Billy Graham’s grandson inviting locals to ‘Look Up’ in eastern Idaho this weekend
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IDAHO FALLS — Will Graham, grandson of Billy Graham, is coming to eastern Idaho this weekend and he’s inviting you to “Look Up.”
The 48-year-old North Carolina man is here for the Idaho Falls Look Up Tour, a two-day event that will be held inside the Hero Arena at the Mountain America Center. It will kick off on Saturday with a children’s program at 3 p.m. There will be several speakers, along with performances from Rend Collective, a Christian band, as well as bounce houses, face painting and other activities.
Graham is excited about a video presentation at the children’s event that he describes as “a cartoon video game based on virtual reality.”
“It’s a wholesome program that helps them understand spiritual things,” Graham tells EastIdahoNews.com. “It talks about having a personal relationship with God. I’ll speak at the very end.”
It will be followed by a student night at 7 p.m., which is geared towards teenagers. A family event on Sunday at 5 p.m. will include performances from Christian singers David Crowder and Christine D’Clario, and a message from Graham.
RELATED | Will Graham, grandson of Billy Graham, bringing ‘Look Up’ tour to eastern Idaho
Graham and his team have been working with 110 churches in the area and 27 denominations to organize this gathering. He’s excited to be part of an event in an area where there is a large number of people who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Though I believe differently, I’ve always been impressed with the Latter-day Saints — their commitment to their faith and how they send missionaries out into the world. There’s quite a few of them who helped support my granddaddy over the years, and I’ve always appreciated that,” says Graham.
Billy Graham, who died in 2018 at age 99, was good friends with J. Willard Marriott, a Latter-day Saint who was the founder of the Marriott Hotel chain. Over the years, Will says the Marriott family allowed his grandfather to stay at their hotels for free as he went on tour.
The two were lifelong friends, and Billy even spoke at Marriott’s funeral when he died in 1985.
“That’s how close of friends they were,” Will explains. “You don’t see that happen much.”
Billy had many friends of different faiths, including U.S. presidents. From Harry Truman to Barack Obama, Billy served as a spiritual adviser and was a fixture at the White House.
But it didn’t start out that way. In 2018, ABC News reported that Truman initially thought the young Billy Graham just wanted publicity.
“His words of encouragement helped convince Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to run for president and, once in office, establish a National Day of Prayer. (Billy) then became an Oval Office regular and a presidential golf partner,” the news outlet said.
As Will tours across the globe and continues the ministry his grandfather started, his goal is to also form friendships with people of all faiths. He tries to stay at a Marriott hotel as often as he can because of his grandfather’s connection.
Will says people of different faiths seem to be getting along better in recent years, but there’s still room for improvement. And with election season coming up, politics is a great place to start, he says.
“There’s a lot of political agendas Latter-day Saints and Christians can agree on,” says Will. “We’re always going to have our differences when it comes to religion, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
The Idaho Falls Look Up Tour is a free event and is open to anyone who would like to attend.
WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH GRAHAM IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
