Billy Graham in Norwich: "he impacted my life" 

Norwich mum Jane Moore went to the Billy Graham mission but did not become a Christian on the spot. She did however come to a fuller faith several years later and helped others to follow Jesus as well.

In June 1984 I was single and had moved to Norwich in 1975 for a job. Although I was saved at a beach mission in my hometown when I was 10 years old and went to a Methodist church I had not joined a church since moving to Norwich.

My mother had died in 1983 and my neighbour Lily Sillett, who was widowed in 1982, became like my mother as she was the same age as my mum. We looked after each other! As a young girl Lily had been a member of the Salvation Army and she married Fred when she was 19. By the time Billy Graham came neither of us has anything to do with church but I somehow heard about the mission, and we decided to go together.

Lily used to be a pub singer and we both loved to sing and I remember the stadium being full of people. I remember the huge choir and we both really enjoyed the singing. We listened to Billy preach and we heard the altar call, but neither of us felt compelled to move. We just went home feeling uplifted.
However… God had plans for us both!

I met and married in 1985 and had my first son in 1991 having been previously told it was unlikely I would ever have any children. At that point I was still not involved in church and my husband was not a Christian. My son nearly died at birth and the only person that could comfort me was a lady I worked with who went to a Baptist church. She used to come and pray in the hospital with her teenage son who had been healed of a brain tumour by the power of prayer.

My son was fine, but I knew in my heart I had to thank God for him and if I went to an Anglican church they would “dip him in a font” on a Sunday afternoon and we wouldn’t do any singing. I knew every time I went into church and sang I felt better. My friend from work sent her pastor to see us and he was so gracious, we had to decide if we would promise to raise our son in “Christian parenthood” or just “parenthood” at his dedication.

To help us answer he came every week and took us through Mark’s Gospel, a chapter at a time, by which time I knew God was calling me and I was baptised by full immersion in June 1992. My husband followed eventually, having been slain by the Holy Spirit during a “discover your spiritual gifts” evening.

That was the beginning of an amazing journey to complete emotional and mental healing that took many years and involved many “supernatural” experiences, heartbreaks through deaths, divorce and remarrying my sweetheart from my teenage years (also not a Christian when he came back into my life but now he is and plays his guitar at our local Anglican church livestream services).

My journey also led to running a charity in the Gambia, working in All Saints Centre, church holiday clubs, Sunday school and many other activities that enable me to share the love of God with others.

I have two sons and both of them faced challenges of many kinds but finally both are fully home with God and very verbal about their faith “gossiping the gospel” wherever they are, be it wild camping or in the jacuzzi at the gym! I can see God’s hand not only in my life but in theirs and in Lily’s too.

Lily was involved in my life and my family until she died in 2008 aged 89. She came to church with me and through her faith and her prayers her youngest son Brian also came to faith and was healed of emotional traumas.

Brian was for a time a member of Aylsham Jubilee Church and together Brian and I baptised Lily by full immersion when she was 86! Brian moved to South Africa and sadly he died a few years ago.

Nobody ever knows the value of the seeds they sow. Billy Graham had no idea when he came to Norwich that day how listening to him and praising God would impact not only my life but the lives of many other people whose lives have crossed my path.
Someone once told me “The love of God becomes real when through me he touches others”.

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 Jane Moore and, above, Billy Graham preaching at Carrow Road back in 1984.