Pastor Jerry vividly remembers watching a wildfire race toward his small community near Vernon, British Columbia, in 2021. From the opposite bank of Okanagan Lake, he recalls the acrid black smoke of burning homes—72 of them were near his church.
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains deployed in the aftermath, serving alongside Jerry’s church to walk with residents through their grief.
Nearly two years later, the recovery continues. “We are praying that the community might be healed,” Jerry said. He knows how much his neighbors need the healing found in Christ alone.
For him, the Look Up Tour with Will Graham, which is coming in October, is another opportunity to point others to Jesus. “I’m looking forward to revival,” Jerry told us. “We’ve seen an influx of people in our church searching for answers they haven’t found in the world.”
That answer is the Gospel.
“Scripture is full of examples of when people get into trouble, their hearts are open,” he continued. “We’ve had our share of troubles. So, to have Will Graham come is a great joy to me.”
Jerry knows what God can do through the united prayer of churches and the preaching of the Good News. He participated in Billy Graham’s 1985 Anaheim, California, Crusade and several smaller outreaches in Alberta. “I see the Crusades as seed planting … it’s something the church can do together,” he said. “Is there a spiritual hunger for that? Oh yeah.”
“The world is asking … What is the reason for your faith?”
As friends and partners, you play a vital role in this proclamation of the Gospel in the Okanagan and across Canada. Visit WillGraham.ca to see how you can pray and come alongside believers there.
“We are told in Scripture to be ready to give an account,” Jerry said. “I think the world is demanding that of Christians. Before, the world said, ‘I don’t want to listen.’ But now, the world is asking more, “What is the reason for your faith?’
“This will be a time to be accountable for our faith.”
Please pray as Will Graham prepares to preach the Gospel in three cities across the Thompson-Okanagan region of British Columbia.
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