In 1948, Billy Graham was a full-time evangelist with Youth for Christ (YFC). Rev. Graham and the YFC team held a rally in March of that year, where people piled into the vibrant and booming Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester, England. Among the crowd was nine-year-old Stephen Gellion, who had traveled with his father from a small village on the outskirts of Manchester to hear the American evangelist preach live.

“The hall was a large, covered arena, not well lighted. We sat high up in the top row seats,” recalled Gellion. He went on to say, “The evangelist, Billy Graham, Mr. Wilson, and the quartet group (Couriers for Christ) all sat in the middle of the illuminated boxing ring. There was no mass choir or set stage, just a spotlight illuminating the people in the center of the boxing ring.”

That’s right — Rev. Graham proclaimed the hope of Jesus Christ from inside a boxing ring that night.

“The only lit up part of the arena was the boxing ring where Billy Graham stood. The image of how he held his Bible in his hand is something that I will never forget,” shared Gellion.

People needed hope more than ever at that time. World War II had only ended three years prior. People were looking for hope in every place they could, just trying to rebuild their lives and somehow move on after six years of a very brutal and fatal war.

Even as a young child at the time Gellion could feel the longing for hope that filled the arena saying, “I believe the place was full of people looking for hope in a better life… The arena was packed. People were very attentive, searching for something to fill them again. It felt very hopeful.”

When asked about how the 1948 YFC rally impacted his own life, he replied, “The Holy Spirit was triggered inside of me there… A couple of weeks later, in April 1948, during Sunday school at the church I attended, I made my decision to accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior. I now realize that the Holy Spirit had been working on my soul since hearing Mr. Graham speaking at that meeting [the 1948 YFC rally].”

Gellion reached out to the Billy Graham Archive and Research Center (ARC) trying to piece together his memories from hearing Billy Graham speak as a child. It was with the help of the ARC team that he was able to figure out that the event he had attended was the 1948 Youth for Christ rally in Manchester, England. If you have questions about a past Billy Graham event or want to learn more about his life and ministry, visit the Billy Graham Archive and Research Center website.