The smell of freshly sharpened pencils and new books is certainly in the air this time of year as students return to school or college each fall. Billy Graham’s own ministry began with young people as he became the first full-time evangelist with Youth for Christ. He never lost his concern for the younger generations and always made it a point to reach them with the Gospel.

In 1955, when he traveled to England, he visited Cambridge University. Billy Graham recounts that visit in his autobiography, Just As I Am:

Following our meetings in London in 1954, we received an invitation to hold an eight-day mission at Cambridge University under the auspices of the student-led Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU); it had 800 members out of the university’s student body of 8,000. After much prayer, we accepted the invitation for November 1955.

After months of planning, Billy Graham wrote a letter to John Stott, then rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place. In the letter, he expresses concern over whether the students will receive him well since he’s no academic.

In his letter to Rev. Stott, he writes:

“I have been deeply concerned and in much thought about our Cambridge mission this autumn. I do not know that I have ever felt more inadequate and totally unprepared for a mission. As I think over the possibility for messages, I realize how shallow and weak my presentations are. In fact, I am so overwhelmed with my unpreparedness that I almost decided to cancel my appearance, but because plans have gone so far perhaps it is best to go through with it. I am preparing and studying the best I can with the limited time at my disposal. I am afraid that I will have to let you appeal to the intellectuals, and I will have to utter and complete dependence on the Holy Spirit to use the inadequateness and unpreparedness. However, it is my prayer that I shall come in the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit…”

Invitations and posters for the event went out and Billy Graham began preaching on Sunday, November 6, 1955.

In Just As I Am, Rev. Graham remembers:

“For the first three nights of the public meetings, beginning on Sunday, November 6, I felt as if I were in a straitjacket on the platform, and very little happened. Great St. Mary’s was packed beyond capacity with students in academic gowns; students also filled two other churches, which were equipped to carry the meetings by public address system. One-fourth of the student body attended each evening, listening intently, but there seemed to be little spiritual impact.

Then, on my knees with a deep sense of failure, inadequacy, and helplessness, I turned to God. My gift, such as it was, was not to present the intellectual side of the Gospel. I knew that. What those students needed was a clear understanding of the simple but profound truths of the Gospel: our separation from God because of sin; Christ’s provision of forgiveness and new life; and our hope because of Him.

Finally, on Wednesday night, I threw away my prepared address and preached a simple Gospel message on the meaning of the Cross of Christ. That night more than 400 Cambridge students stayed behind to make their commitment to Christ.”

That Saturday, the Cambridge undergraduate student newspaper, The Varsity, proclaimed “World Wide Interest in Graham Mission: ‘Tremendous Things are Happening.’ In the article, when asked about the great response to his messages, Billy Graham cautions the desire to focus on numbers.

The article reads: “However, Dr. Graham warned that the wrong emphasis is frequently placed on statistics. ‘I can never be disappointed in numbers,’ he said, ‘Even one giving himself up to Christ is enough for me.’”

Later, in 1957, when writing to dean of the seminary at Trinity Seminary and Bible College, Billy Graham said:

“It is very difficult for me to give advice to you concerning meetings at a university. I feel that I’m the one in need of help.

While at Cambridge, Oxford, Yale and other institutions, I have presented straightforward, simple Gospel messages. I am not capable of debating great theological, psychological or scientific subjects; therefore, I made a simple presentation of the Gospel such as I would in any of my crusades. I found that students and faculty members alike received it as something fresh, new and unique. The old message is so old that it is new to the wise of this generation.”

Find out more about Billy Graham’s more than seven decades of ministry, including his ministry to students and youth, by visiting The Journey of Faith tour at the Billy Graham Library. Admission is always free. Plan your visit today.

For more from Billy Graham’s archives related to his ministry to students and youth, schedule a research appointment at the Billy Graham Archive and Research Center.