In honor of Women’s History Month, the Billy Graham Library would like to recognize some of the women who supported Billy Graham’s ministry over the years. This week, we’ll take a look at prayer warrior Pearl Goode. 

Pearl Goode was a mighty prayer warrior for the Billy Graham Crusades.

Pearl Goode first came to know of Billy Graham and his ministry during the first night of his 1949 Crusade in Los Angeles, California. At the time, she was a widowed nurse in her 60’s and looking for God’s next call on her life. After hearing Mr. Graham preach, she found her calling.  She shared later, “That night God laid those boys on my heart as a burden.” During the remainder of the Crusade, she joined the volunteer prayer team and spent many nights in a smaller tent outside the larger Crusade tent in prayer for the Crusade.

After that Crusade, Pearl continued to be a prayer warrior for the Crusades, unbeknownst to Billy Graham and his team. She would check in at a motel near the Crusade venue and pray, sometimes all night, for the success of the Crusade. All of this travel was at her own expense, and she estimated at one time that she had traveled over 48,000 miles by Greyhound bus to support Billy Graham and his ministry in prayer. Even later in life, when Pearl could no longer travel, she would make sure to know exactly what time Mr. Graham was preaching in Crusades all over the world and she would pray during that time. She continued to pray for Billy Graham Crusades up until her death in 1972. In an address he gave in 1994, Billy Graham said, “She prayed all night many nights, and I could sense the presence and power of that prayer. When she died, I felt it.”