The local press coverage for such an event was outstanding!! In Ottawa, they devoted a whole section to the Crusades. It was uplifting. Columnist Ron Corbett from the Ottawa Sun wrote this about the efficiency and commitments of this Crusade:
"God is efficient. You may not have realized this before, the workings of
God being more frequently referred to as mysterious or sublime or
transcendent. But after spending an afternoon watching the Billy Graham
Mission set up house at the Corel Centre, there is no doubt in my mind. God
is efficient. Awesomely so.
People, you haven't seen anything like this before. I'm sure of it. The men
and women who organize political conventions should come to the Corel Centre
this weekend and take lessons. While walking through the Corel Centre
yesterday I even found something that looked like a "war room" from a
political convention -- a bank of computers, dozens of tables, signs
everywhere. I asked someone what the room was being used for.
"This is where the commitment cards are processed," said Dennis Kuz, a
federal civil servant who has volunteered to work in this room during the
four-day mission. He then went on to explain the significance of the
commitment cards. "Commitment cards are what people sign when they come
forward during Dr. Graham's sermon and accept Jesus Christ into their
lives," said Kuz. "The cards are signed, with the assistance of a counsellor
on the floor of the Corel Centre, and then the cards come here."
At which point nearly 300 volunteers start keying all the information on the
cards into a computer system. There are 75 computers in this room. Some are
hooked up to Graham's mainframe in Minneapolis. Statistics are culled from
the cards. Mailing lists created. The volunteers have a deadline, too. By
the time Billy Graham returns to his hotel room after his sermon, a report
on how many commitment cards were signed, and statistics on who signed them,
is expected. What's more, at the same time as Graham reads that report, a
form letter should be on its way to everyone who signed cards that night.
That's right. A letter will be mailed the same night.
I looked around the room, in awe really, and asked Kuz how working for the
Billy Graham Mission compared to working for the federal government.
"There is no comparison," he said. Efficiency. The novel spectacle of it
was everywhere." - Ron Corbett
So, each night Robbie and I saw 1,000-2,000 people come forward to make a commitment. Mr. Graham stressed repeatedly how important it is to come forward publicly and make that commitment of accepting Jesus as your Savior in front of others. The Ottawa area churches supplied well over 3,000 people to be trained as counsellors!!!!! It was a one-on-one session with a person of faith talking to a seeker. And the work did not end on June 28th. Follow-ups and exchanges between the counsellors and seekers continue for another 2 months. Please forgive me for overusing the word awesome. But you get the idea! Opening night, Billy urged us all to open our Bibles to John 3:16 and he quoted: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Pregnant pause. Crowds on the edge on their seats! That melodious, sincere voice has a hypnotic effect. It don't get no better than this.