Billy Graham in Norwich: "a momentous decision" 

Norwich mental health nurse Mike Cary made a momentous decision at Carrow Road back in 1984 when American evangelist Dr Billy Graham spoke at the stadium during the Mission England crusades, one which he has never regretted, as he explains.

In 1984, at 34 years of age, I was living in a room at the YMCA in St Giles Street, Norwich.  I had returned to my home town two years earlier, penniless and jobless and with no prospects of this changing.  So ashamed was I of the mess I had made of my life that if I happened to spot a member of my family in the street I would quickly hide myself in the nearest shop or side-street.

I was grateful for the stability that living at the YMCA gave to what in recent years had become a very chaotic life.  I was also starting to attend church, St Giles C of E, just down the street, on Sunday mornings sometimes, but I had  little understanding of what being a Christian entailed. 

And then along came Mission England which had its local administrative base at the YMCA – I remember a large room at the back of the building being stacked high with copies of Mission Praise, the book of hymns and choruses specially produced for Mission England.  I think the staff encouraged me to attend the meetings at Carrow Road.

What I do remember very vividly is, when the week of the mission at Carrow Road arrived, I was undecided whether to attend one of these meetings or not, and that, seeking some guidance, I went to Norwich Cathedral and then went into one of the side chapels and up to the lectern which had a large Bible open on it.  It was open at one of the passages in the Gospels describing the miracle of the feeding of the 5000!  I took this as a clear indication that I should go to the Mission England meetings
On June 10, I made my way down to Carrow Road and listened to Dr Graham and went away again without responding to his call to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ.  On the following evening I returned, finding a place halfway up the terracing at the Barclay End.  At the River End, on a platform at the opposite end of the stadium, was Billy Graham, who was wearing an overcoat as it was such a chilly evening. 

I cannot remember the details of what he said, other than that his message centred on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  As he always did, he closed his message with an invitation for people to make a decision to leave their seats and come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their saviour and Lord.  There was a brief tussle in my own mind.  I clearly sensed that if I walked away that evening without having gone forward, I would not return for the mission’s final meeting the following evening. I walked down the steps at the Barclay End and onto the Carrow Road turf – it was a momentous decision, a decision of the will rather the emotions.

There were no overwhelming feelings, either at the meeting itself or in the days and weeks afterwards.  Yet, slowly but surely, my life began to change – for the better.  My counsellor at that meeting was a humble, gentle Norfolk farmer, Bernard Flint.  He was very conscientious in his counsellor role, visiting me in the flat into which I moved later that year and inviting me to visit him at his farm in the small village where he and his wife led a Christian fellowship. 

Around the table in the farm kitchen, I was made welcome by this wonderful Christian couple and met some of their extraordinary friends, missionaries in far-flung parts of the world who had also made their way to the farm deep in the Norfolk countryside.  It was also through Bernard and Joy that I first met Mo, the woman who was to become my wife quite a few years later.

Meanwhile my life gradually began to change.  I started to make contact with my parents again and begin the slow process of rebuilding the bridges broken through my own foolish actions.  Although I now had my own rented accommodation I remained unemployed.  I made numerous applications for work as a care assistant without success. 

In 1986 I joined a small Pentecostal fellowship on the outskirts of Norwich, where I found love and support as well as solid teaching and heartfelt worship.  In early 1987, becoming desperate because of my lack of success in finding work, I asked an elderly visiting preacher to pray for me at the end of the Sunday evening service. He listened to my story and then prayed an astonishingly simple prayer: “thank you Lord, for Michael’s job”.

The following Monday morning I visited the Jobcentre, then on Rampant Horse Street, and saw an advertisement for a part-time switchboard operator, work I had never done before.  I got the job and was never out of work again.           
                                                                
When I was still unemployed I’d had an entirely unexpected nudge when visiting a friend in hospital that I might be suited to nursing as a career so, after I began work as a switchboard operator, I also began volunteering at the (old) Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.  This led on to my beginning training as a mental health nurse two years later and to a very fulfilling career during which I was privileged to be able to help people rebuild their lives after very traumatic experiences. My own past troubles proved to be invaluable in relating to those people.  Amazingly my first shift on a psychiatric ward as a student was on my 40th birthday.

It is now 40 years since Mission England and my decision to make a public commitment to become a follower, a disciple, of Jesus Christ.  I have never regretted that decision.  Forty years later, I am still a learner, a disciple, with a great deal yet to learn.  Did Billy Graham change my life?  I’m sure he would not want to take any personal credit but I will always be thankful that he, Bernard Flint and all the other volunteers placed themselves at God’s service to make Mission England possible

Jesus says “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. 

If you have a personal story to tell of the Mission England events in Norwich, please email keith.morris@networknorwich.co.uk with details and a picture

Pictured top is Michael Cary and, above, Billy Graham preaching at Carrow Road back in 1984.