Ruth Graham: 'China was in her Blood'
June 14, 2007
While Ruth Graham doesn't really fit the physical description of your typical "Asian American," her background definitely qualifies her as such.
As the daughter of Presbyterian medical missionaries, in 1920 she was born in Qingjiang, China, spent part of her childhood in Pyongyang, North Korea, and aspired to be a missionary in Tibet.
She put her Tibet plans on hold when her parents made her go to the U.S. for college, and at
Wheaton College in Illinois, Ruth's life permanently changed when she met her Billy Graham, her future husband.
Needless to say, this relationship derailed her initial plans of a single life in Tibet. On the other hand, even though she wasn't able to return to China until 1980, her connection to China remained a lifelong passion.
Stephen Griffith has compiled a book,
Ruth Graham: An Extraordinary Life, and many people close to Ruth wrote about her life and their memories. Here are a couple comments from two of her daughters:
"Mother does think of China as home. When she's coming out of surgery and she's still under the effects of anesthesia, she'll start talking like she's home in China."
~Gigi Graham Tchividjian
"China was in her blood. It became a passion that bore fruit."
~Anne Graham Lotz
The video shows her and her husband, Billy in China in 1988. The following year, she was one of the founders of
East Gates International, a ministry that works legally within China "to
equip the Christians in China with the tools they need to grow in their relationship with God and to reach out to others with the Good News of Jesus Christ."
Her son, Ned, became its president in 1991, and he and his wife, Christina Kuo Graham, continue the ministry in China.
Though her earthly remains now rest in North Carolina, she would also have liked to be buried in China, where her heart had been since her earliest days.
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