Last week during our last day in Charlotte we decided to take a break from the theme park and looked for some other places to visit before our evening flight home. After searching the internet we discovered that the Billy Graham Library was located just 15 minutes from the airport. Ministry has been a large part of my life for many years and I have great respect for Billy Graham, the most impactful evangelist of the last century.
We read that admission was free and we expected a short walk-through with a bookstore, but it was so much more! There is an entire Journey of Faith experience, a bookstore, a deli, outdoor waking paths, and his childhood home located on property. We ended up spending around a total of three hours here and I highly recommend seeing it if you’re ever in the Charlotte area.
We arrived at lunch time and decided to eat at the Graham Brother’s Dairy Barn, located inside the library. It was an adorable deli with soup, sandwiches, salads, and milkshakes. It was reasonably priced, as well.
I opted for the daily special which was a BLT on wheat combined with a side of potato salad and an Arnold Palmer.
Following lunch we began our Journey of Faith tour. This was a walk-through experience of Billy Graham’s life and ministry through the decades.
It started off with Betsy, the talking cow, who gives you information about what you are going to experience during the Journey of Faith. It was honestly adorable and gave me Disney vibes. Betsy’s helpful information was followed by a video introducing you to Billy Graham and his ministry.
The experience consisted of thirteen separate rooms. These would feature videos from his ministry, display exhibits of memorabilia from his life, and well-themed interactive scenes. The first few rooms depicted his early life, such as his first crusade in California where his ministry really began and a room dedicated to his late wife, Ruth Graham.
Possibly one of my favorite rooms was one where they showed clips of Billy Graham being interviewed by various talk show hosts over the years. It was so fascinating to see him unashamedly speak the Truth while conversing with characters like Woody Allen and Regis Philbin.
The tour even took you through scenes dedicated to his ministry overseas. Billy Graham mad an impact in all inhabited continents and led millions of people to Christ outside of the U.S.
One of the most emotional rooms was designed to look like Germany after the wall was torn down. Billy Graham had a large influence in this piece of history.
The Journey of Faith wraps up with one last video where there is an invitation to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. It was very moving and a beautiful way to wrap up the tour.
However, the most magnificent part of the tour was the lit up cross leading to a mural of Thomas Kinkade’s “The Cross” painting. It was breathtaking.
We exited the tour and concluded our time by visiting the Memorial garden, where he and his wife are both buried.
The full experience ended by a short walk through Billy Graham’s childhood home. You can only see the downstairs and it consists of about four rooms.
This was a great detour before heading to the airport and back to Dallas. Once again, I highly recommend checking it out next time you’re in the Charlotte area!
Traveling by Nature 