Ruth Bell Graham chose to remain at home during much of Billy’s travels—she felt it was important for her to stay at home to provide stability for their five children. However, she did accompany Billy from time to time at his Crusades, particularly when Billy wrote her to join him while he was away.

In his autobiography Just As I Am, Billy recounts, “Right after I got to Scotland, I expressed my yearning for her company in a letter that might have pressured her as much as I hope it pleased her: ‘You have no idea how lonesome it is without you! In thinking about my message tonight, I’d give anything if you were here to talk it over with. You are the only one that ever really understands my dilemma in the choice of messages.’… It had been only a month since I had left home, but it seemed like a year.”

Over the years, Ruth traveled to countries all over the world, including England, China, Amsterdam, and Hungary in support of Billy’s ministry. At many locations, she was presented with a gift from people she met.

Ruth wrote about her whirlwind travels in a poem in her book Footprints of a Pilgrim:

I feel like a chicken running
With my head cut off.
Some days I can’t run.
Some days I do well to get out of bed.
Here was one year’s journey—
Washington, D.C.
England
home
Mexico
Omaha, Nebraska
home
Omaha (surgery)
home
England
Switzerland
France
Germany
home
The Mayo Clinic
home
Omaha
The Mayo Clinic
Los Angeles
home.

To see more items from Ruth’s travels around the world, visit the Billy Graham Library. To find out more and to plan your visit, go to billygrahamlibrary.org.