can be witnessed now in the lives of the children.
In Psalms 68:5, God says “I will be a father to the fatherless”. And I am sure Franklin and all his siblings must have experienced the truth of this in their lives. As their father had been anointed to preach the good news not only to a corrupt and degenerate America but also to all the nations of the world, the children obviously had to grow up with the knowing that their father would not be a normal father that one finds in a family. But in the physical absence of the earthly father, it was the heavenly father himself who ensured that meals were served on time, needs were met on time and that the little ones lack nothing at home and beyond.
