A Military Honor Guard carries the casket of Reverend Billy Graham as it
departs the US Capitol in Washington, DC, March 1, 2018, after a Lying
in Honor ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. PHOTO | JIM WATSON | AFP
CHARLOTTE
The
late Reverend Billy Graham, spearhead of an evangelical Christian
movement that touched millions worldwide and who provided spiritual
counsel to several US presidents, returned for good to his North
Carolina home Friday.
President
Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended the 90-minute
funeral along with some 2,000 mourners who gathered to say goodbye to
the man who became known as "America's pastor."
The
ceremony took place at the Billy Graham Library on the family's
property in Charlotte, under a broad white tent that harkens back to the
"canvas cathedral" in 1949 that helped propel Graham to prominence.
"My
father's greatest longing has been granted. He's in the presence of
God," said son Franklin Graham, one of several relatives to speak.
Trump,
who attended with First Lady Melania Trump, did not address the
gathering, but he sang along to hymns including "To God Be The Glory."
He
was the only one of six living presidents to attend the ceremony,
although all of them issued statements honouring the late reverend.
As
the funeral began, Graham's casket — a simple but elegant plywood pine
coffin crafted by inmates at a Louisiana prison — was carried by
pallbearers through the library's cross-shaped glass entryway and out to
the tent, which was buffeted by strong winds.
Graham,
who preached in person to more than 200 million people in 85 countries
over a decades-long career, and millions more through the power of
television, died last week at age 99, leaving a Christian evangelist
movement without its best known champion of modern times.
Graham
was bestowed the rare tribute of laying in honour for two days this
week in the US Capitol's Rotunda, where Trump praised him as "an
ambassador for Christ who reminded the world of the power of prayer and
the gift of God's grace."
The
onetime backwoods minister was to be buried at 4pm local time at the
foot of a cross-shaped brick walkway in the library's prayer garden,
next to his late wife Ruth, who died in 2007.
More
than 100 international dignitaries paid tribute to Graham in Charlotte,
including Billy Kim, a Korean pastor and friend who served as Graham's
translator in South Korea.
Kim said
he offered thanks on behalf of Christians worldwide. "Thank you for
bringing your salvation message to our part of the world," Kim said.
MESSAGE 'FROM HEAVEN'
Graham,
with his energetic — some would say aggressive — speaking style, made a
robust impact in Asia, and particularly in South Korea, where he held
his largest ever "crusade."
Some 1.1
million people attended the event's final service, in Seoul in 1973,
according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
But
he also made inroads in places like Germany, preaching to tens of
thousands in Berlin in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War.
Graham offered spiritual guidance and friendship to 13 presidents, several of whom prayed with the minister at the White House.
His daughter Anne Graham Lotz said her father's death would be as significant as his decades of ministry.
"I believe this is a shot across the bow from heaven," she said of Graham's passing.
"And I believe God is saying, 'Wake up church. Wake up world. Wake up Anne. Jesus is coming.'"
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