9.19.2013 BOB PIERCE by franklin graham with jeanette lockerbie

bob defines faith...'in my personal view, nothing is faith as long as you set your goal only
as high as the most intelligent,
most informed
and most expert human efforts could reach.

58...my first 'crossroad of faith'..
i had been invited to go to china, my first overseas venture...
dr. torrey hohnson had been the one asked to speak at a crusade in shanghai;
then found he couldn't go..
another seemingly hopeful avenue (for raising funds)..
i'd prayed, 'Lord, if You want me to go, You'll have to get me there'....
bill graham was involved..it was a great rally at the hollywood bowl
and some youth for Christ men suggested i get up and talk about this china trip
and they would take an extra offering to  help with the expenses.
a feature of that meeting was ..graham..handing me a bible engraved..
to chiang kai shek, president of the republic of china...
and the next morning there it was on the front page of the los angeles newspaper,
a large picture of ..graham presenting me with that bible to give to the president.
that gave me a great feeling, as you can imagine.
but, shortly afterward, the chairman of the rally called to say that,
after everything was settled up,
there wasn't anything left to help with my china trip!

what was God doing?
what was He trying to tell me?
i was to leave the very next morning@
and the only thing i was absolutely sure of
was that the Lord wanted me to go.

i remember deciding i wasn't gonna go to church and face people
who had been in that huge crowd the night before
and had heard the announcement that i was going to china right away
and had seen them give me the bible to take to the president..
and then have them figure out that it was all a balloon full of hot air.

i stayed home all day, sick at heart,
asking God why He was making a fool of me.
 of course, human nature being what it is, it wasn't God i was thinking about, nor the call!
it was my self punctured self image:
what would people say?

the next morning there was just one thing to do.
so i did it.
with my wife, our little sharon and my father in law to see me off,
i took my suitcases and headed for the los angeles international airport.
that's where i stood and came to the first crossroad
about WHETHER I WOULD OR WOULD NOT LIVE BY FAITH.

people were beginning to check in.
i turned to my father in law and asked,
'what do you do in a case like this>
here i am and beyond this airport lies the pacific ocean.
i can't swim.
how am i gonna get to shanghai?

He replied, 'at least you can look the Lord in the face and say you came as far as you could.
you had this conviction that
He wanted you to go;
you had this order from torrey johnson..
i was one of their evangelists..
and here you are.
you can look up and say,
'okay, God. what are YOU going to do about it?

then, just as i was asking my wife, lorraine, if she could think of anything i'd left undone,
like a flash i remembered that i had neglected to get someone to take a prayer meeting
i had promised to speak at while the pastor was absent.
now...that God triggered that in my head.
i had to do something to keep my promise to that pastor,
but first it had dawned on me that i could go part way on the money i had
and trust the Lord for the next lap.
so i bought a one way ticket to honolulu, the first stop enroute.
then i dashed to make my phone call.
i called wilbur nelson, chairman of youth for Christ,
and he agreed to take the meeting for me.
then he said, 'how in the world can you make the trip to china?
i know you don't have the money'.
so i told him i had enough to take me to hawaii and $117 left in my pocket.
there was silence.
then-and it's as clear to me as if it just happened..-he said,
'all right, bob.
if you're going like that, trusting the Lord to provide along the way, here's what i'm going to do.
i'm going to call every christian businessman, every YFC committee guy i know,
and if i can get together some money i'll wire it to you at the honolulu airport,' and he hung up.

now i need to back up a bi....about something that had happened while he was holding meetings a few weeks earlier.
at one meeting, a young filipino man had urged him,
it he did go to china, to make a stop in the philippines.
the young man had assured him that an airlines executive, a fine christian man,
would make all the arrangements
and he had given bob the man's name, adding 'just let him know you're coming.

having given that background, boob continued....
'it took 11 hours on that old DC 4 plane from los angeles to hawaii..
and when i got off i didn't stop for anything.
i dashed to find the western union desk
-and hallelujah!
there was a telegram for me.
God bless wilbur nelson and those guys back in los angeles.
they had scared up 500 dollars!
how i had enough to take me to manila.
so i fished out that man's name and rushed back to the telegraph desk
and wired my expected arrival time.

sometimes bob's stories would get so exiting i
(this is franklin graham, billy graham's son, who bob is telling the story to...
he was to take over for bob as head of Samaritan's purse.)
wondered if he didn't make them up as he went along.
but i knew better, and..relaxed to listen to the next part.

bob continued, 'i'm still on a flight whose final destination was shanghai, you know.
the Lord didn't steer me off my route, he informed me with a grin.
'it was a long ride, but we made it and landed in clark field.
i'd learned that we had aboard a provincial governor,
which explained the presence of a bunch of cameramen at the foot of the steps.
i'll avoid all that, i said to myself, so i hung back and got off last, all rumpled,
carrying my old typewriter and whatever else i'd taken aboard.
at the bottom of the steps i was greeted by a little man who said,
'aren't you bob pierce?
but before i could answer, i heard 'that's him! i've seen his picture'
and with that cameras began to click and flash bulbs went off.
(i must have had my mouth open in those pictures!)
then along came a man and introduced himself,
"i'm john sycip. i got your telegram and everything is set up for you....
'well, you got the cameramen here, i chipped in, not knowing what to think of it all.
he explained, 'that's because you're speaking to the chamber of commerce tomorrow in manila
and i want a little publicity for that.

i gasped, 'how in the wold-i mean, i didn't know for sure i'd get here.
how could you know?
(and here is where God taught me that i wasn't the only one praying about that 'impossible' trip.)
this man said, 'i was just praying.
i had a letter from dr...johnson explaining that you might be coming without knowing how  you were going to get here.
i just believed that if you trusted God enough He was going to get you here.

he steered me into a old army jeep, threw my stuff in, and started driving off.
but i knew better; didn't i have to go through immigration and all that?
it seems he had taken care of that, too.
he had provide accommodations and was putting a car and driver at my disposal.
but first he had to take me to see his fleet of planes.
his father, a banker, had set him up in the airline business.
hohn now owned the second largest airline in the islands.
i soon leaned, however, that business was not john's first priority.
he was deeply concerned over the souls of his pilots, not one of whom was a believer yet.

so i started off by speaking to the chamber of commerce.
then for 8 days i spoke on a different island each day.
john had arranged that a different pilot fly me each time, so i could witness to each one of them.

it was an unforgettable experience: wonderful crowds...
who came because i was AMERICAN
and our country had given the finest of our men to deliver their islands.
i don't know how many were saved in those meetings, but i had a great time.
the americans had left a PA system wherever they had been,
so i'd stand up on the highest thing (a truck bed sometimes)
and sing my youth for Christ songs.
my biggest hit in those days was 'This little light of mine.
i'd make all the gestures, with my finger as a candle, and they loved it.
i was even invited to speak at a fourth of july celebration.
about 5000 came that day.
and at the end a priest tugged at my sleeve and asked
if i would go with him to talk in private.
i'll never forget him.
he sat down with me and said:
'i really believe what you preached today and i want to be saved....
years later, at a pastors' conference in cebu city,
...a man came out of the crowd and threw his arms around me.
'do you remember me?..you let me to Christ, he said with tears in his eyes...

....it was the last evening. i had to leave for china the next day.
for some reason i hadn't let john (his host) know of my need. ,
that i had no means of getting to shanghai.
he had booked me for that evening in his own chinese church,
a small sanctuary that seated 200,
and for the first time i spoke thorough an interpreter.
john interpreted for me; and to my great joy,
27 young people came forward ...
but i have to admit..i was dismayed that john had taken no offering....

he just pronounced the benediction and, as the people were leaving, i prayed:

'Lord, You brought me this far, and i want to thank You for what You have done..
if i never get any further, this is still farther than in my wildest dreams
i ever expected to get in my whole lifetime.

but how was the Lord going to get me either to china or back home to los Angeles....
well, as we left the church john said,
'let's talk a bit.
you know how anxious i am that these pilots of mine come to know the Lord.
i know you've preached the gospel each night and they've heard.
but there's one-and he's very dear to me-
who because of his tight schedule didn't get to hear you even once.
now i have a request to make.
i hate to ask you,
but would you be willing to give up your comfortable seat on a regular plane?
you see, once a week i send my DC3 cargo plane to hong kong.
it goes tomorrow and this man is piloting it.
would you be willing to sit alongside him in the cockpit
and talk to him about Jesus on that eight hour trip to hong kong?

there was no way he could know i had no 'comfortable seat' and i didn't tell him.
well, i answered, since you put it that way, john.
i'll never know why the Lord had me keep my mouth shut.
it's probably the only time that, when i needed money,
i didn't make the whole world know it!....

..i'd come a long way, literally, and i had a few
crumpled dollar bills and some change jangling in my pocket.
but shanghai was still a far piece to go on that!
the pilot had unloaded me and my stuff 'way out on the tarmac
-you know about these places-
and i'm sighing, oh. Lord, how'm i gonna get myself and this gear into the terminal?
and the sun was baking hot.
right then, the pilot yelled down to me, 'here. catch. i forgot to give this to you.
an envelope fluttered out of his hand
and as i picked it up he shouted, 'wee that yellow limousine?
that car and the driver are yours while you're here.
the driver will take you to your hotel.

i stuffed the envelope in my pocket and headed for the limousine.
my hotel was the luxurious hong kong peninsula, queen of all hotels in that colony;
i wouldn't have been able to afford a cheese sandwich there.
and yet i found myself in a lovely room that john sycip
kept for his frequent business trips.
i got down on my knees and just thanked God for
another proof of His love and care for me.

for some reason, the envelope had been blanked out of my mind till then.
i got up from my knees, opened it,
and three one hundred dollar bills fell out.
shoutin' hallelujah, i dahed for the elevator and through the lobby
to where the china national air corporation had an office
and somewhat out of breath, asked,
'when's the next flight to shanghai and is there a seat left?
that was tuesday. there was nothing going till thursday morning and
thursday evening i was scheduled to speak in shanghai.
i asked the fare.
'three hundred dollars to shanghai, the clerk answered.
i laid down my three hundred dollars.
i didn't get a cent back nor did i have to pay another cent. i got my ticket.

my plane arrived at exactly four in the afternoon
and with the help of an airline fellow who wrote the address in chinese for me,
i headed in a ricksha (no money for a taxi) for the china inland mission headquarters.
there i learned that dave morken, a new missionary whose support i had partially raised
by having him travel with me in my california meetings
was flat on his back with a jaundice that would keep him down for at least a month.
he and i had been slated to work together.
i washed my face,
and some of the CIM folk took me to the moore memorial church
just in time for the first meeting of the crusade.

....that summer in china. when dave recovered,
we went to 17 of the largest universities all over china and i was privileged to speak.
those who kept records tell me that 17,852 men and women not only came forward,
but signed cards and were counseled....

..i had reached china with nothing in my pocket.
but i had a million dollars' worth of experience to prove
that 'faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it (I thess. 5.24)

...what if i had never even gone to the airport that day!..