CHAPTER 16
Igniting Other Leaders
Every generation is strategic.
BILLY GRAHAM“I have spent my life in the wake of Billy Graham, like a small
boat following his great ship.”
This assessment comes from Jay Kesler, a “small boat” of sig-
nificant achievement. Longtime president of Youth for Christ, he
went on to lead Taylor University as its president for many inno-
vative years, and all through his career he pastored churches on
the side. Now in retirement, he’s again pastoring, serving on var-
ious boards, including CTI, and addressing audiences in multiple
venues, from distinguished lectureships to college graduations and
student gatherings.
A few years after Kesler became YFC president, Billy was hold-
ing a crusade in Rio de Janeiro and YFC was also meeting there.
Billy and Jay were in the same hotel, so when Billy went up to the
roof to get some sun, he asked Jay to join him. “While he was
resting and recuperating, we talked for a couple of hours about
the challenges of youth ministry,” Jay remembers. “He’s a good
listener, and I felt affirmed. He encouraged us to stay focused on
evangelism and avoid the secondary issues: eschatology, various
denominational differences, modes of baptism, and all the politi-
cal things.”
One of the most profound effects of Billy’s leadership has been
his stoking the fires of other leaders beyond his own organization.
He wasn’t building his own empire, he was building something