Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA)

Crusade evangelism and my hope: we believe that the ministry of evangelism (sharing and proclaiming the message of salvation only possible by grace through faith in jesus christ) and discipleship (helping followers of christ grow up into maturity in christ) is a responsibility of all followers of jesus christ. (matthew 28:18-20; acts 1:8; romans 10:9-15; 1 peter 3:15) accordingly, bgea's crusades and my hope ministries begin with believers who are burdened for the salvation of their friends and neighbors. In crusades, we partner with local churches for months of prayer, planning, and training leading up to the multi-day Evangelistic outreach events called festivals or celebrations, typically held in a stadium, arena, or park. Each event features proclamations of the gospel, coupled with energetic and inspirational music. Afterward, bgea assists participating churches in follow-up with those who made commitments to christ. During 2014, franklin Graham responded to invitations from local churches by holding festivals in el paso, Texas; sapporo, japan; tbilisi, Georgia; warsaw, poland; pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; toronto, ontario; and erie, Pennsylvania. After months of preparation in each city by the festival team and local christians, more than 159,200 attendees heard the good news through these outreaches, and over 8,900 of them responded by publicly committing their lives to jesus christ. From the outback of australia to the remote mountains of papua new guinea and the far corners of asia, will Graham - the third generation of the Graham family to proclaim the gospel under the bgea banner - conducted numerous Evangelistic events in 2014. All told, more than 84,000 people attended will's celebrations, while more than 10,500 of them openly responded by surrendering their lives to christ. Bgea associate evangelist robert cunville spent much of 2014 tirelessly preaching the gospel across india. An estimated 121,800 people heard the message of salvation through christ during the year at robert's 12 festivals of peace. Over 8,340 of them made life-changing commitments to christ. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association places great importance on discipleship after the moment a person makes a decision for christ. Jesus said "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you. And surely i am with you always, to the very end of the age." (matthew 28:18-20) for more than 55 years, we have used the christian life and witness course to train and equip christians to serve as counselors by helping them grow in their faith, learn to share it with others, and make disciples themselves. During 2014, these courses were held domestically and internationally in eight different locations. More than 18,000 individuals completed the training. My hope is an international initiative that encourages and equips local churches around the world to proclaim the gospel of jesus christ. "...always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..." (i peter 3:15) each year, bgea produces short films that congregations use to draw large numbers of friends, family members, and neighbors to hear the gospel. In 2014, my hope took place for the second consecutive year in the united states and was initiated for the first time in the united kingdom. As easter approached, churches in the u.s. Were encouraged to utilize the aptly themed film the cross, which had been released the year before, reaching millions of people with the gospel. More than 18,000 program dvds were distributed in the weeks leading up to the easter weekend. Through the my hope website, phone center, and field representatives, more than 800 first-time decisions for christ were documented. During the first several months of the year, the film featuring Billy Graham's newest message, titled heaven, was produced and prepared for release in the fall. Eighty-five my hope field representatives challenged churches across the u.s. to plan my hope events around Billy Graham's birthday on november 7 or schedule them in the weeks that followed. In addition to airing nationally on the trinity broadcasting network, more than 200,000 heaven dvds were distributed for use by churches, individuals, college ministries, and prison ministries. More than 23,000 decisions for christ have been reported for my hope 2014 by means of our phone center, findingmyhope.org, and field representatives. We also partnered with bgea's office in england to distribute and show an adapted version of the cross throughout the united kingdom. Together we hosted 12 pastor events across the country as a means to encourage church leaders and highlight the local need for evangelism. More than 12,000 churches, organization, and home groups registered their participation and received program dvds and discipleship materials. In addition, nearly 49,000 individual copies of the cross were distributed across the nation. Bgea also spent much of 2014 preparing distribution channels to launch my hope in additional countries in 2015.

Decision magazine, print and internet, and searchforjesus.net the award-winning decision magazine is increasingly recognized as one of the foremost publications calling christians to stand strong for jesus christ and against the growing godlessness in the culture around us. "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of christ." (ephesians 4:12) bgea printed more than 5.4 million copies of decision in 2014, an average of over 490,000 copies per issue. Approximately 15,000 copies a month were sent at no charge to prison chaplains for distribution in correctional institutions. Hundreds of blind and sight-impaired people receive decision either in braille or on audio, and the weekly decision email devotional is sent to more than 83,000 people who subscribe to it. Decision also publishes a digital edition of the magazine, as well as mobile editions for ipad/iphone and android. Bgea's email communications, social media, and other websites continued to reach a growing audience in 2014 as we "fully preached the gospel of christ." (romans 15:19) by year's end, more than 10.8 million people from over 235 countries and territories had visited our sites - including billygraham.org, billygrahamlibrary.org, thecove.org, and myhopewithbillygraham.org. In 2014, six franklin Graham festivals were streamed live or posted for later viewing on billygraham.org. This drew over 200,000 unique visitors online from more than 150 countries. In response, over 4,800 indicated they repented of their sins and turned their lives over to christ. Also in 2014, more than 765,000 individuals visited our daily devotional pages and approximately 83,000 people visited billygraham.org's spiritual help topics pages. Some 1.2 million people explored the answers pages, where anger, sin, heaven, and marriage were the most viewed topics. Millions of hurting people take life's big questions to the internet. Through search for jesus, bgea directs them to real hope with compelling, interactive gospel presentations that address their concerns. Visitors are then invited to surrender their lives to jesus christ on our website, peacewithgod.net. During 2014, over 6.8 million people visited peacewithgod.net, with 1.3 million indicating they had made the life- changing decision to follow jesus christ as lord and savior. Bgea's search for jesus has more than 350 trained volunteers who can serve as e- counselors, chatting with visitors on peacewithgod.net; discipleship coaches, mentoring new believers through knowjesus.net; or email responders, communicating with people who leave questions on peacewithgod.net. "i was found by those who did not seek me; i was made manifest to those who did not ask for me." (romans 10:20) during the year bgea's christian guidance and response ministry representatives were privileged to pray with more than 23,900 callers as a personal, one-on-one ministry. We give thanks to god that 602 of them indicated having repentant hearts and will "obtain the salvation which is in christ jesus with eternal glory." (2 timothy 2:10)

Billy Graham training center at the cove and Billy Graham library: the Billy Graham training center at the cove exists to encourage and refresh believers and equip them to influence their world for the glory of god, guided by biblical truth and the founding principles set forth by Billy and ruth Graham 26 years ago. "lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the god of my salvation; on you i wait all the day." (psalm 25:5) through the faithful teaching of god's word, the cove has continued to carry out Billy's original vision of providing instruction, inspiration, intercession, and impact, while staying true to ruth's desire for an environment where participants can retreat and experience rest, relaxation, and renewal. "come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (mark 6:31) during 2014 more than 30,100 cove attendees participated in a total of 308 seminar, guest group, and personal spiritual retreat events. The cove also saw more than 4,100 people make commitments to major life changes in areas including their family, career, ministry, and most importantly, their relationship with jesus christ. The Billy Graham library is a 40,000-square-foot "ongoing crusade", where every aspect is designed to proclaim god's love and forgiveness, found only through faith in jesus christ. "in christ you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the holy spirit." (ephesians 1:13) here, guests encounter the gospel throughout their visit. The library has drawn more than 910,000 visitors from all 50 states and 89 countries since its 2007 opening. Offering free admission, the main facility houses six historical multimedia exhibits, four galleries of memorabilia and artifacts, and two theaters - all situated on 20 landscaped acres. In 2014, the library welcomed more than 144,300 visitors. We continued to welcome diverse audiences by hosting several special events such as book signings during the year and the library's many annual events such as christmas at the library which drew more than 43,700 people. The majority of the library's visitors took the journey of faith tour, which is the highlight of the library experience and covers important events and developments in Billy Graham's remarkable life in service to the lord jesus christ. Join us in praising god for the more than 1,700 people who responded to the gospel by indicating they had made various commitments to jesus during the year. "but as many as received christ, to them he gave the right to become children of god, even to those who believed in his name." (john 1:12)

Television, radio, and video: (expenses 7,965,748) during 2014, bgea produced more than 300 tv programs, website features, and ministry videos, including two short films in the my hope 2014 with Billy Graham series - heaven and its spanish counterpart, el cielo. In all of these we declared the lordship of jesus christ to a lost world. "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (matthew 24:14) bgea also produced five new episodes of the nationally televised program always good news during the year, which showed the power of the gospel changing people's lives through the ministries of bgea. Two new documentary dvds were produced - 7 days in the holy land and louis zamperini: captured by grace. Television and online showings of our programs and videos proved fruitful, as bgea's call centers received more than 30,300 spiritual inquiries during 2014. Over 13,800 of these callers made personal commitments to jesus christ. Our weekly radio staple the hour of decision became a web-exclusive program on billygraham.org and continued to feature insights from longtime Billy Graham team member cliff barrows. Simultaneously, a new bgea radio program, peace with god, debuted during the year on stations worldwide. Both programs proclaimed the timeless message of jesus christ as the only hope for our lost world. Our third program, decision minute, continued to offer 15 real-life illustrations each month that show people's need for jesus christ. It aired on more than 660 stations coast-to-coast, including in eight of america's 10 largest cities. Also in 2014, the Billy Graham audio archives hosted nearly 27,000 individual visitors who accessed mr. Graham's messages on demand at billygraham.org. Globally, our radio outreach continues in five languages, including spanish, mandarin, and farsi. Rapid response team and world emergency fund: (expenses 1,907,929) in a world where disaster is certain, the Billy Graham rapid response team (rrt) shares the hope of christ in the midst of crisis. "the lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." (psalm 34:18) rrt responds to crises in two ways: by training a nationwide force of believers to respond with spiritual and emotional care, and by deploying chaplains at a moment's notice anywhere in the world to offer god's hope to both victims and first-responders. During 2014, bgea responded to ice storms, mudslides, tornadoes, floods, shootings, and civil unrest with 342 rrt chaplain deployments to 17 different disaster sites. Our chaplains assisted more than 43,000 victims by year's end and personally prayed with over 10,000 individuals. We are grateful to god and give him all the glory for the thousands of people comforted in jesus' name and for the 415 people who responded to the hope of the gospel with "repentance toward god and faith in our lord jesus christ." (acts 20:21) the rapid response team's growth continued during 2014 as we recruited 162 chaplains and equipped more than 1,900 people at 11 regional seminars throughout the united states. Rrt also worked with its bgea counterparts in canada, australia, and the united kingdom to train 100 individuals at four training sites. Rrt-canada rrt-australia had 38 chaplain deployments to three locations. These chaplains prayed with 135 individuals, two of whom sought forgiveness of sin and committed their lives in faith to jesus. Children's and youth evangelism: (expenses 712,537) the focus of bgea's youth ministries remains reaching youth to reach their friends. In matthew 11:25, jesus said "i thank you, father, lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children." In 2014, bgea launched the greatest journey in the united states, the united kingdom, and australia. This 12-session bible study was created to help children ages 6-10 become faithful followers of jesus and is designed for home use, sunday school, or children's outreach in developed nations. It was adapted from the samaritan's purse curriculum by the same name, which is used in over 105 countries around the world. We had over 7,000 students complete the greatest journey course during the year, and approximately 3,000 teachers were training to teach children how to share their faith. "let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of god. Assuredly, i say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of god as a little child will by no means enter it." (luke 18:16-14) dare to be a daniel (d2bd) is an evangelism training course that equips tweens and young teens to share christ with their friends and peers. By the end of 2014, bgea had over 45,000 trained "daniels" - young evangelists - around the world. We have seen rapid growth in our d2bd ministry in australia, where over 9,500 new daniels completed the training in 2014. Transfer to support the Billy Graham library endowment fund: (expenses 13,772,423) bgea transferred funds to support the Billy Graham library endowment fund, which provides an ongoing and perpetual source of funding for the Billy Graham library located in charlotte, nc. The Billy Graham library is an ongoing Evangelistic crusade, and thanks in part to these transfers, the Billy Graham library endowment fund will help ensure that, for generations to come, visitors will hear "that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures." (1 corinthians 15:3-4)