East Cobb People

Henry Holley’s recent 90th birthday didn’t go unnoticed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, who honored the longtime East Cobb resident with an official recognition before their Friday meeting.

Holley, who’s lived in Indian Hills for 45 years, is retired director of international crusades for the Billy Graham ministries, a job he held after a long career in the U.S. Marine Corps that included service World War II and the Korean War. He’s also a member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where he was ordained in the gospel ministry in 1995.

His wife Bettie died last year at the age of 91. They were married for 67 years, after meeting in 1948 on a blind date.

Cobb commissioners also declared Friday to be “Henry Holley Day” in the county as he gave the invocation at the meeting. Holley served under Graham in several capacities for 48 years and organized the evangelist’s largest crusades. More below the photo from the official recognition read out at Friday’s meeting:

“Holley organized the historic Korean 1973 Crusade in Seoul in which never before had so many come to one place to hear a preacher proclaim the Gospel. On the final day, there were 1.3 million people in attendance. Across the five-day Crusade, there were over 3.2 million people that heard Dr. Graham face to face.

“In 1974, Holley was Crusade Director for another precedent shattering Crusade, The Greater Rio de Janeiro Billy Graham Crusade in Brazil held at the famous Maracana stadium-the world’s largest. More people attended this meeting than any other crusade ever held in North or South America; over 250,000 attended on closing day.

“He served as Director of Development for the International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam (1983) in which he was responsible for raising much of the budget.

“After his duties in Amsterdam, Holley prepared for Dr. Graham’s participation in the 100th Anniversary of the Korean Church Crusade held in Seoul (1984). For the second time, over one million attended the service when Dr. Graham preached at Yoido Plaza with an estimated ten million more across Korea viewing via television. In 1985-86, he was Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Amsterdam ’86 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists (ICIE) meeting. He prepared many special meetings for Dr. Billy Graham and conducted investigation meetings for possible future crusades all over the world.

“In 1990, Holley directed the Hong Kong Crusade, which had the largest attendance ever for an evangelistic meeting in Hong Kong. In addition, the Crusade message was extended by satellite television to 30 countries in Asia in 45 different languages. Over 100 million people were reached with the Gospel in this effort.

“Holley has been to North Korea (DPRK) seventeen times. In 1992 Holley was responsible for the diplomatic and administrative preparation work for a most historic and extraordinary visit by Dr. Billy Graham to North Korea. Holley directed the small team that accompanied Dr. Graham to the capital city of Pyongyang. The significant mission to Pyongyang was highlighted by Dr. Graham preaching the Gospel in the two churches in North Korea. In addition, he lectured at Kim Il-Sung University — the first American to have this privilege. Dr. Graham and Rev. Holley also had a personal meeting with President Kim Il-Sung where he brought private messages from President George Bush and Pope John Paul II.

“Holley directed the Tokyo Crusade in January 1994 at the world famous Tokyo Dome. Audiences averaged 32,000 at each meeting with over 3,000 decisions for Christ. Thousands more attended at the 60 satellite locations around the country. In a country where less than 1% identified as Christians, this was an extraordinary response. Church leaders credited this and previous Billy Graham Crusades with the growth of the Christian church in Japan.

“These highlights in Holley’s career came after a variety of assignments in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association during his 48 years with the organization. Holley directed Billy Graham Crusades in Taipei, Taiwan (1975); Hong Kong (1975 and 1990); Manila (1977); Singapore (1978); Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa (1980). He also gave supervision and direction to the Paris Crusade and Helsinki Crusade (1986). He assisted in Crusade preparations in London (1966); Tokyo (1967); Sydney (1968 & 1979); Melbourne; Auckland; Honolulu; New York; and other USA cities. He also organized Christian participation in the Washington, DC “Honor America Day” celebration in 1970 and 1979.

“For each major foreign crusade, Holley spent over a year in preparation, organization, and in joint venture with the local invitational committee to mobilize the entire city for these meetings.

“This required great skill in reaching across many different cultures and languages in order to be successful. For years, he traveled an average of 150,000 miles and 200 days overseas each year and accumulated over 13 million air miles. At 85 years of age, he was still employed by BGEA and actively engaged in ministry.

“He was responsible for the cultivation and development of ministry, government, and church leaders in China. He organized and executed meetings for Rev. Franklin Graham in many cities in China, beginning in 2006.

“In addition to regular international Crusade responsibilities of cultivating and directing, Holley served as Special Assistant to Dr. Billy Graham on many projects and missions and in the cultivation and development of potential crusade opportunities for Rev. Franklin Graham. In 2005, he was honored to bring the opening prayer in the U. S. House of Representatives and in 2007 was honored, again, to offer the opening prayer in the U. S. Senate.”

A native of Texas, Holley attended the University of Houston and studied administration, law, management and leadership while in the military. He and his wife had three children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.