July 26, 2003
Column #1,143
World's Most Successful Evangelist
Dies
Bill Bright,
81, the world's most successful evangelist, died July 19 of pulmonary
fibrosis. A man who once called himself the "happy pagan," created Campus
Crusade for Christ International (CCCI), an extraordinary salvation army of
26,000 full-time staff who raise their own salaries plus 225,000 volunteers
evangelizing in 191 countries.
It did so through 60+ ministries with a $374 million
budget, that far outgrew the ministry which began at UCLA with newlyweds
Bill and Vonette Bright in 1951. The Josh McDowell Ministry alone has
presented the Gospel to 8 million college kids in person. In the mid-1980s,
my son, Adam, wrote in chalk on Duke sidewalks, "Josh is Coming!" However,
only a quarter of the U.S. staff of 7,000 work on 1,100 campuses.
Every major leadership group is hearing the Gospel
message through CCCI ministries. In Washington the Christian Embassy
quietly leads Bible studies with U.S. Senators, Members of Congress, top
Executive Branch leaders, Pentagon "flag officers" (generals and admirals),
the diplomatic corps, and the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast for 3000.
Executive Ministries present the Gospel to 20,000
business executives in dinner ministries, 5,000 of whom make a commitment to
Christ. I attended one where astronaut Charlie Duke spoke of his
conversion. Athletes in Action mobilizes sports stars to bring the message.
Here's Life Inner City strengthens urban churches. Global Resources sends
short-term missionaries around the world. The Medical Strategic Network
equips medial professionals to penetrate their spheres of influence. Family
Life leads weekend retreats for 75,000 couples. See
http://www.ccci.org.
Bright's most original tactic was to boil down the
Gospel message to 77 words called the "Four Spiritual Laws" in 1957.
Hundreds of millions have been distributed on laminated cards.
His most effective strategy to reach a billion people
who cannot read and another billion functionally illiterate was to create
the "Jesus" film, two hours of Luke's Gospel. A stunning 5.5 billion viewers
have seen it in 820 languages, and another 246 translations are in process.
When he was a Youth With a Mission volunteer in Africa,
my son showed the film on a white tarp to the Masai tribe, in front of their
mud huts which they share with cattle. "It was the first film they had ever
seen," Adam told me. "When it first started, tall Masai warriors peeked
behind the screen to see the people up there." Out of 100 men, 10 made a
commitment to Jesus.
That's how 188 million people accepted the Lord in live
showings of the film. CCCI volunteers then planted 150,000 churches. Of
the 1 million new churches started in the 1990s around the world,
three-quarters used the Jesus film to build their congregations.
Donors have made the Jesus videotape available to every
home in Alabama, South Carolina and many in Texas. Mel Gibson, who has
created a new Jesus film based on John's Gospel, visited Bill Bright last
week.
In San Antonio, CCCI is led by Soapy Dollar, an Apache
born out-of-wedlock who lived in 16 homes by age 6. The orphan accepted
Jesus at age 8, became a youth pastor and joined Campus Crusade 32 years
ago. Today he oversees a staff of four in Priority Associates reaching
business professionals, four more in a Military Ministry, a student ministry
at eight colleges and three high schools, an Hispanic ministry and a nightly
radio show where he reads Scripture and takes live calls.
Bill Bright was running a small business in Los Angeles
when he was invited to Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Though sitting in the
back row, he was asked to join 400 young people on Wednesday night to hear
Dr. Henrietta Mears, who created America's first graded Sunday School
curriculum. "She made Christ and being a Christian the most exciting
adventure for him," Mrs. Bright told me. Dr. Mears challenged him to follow
Paul's leadership and ask God, "What would you have me do?" Soon he launched
his campus ministry.
His courtship of Vonette, whom he knew slightly from
his hometown in Oklahoma, began with a three sentence note he sent her. She
ignored it in her freshman dorm until one November night she wrote him a 10
page letter, and got special delivery air mail response. On their first
date, he asked her to marry him. She accepted, but worried that he had
become a "religious fanatic," visited him in California with her skeptical
mother.
The day before he died, she sat on his bed in a red
outfit with her pearls to celebrate his coronation day, and spoke by phone
with 5,000 Campus Crusade staff in Colorado.
"He was the most perfect man on this earth, other than Jesus," she told me.
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