on “The Lostness of Man” as a plenary speaker at the international
gathering of itinerant evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983.
We called Ravi, a native of India, to ask about Billy’s influence
on his life. What impression did he have meeting Billy for the first
time?
“We met in Amsterdam; my wife was with me. I remember
the first thing he said to me was ‘I have already read the text of
your message, Ravi. It is powerful. With your permission, I would
like to preach it sometime.’ That told me the humility of the man.
As a younger evangelist, you’re already nervous to meet him for
the first time, but he sets you at such ease.
“Then, when I sat down after preaching, he leaned over and
said, ‘I really don’t need to get up and preach now.’ He and Cliff Bar-
rows exchanged some words about how God had moved in that
meeting. Once again, a mark of the man’s humility. He then stood
up and preached a powerful message, but he was very self-effacing.
“That’s what he did throughout the conference in Amsterdam:
he kept reaffirming that the evangelists there were powerful
instruments of God’s work in the world.”
We asked Ravi about Billy’s influence on these grassroots
evangelists from virtually every nation in the world.
“There was no one else in the world,” said Ravi, “who could
have brought about a conference like that, raising the resources
for it, and elevating the work of the evangelists of the world. He
didn’t need it, but we did. If you ask anyone who attended, even
if they don’t remember any of the messages, they remember the
people they met and the networks they established.
“And the role of these more than 10,000 evangelists was
ennobled and honored. They returned to their nations encour-
aged and equipped to make a difference.”
What difference did the Amsterdam conference make on his
own leadership?
“It opened up so much of the world to me,” Ravi responded.
“My whole ministry took a dramatic turn after that. Invitations
to speak poured in from many parts of the world. But in addition,
two other things happened at the conference.
Igniting Other Leaders