Nearly 50 years ago, a young Christian man from South Africa arrived in New York with his wife, two suitcases and R1 400’ He had no idea what God had in store for him other than to study at a theological seminary.
Addressing a group of Christian leaders in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) last week, that man –veteran Baptist pastor Dr Don Wilton — explained that before he and his wife, Karyn, went to the United States they had been preparing to go to England where he had been accepted to do a PhD in Education.
He was loving his life of school teaching, coaching rugby and cricket, surfing and riding motorbikes. Both Don and Karyn were “preacher’s kids” but they did not intend to follow in their parents’ footsteps. Don had completed a Masters degree at Rhodes University and everything was lining up for his chosen career. But then God said: “Hold on! That’s not my plan for you.”
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He said that on that day, in Port Elizabeth, he fell on his face “before a righteous God, saying: ‘Lord, I give You my life, I give you my word.’”.
In his message to the Gqeberha pastors last week, he shared on five principles that the renowned evangelist, Billy Graham, with God’s help, used to help maintain integrity in his ministry. These were: loving God fully, loving your family, honouring moral boundaries, living humbly, and giving God all the glory.
Don, possibly better than anybody else, understands exactly what those principles meant to Billy Graham. The two were intimate friends for 25 years, and Don was the famous evangelist’s personal pastor for the last 15 years of his life.
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Casting his mind back to that day that he first arrived in New York, he said he had no idea that Jesus would so graciously allow him to lead wonderful churches for 44 years, to be a seminary professor, to one day preach to an average of 20 million people every week through an influential broadcast ministry, and to “sit at the feet” of Billy Graham for over two decades and lead his 2018 funeral service, which was watched by “millions and millions of people all over the world”.
In a podcast interview recorded in 2021, Don shares more on his unique journey with Billy Graham who he first heard of when the evangelist visited South Africa when Don was a teenager.
“He came there [to SA] in a crusade when I was very young – and I remember the stand that he took, for the Gospel and the stand that he took, when it came to the apartheid system and racial segregation.”
Don said after he preached his first sermon at the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina, which he led from 1993 until 2023, his office phone rang “and, lo and behold, it was Dr Billy Graham on the line.”
Billy Graham and his wife Ruth, who had watched the service on television, “invited me to come up to the house [in Montreat, North Carolina] and the rest is history”, said Don.
“For the first 15, 16 years, I mostly only went up on Saturdays. It suited Mister Graham – he was very busy as one can only imagine, and so he would come home most of the time on Saturdays and he would be at home on Sunday watching me on television, worshiping with us.
“And then for me as a busy pastor and a preacher and teacher of the word of God, it just became a very good time. I would leave my home at 10.30 on Saturday mornings and get home early Saturday evening. And I would have lunch with him, spend the afternoon with him, go walking, fellowshipping, laughing. You know, that developed our relationship, and it was only in 2003 that he formally asked me if he could join our church and I became his pastor, so to speak. So, friend and then pastor – and those two were so very precious.”
Answering a question about a book he later wrote, called Saturdays With Billy, he said: “This is a very intimate personal account of two men as seen through my eyes, extending the life and legacy and above all the witness for the Lord Jesus of this remarkable man.”
Painting a word picture of what it was like pastoring a “living legend”, he said: “[It was] a picture of a nobody who thought he was a somebody, sitting, talking with a somebody who really thought he was a nobody. Everything was backwards. He was so like Jesus. With most people, the closer you get to them, the more you realise they have clay feet. In my 25 years [with Graham] all the way until God called Mr Graham home to Heaven … it was the exact opposite. I saw in him the face of God’s grace. I learned so much.”
Don said God taught him that every pastor and every celebrity needs a pastor. “We all have hearts, and we all have families, and our bodies all die and they deteriorate. And we all deal with difficulties and we all face criticisms and, you know, the whole gamut of human experience.”
He said despite his unique life, he came to realise that Billy Graham “was a man just like me, a father and a grandfather. He loved Miss Ruth with such a beautiful love. I mean, what a passionate love that never diminished.
“When she died and went to Heaven, he taught me what it means to grieve and yet not be without hope. He helped me to understand the human heart. He placed his hands on me every time I was with him, and he would pray for me. And it was more than just a word. I have a tendency to say: ‘I’ll pray for you, brother.’”
Don said that during their times together Billy Graham taught him that “Pastoring is friendship. Preaching is friendship. Preaching the Gospel is not a lecture. It’s not thumping. It’s not about pointing a finger. It’s about sharing the love of Christ. It’s not about compromise. It’s about conviction, and he taught me that, and he showed me that, and I should imagine not in my entire life will I ever get to that point, but I’m trying jolly hard, to ask the Lord Jesus to help me to be more like the Lord Jesus.”
Sharing a memory of when Billy Graham asked him to lead his funeral service, he said that with a tear running down his cheek, he asked the evangelist who would be “the next Billy Graham” after he went to be with the Lord.
Don said that without batting an eyelid, Graham looked at him and said: “You are Don.”
Don said that for a moment he thought to himself: “Wow, Doctor Billy Graham thinks that highly of me. He’s chosen me.”
But before he had a chance to entertain the thought any longer, Graham added: “And so is every man and every woman who knows and loves Jesus.”
Speaking with Don Wilton after his message to leaders in Gqeberha last week, he said that while he and Karyn have lived in the United States for almost five decades “our love for South Africa and our heart for the people of South Africa and our prayers for this nation are as deep as they’ve ever been”.
He said: “We believe that God has got great things in store for God’s people right here. And when I come back, as I do right now, I sense a powerful moving of God’s Spirit among God’s people.
“And the servants of the Lord, the ministers and pastors, shepherds of the flock are great men and women of God. And, I just thank the Lord Jesus for every opportunity. I count the days when perhaps God will allow me to come back again and be in this beautiful land, so full of cherished memories for me.”
He said that after stepping down from 30 years at Spartanburg, he and Karyn got on their knees to ask God what He had next for them.
“So for the last almost two years, we’ve been so blessed to receive invitations from all over the world. So I’ve been preaching in Europe, all across America, in Africa. I’ve just preached in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai and we will be going back to the Middle East.”
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Thanks for this insightful article Andre . Don has left a mark on all of us who had the privilege to spend time with him.