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Collection 659 Papers of Roy W. Gustafson

 Collection
Identifier: CN 659

Scope and Contents

Scrapbooks, correspondence, photos, newspaper clippings, and other documents relating to Gustafson’s education and life’s work as a minister, evangelist, Bible teacher, and staff member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Particularly well documented are the tours of the Holy Land (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt) he led and lectured to for several decades, his participation in ministries in Africa and Asia, and his active involvement in the worldwide activities of Samaritan’s Purse.

Dates

  • Created: 1908-2002

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Full Name: Roy Winthrop Gustafson

Birth: May 8, 1914, in North Easton, Massachusetts, United States

Death: April 12, 2002, in Raleigh, North Carolina

Family:

Parents: John Adolph and Rosa (Rhodin) Gustafson

Marital Status: Married Gwendolyn Anne Rowalandson, January 3, 1941

Children: Three daughters: Sonja Anne (1943), married to Samuel Wotring, then Gary Hick; Enid Svea (1945) married to Mike Yopp; Donella Reynale (1947) married to Richard Lynn

Conversion: January 27, 1933, through witness of Jennie Shephardson

Ordination: 1939 at the Peniel Baptist Church, Palatka, Florida, USA

Education:

1935-1937 - Attended Florida Bible Institute, Temple Terrace, Florida, USA

1938-1941 - Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. Graduated with a B.A.

Career:

1930s - Christian ministry in the Boston area in a young people's group sponsored by the New England Fellowship

1941-1944 - Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Venice, Florida, USA

1945-1948 - Associate pastor of the First Baptist Church of Tucson, Arizona, USA

1948-1959 - Itinerant Bible teacher in the United States and Canada, speaking frequently on Biblical prophecy

1955-1995 - Headed his first tour of the Holy Land, leading groups of largely American tourists. By 1964 he began leading several tours a year to the lands of the Bible (always Israel and Jordan, sometimes also including Greece, Egypt or other countries) as well as occasional tours to Africa and Asia. Over forty years he led more than two hundred tours. The Bible land tours included extensive lectures on biblical history and prophecy. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the tours were under the auspices of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Gustafson worked primarily with three travel agencies: Until 1979, Wheaton Travel of Wheaton, Illinois; then Wilcox World Tours of Asheville, North Carolina; finally in the later part of his life with Bayfront Travel of St. Petersburg, Florida.

1959-1986 - Evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). Held his own single-church and city evangelistic campaigns and participated as an associate evangelist in several of Billy Graham's campaigns in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. After his retirement continued to be actively involved in many international projects of the Association.

1969 - Traveled with Billy Graham to Israel to assist him in meetings with several government and religious leaders, including Golda Meir and Abba Eban. Trip cut short by the death of former-president Dwight David Eisenhower on March 28. Served a similar function on Graham's 1975 trip to Israel.

1986 - Taught Bible classes on Operation Mobilization's ship, the M. V. Doulos

1987-1988 - Conducted classes in evangelism for pastors and others throughout most of Central and South America as follow-up to the 1986 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, held in Amsterdam

Other significant information:

ca. late 1940s-2001 - The Gustafson's had their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, until they moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in the last year of Gustafson's life.

1920s-1930s - Studied cornet and trumpet for nine years in the Boston area under Walter M. Smith

1958 - Authored book, Feasting on the Feast, Durham Press

1965 - Helped to start the Mafraq Hospital (later the Mafraq Sanatorium Association, later the Anoor Sanatorium for Chest Disease)in Mafraq, Jordan. The hospital was begun by Dr. Eleanor Soltau and Aileen Coleman. It served the Bedouin population of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Gustafson maintained a life-long interest in and support of the hospital.

1970 - Received the Terra Sancta Award from the Israel Tourist office

1970 - Received the Jerusalem Medallion from the mayor of Jerusalem, Israel, Teddy Kollek

1971 - Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, assisted Gustafson during his Holy Land tours as a summer job while he was attending college. This began an association that would continue for the rest of Gustafson's life.

1973 - Received a Bronze 25th Anniversary Medal from the state of Israel for his work with tours

1980 - Authored book: In His Land, Seeing is Believing, World Wide Publications

1980s -? - Served on the board of Samaritan's Purse, an Evangelical relief organization led by Franklin Graham and was actively involved in its ministry in the Middle East, Africa and Asia

March 24, 1994 - Successful quadruple bypass cardiac surgery

Extent

7.30 Cubic Feet (7 Boxes, Oversize Materials, Photo Albums, Photographs)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement of Material

[Note: In the Scope & Content section, the notation “folder 2-5" means “Box 2, Folder 5"]

Series: Oversize Materials The following items are in the OVERSIZE FILE. Request by collection number and folder location (in parentheses).

POSTERS; 1941-1987 (OS 15). Posters and banners from a number of the meetings Gustafson participated in over the years, including Messenger Quarter Concerts from Asbury College (1941); One Way’74 meetings in San Jose, Philippines; Merrick Valley Billy Graham Crusade (1982); Peru Itinerant Evangelist Conference (1987); Metro Manila (1977); Christian Ministers Conference sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse in Madras, India (1986).

DOULOS: 1983 (OS15). Card and hand-made posters from the crew of Doulos showing their appreciation for Gustafson’s participation in their voyage.

*****

Series: Photo Albums

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1922-1977

Volume: 3.2 cubic feet

Geographic Coverage: Worldwide, especially United States, Israel, Australia, Argentina, the Caribbean, India, Lebanon, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Hong King, Jordan

Type of Materials: Albums in which mementos of Roy Gustafson’s youth, education and ministry are preserved, including photos, letters, programs, newspaper clippings and various ephemera.

Subjects: Gustafson’s life and ministry, the evangelistic work of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, especially in South America, Australia, Africa, and Asia; Evangelical tourism to biblical lands of the Middle East; missions to the Middle East; Florida Bible Institute during Gustafson and Graham’s student days there, Asbury College

Notes: This series contains several of the scrapbooks that Roy and Gwen Gustafson created to record his life and ministry. The books are sometimes nearly contemporary with the events they are recording and sometimes created much later. Gwen Gustafson apparently added materials after Roy’s death and throughout are many notes that she put in, probably after her husband’s death, to explain particular documents.

The materials in each scrapbook are in a very rough chronological order for the most part. The books also contain various loose documents, particularly newspaper clippings and letters. Most of the letters, including those in envelopes or folders taped to the scrapbook were removed by the archivist and put in the appropriate chronological folder in boxes 1 through 6 (letters from 1960 were put in the 1960 folder, etc.)

Other loose items were left in the scrapbook in which they were found. At least one of the scrapbooks, IX, was not made by the Gustafsons but was given to them, although they may have added material later.

The roman numerals for each scrapbook were assigned by the archivist. Some of the scrapbooks have numbers that were taped on to them by the Gustafsons. Judging by these, there were other scrapbooks which apparently were not sent to the Archives, since the series is not complete.

Contents of Individual Scrapbooks:

I - 1922-1938. Material about Gustafson’s childhood and education in North Easton, Massachusetts, including primary school, conformation certificate, Boy Scouts documents, photos of military service 1932?; material about his conversion on 1/27/33 through the witnessing of Ms. Jennie Shepardson; two pages of a talk by a World War I veteran about combat experience; page from autograph book including Will Houghton, Peter Deyneka Sr., and E. J. Pace. Material about Florida Bible Institute; photos of Gerald P. Winrod, William B. Riley; Jimmie Johnson; handbills of evangelistic meetings led by Gustafson; tour of the Ambassador’s Trio.

II - 1938- 1941. Copy of Florida Bible Institute newspaper, The Green and Gold; photos and clipping about the Sunshine Trio in which Gustafson performed, pamphlet, Born a King, autographed by Billy Graham; 1939 ordination certificate at the Peniel Baptist Church; material from Asbury College; photos and clippings about the Gospelaire, a quartet Gustafson was in, Gustafson’s 1941 diploma from Asbury College; records of early evangelistic meetings he led.

III 1941-1945. Many clippings and pamphlets of quotes and sermons from various evangelists, including Bob Jones Sr; notes from Gustafson’s sermons; material on the death of evangelist H. C. Morrison; comic article on hunting by Gustafson done for class; material relating to his education as Asbury College.

IV 1942-1948. Photos and other documents about his marriage to Gwen and first pastorate at First Baptist in Tucson; records of the marriages, sermons, baptisms, funerals, communion services he performed; salary records; material about leaving the pastorate for evangelistic work.

V - 1948-1958. (Has number 8 on cover) Documents on the beginnings of evangelistic work (apparently after he had moved to St. Petersburg , Florida); photos of Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows, J. Stratton Shufelt, George Engstrom; letter from a converted nun; photos of a mission trip to Belize and Jamaica; 1953 diary; letters from Billy Graham asking Gustafson to participate in the 1959 Australia and New Zealand crusades and telling of his plans to call a world congress on evangelism.

VI - 1941-1959. This book contains some posters from Gustafson’s Florida Bible Institute and Asbury days, but mainly holds documents from the 1959 Australia and New Zealand crusades. There are press releases, photos, clippings, newsletters, some letters that people wrote to the crusade office from India and Australia, Gustafson’s report on the crusade, letters to his wife from his trip afterwards to India, Lebanon, and Israel.

VII - 1960. (Has number 10 on cover) Clippings, photos and other materials from the 1960 Africa Tour, an international meeting on evangelism in Montreaux, Switzerland; information on evangelistic meetings in Switzerland and Germany.

VIII - 1961-1962. (Has number 11 on cover) Documents from the North of England crusade (Manchester); Gustafson’s speaking at biblical prophecy conferences; clippings from the 1962 South America tours; photos, letters relating to Gustafson’s evangelistic work in Rhodesia, Rwanda-Urundi, and Argentina; photos of Ted Engstrom and Sam Wolgemuth.

IX - 1962. Pennant, poster, clippings, handbills, the materials from the 1962 Rosario, Argentina crusade with Billy Graham and Gustafson, with some material from other South American meetings, such as Cali, Colombia. Typed captions in Spanish. This scrapbook was probably not created by Gustafson but was given to him and later Gwen added more material from the 1963 crusade in Hong Kong, for which there are posters and other material.

X - 1963. Documents from the 1963 Orient tour; letter and photo of Morrow Graham [Billy Graham’s mother]; picture of Virginia Graham’s wedding; list of Gustafson’s Holy Land tours from 1963 through 1968.

XI - 1964-1967. (has number 13 on cover) Materials from the BGEA meetings in Argentina in 1964, Holy Land tours, the 1964 Heart of Eastern Kansas crusade; materials about the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism, held in West Berlin; letter from Harold Stassen asking that Graham help him in pushing for a strengthening of the United Nations and an end of the war in Vietnam (letter probably sent to many opinion leaders).

XII - 1966 - 1975. Book of photographs with captions. Photos seem to have been taken at various times in the Holy Land (a few from other places), especially during visits by Billy Graham, in 1969 and in 1975 when Yizhak Rabin was prime minister. Photos of Graham, Teddy Kolleck, Abba Eban, T. W. Wilson, Walter Smyth, Paul Maddox, David Ben-Gurion, Yizhak Rabin, Grady Wilson.

XIII - 1968-1969. Material from the 1969 BGEA crusades in Australia, photo and other materials from the swearing in of W. Marvin Watson in 1968 as Postmaster General; letter about the work at the hospital at Mafraq, Jordan.

*****

Series: Photographs

Photographs in this collection are arranged topically in the following photo files. Please request by folder title (in bold) at the beginning of each entry below.

ANOOR SANATARIUM, MAFRAQ, JORDAN. Shots of Franklin Graham, Roy Gustafson, Aileen Coleman and Eleanor Soltau at celebration of the hospital’s founding. 1987, 1990. 9 color.

BELL, L. NELSON BELL. Snapshot of Bell with his wife Virginia. 1970. 1 color.

BGEA SYDNEY CRUSADE, 1959. Images of meeting s during the crusade, including shots of Graham preaching. 8 b&w.

BGEA: HAWAII CRUSADE, 1965. Picture of the crowd attending the crusade service, shot of Gustafson and Sherwood Wirt in a large crowd of tourists at a beach, looking up at the camera. 2 b&w.

BGEA: MIDDLE EAST VISIT, 1975. Shots of Billy Graham’s visit to Egypt and Israel in late November. Includes pictures of Graham, Grady Wilson, and Walter Smyth with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Ted Kolleck, mayor of Jerusalem. There are several shots of Graham in Liberty Bell Gardens, near a replica of the Liberty Bell. 8 color, 15 b&w. DAGHER,

SAMI. 2 color, 3 b&w. Includes pictures of Dagher speaking with Ross Rhoads at Calvary Chapel in Charlotte, North Carolina. 1982-1983.

FLORIDA BIBLE INSTITUTE. A postcard and photos apparently taken of pages from the May 1934 The Fundamental Messenger of scenes around the Institute. 1 color, 3 b&w.

GRAHAM, FRANKLIN. Shots of Graham when he was assisting Gustafson on Holy Land tours in the 1970s; on visits to the Middle East; involved in Samaritan’s Purse projects in Lebanon and the Philippines; at the dedication of the Calvary Chapel in Charlotte, North Carolina; at the Amsterdam ‘86 conference with Gustafson and Sami Dagher. 1973-1990. 17 color, 7 b&w.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - HOLY LAND TOURS. Many formal group photos of tours that Gustafson led as well as informal shots of him speaking to his tours at sites significant in biblical history. 1965-1986. 23 color, 43 b&w.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 1940s-1950s. Gustafson playing trumpet; Gustafson at the dedication of the Tabernacle Church in Norfolk, Virginia. 1946, 1951. 2 b&w.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 1960s. Includes shots of campaigns Gustafson led in Cali, Colombia in 1962 and in Argentina in 1962 and 1964; church in Collingswood, New Jersey; with Leighton Ford, a family picture with wife and daughters. 1962-1969. 11 b&w, 1 color.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 1970s. Includes photos of evangelistic meeting or training seminars Gustafson led in Australia (1974), Argentina (1979), Egypt (1975), Korea, Rhodesia, and the United States; Gustafson with George Beverly Shea; with a tour group he was leading in Rhodesia in front of a statue of David Livingstone. 1972-1979. 9 color, 22 b&w.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 1980s. Includes shots of seminars of pastors and Christian workers Gustafson led (mostly as follow-up to the 1983 and 1986 International Conferences for Itinerant Evangelists) in Lebanon with Sami Dagher (1982), Miri, Malaysia (1982), New Guinea (1983), Macau (1986), Fiji Islands (1986), Panama (1987), Chile (1987), Egypt (1987), Burma (1987); Gustafson on a ranch riding horses and branding cattle; in Oberammeergau, Germany. 1980-1988. 50 color.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 1990s. Includes picture of Gustafson after his open heart surgery. 1990-1995. 1 b&w, 3 color.

GUSTAFSON, ROY - 2000s. Snapshots of Gustafson visiting with groups of people and during his final illness. 2002. 3 color.

HIS LAND (MOTION PICTURE). Shots taken during the filming of the movie in Israel. Ca. 1969. 4 color, 4 black and white.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR ITINERANT EVANGELISTS, 1983. Picture of the communion service, which included Gustafson. 1 color.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL. Scenes around the city taken by Gustafson. 1981. 10 color.

PENIEL BAPTIST CHURCH, FLORIDA. Pictures of the Baptist church in Palatka, Florida, where Gustafson was ordained. 1981. 2 color.

WANG MING DAO. Shots of Gustafson meeting in China with church leader Wang Ming Dao, his wife and family. 1986. 28 color.

*****

Series: Paper Records (Box List)

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1908-2002

Volume: 3.5 cubic feet, 7 Boxes

Geographic Coverage: Worldwide, especially United States, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Rhodesia, Australia, South America, Myanmar, Hong Kong, China

Type of Documents: Letters, schedules, invoices, cards, newspaper clippings, press releases, manuscripts of lectures

Correspondents: Aileen Coleman, Aldsworth Cowan, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Gwen (Rowlandson) Gustafson

Subjects: Life and ministry of Roy Gustafson, Billy Graham, and Franklin Graham; American tourism to the lands of the Bible; American Evangelicals and Israel; Florida Bible Institute during the student days of Roy Gustafson and Billy Graham; Asbury College; Christian ministry in the Middle East, South America, central and southern Africa, southeast and Asia; the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Samaritan’s Purse; the Mafraq Sanatorium Association

Notes: This series consists of loose documents of various types, arranged, with a few exceptions, by year. The materials were mostly already arranged by year when received by the Archives, apparently by Mrs. Gwen Gustafson. She also wrote explanatory notes which are stuck on documents in this series and on the scrapbooks in series II. Most folders before the mid-1970s have relatively few items.

The boxes of Gustafson’s papers had a few loose items not in folders, and the scrapbooks (see series II) had many loose items, some of which the archivist put in the chronological files in this section. There were also a few folders of materials arranged by type. This order was maintained and all of these folders are in box 7.

Cards for special occasions and notes from family and friends are found throughout the folders. Starting in the mid-1950s, many folders have lists of people who went on tours led by Gustafson or thank-you notes from people who went on his tours, schedules or other materials related to tours. The thank-you notes, which vary in length, illustrate the perceptions of American Evangelicals of the relationship between ancient Palestine and modern Israel. Starting in 1959, the folders contain materials related to his activities as an associate evangelist of the BGEA.

Starting from 1981, there are often newsletters or reports or other information on the worldwide work of Samaritan’s Purse, and World Medical Missions, especially in the Middle East. If a folder contains schedules or lists of Gustafson’s speaking engagement and tours for a particular year, the archivist put them at the front of the folder.

Exceptional items:

Folder 1-1: photocopy of mortgage on family home; copy of Gustafson’s 1914 birth certificate.

Folder 1-3: (1934) Program for a musical festival in Boston, including a picture of Walter M. Smith, an important musical influence on Gustafson.

Folder 1-4: (1936) A diary on notepaper of a tour Gustafson took part in as a member of the Ambassador’s Trio, a musical group of students from Florida Bible Institute.

Folder 1-5: (1937) Gustafson’s yearbook from Florida Bible Institute, with notes and articles he pasted in, as well as notes written by his wife, probably around 2002. For additional Institute yearbooks for the years 1936-1939, see folder 7-2.

Folder 1-7: (1940) Early correspondence with Gwen Rowlandson, who became his wife; letter from E. Stanley Jones for the Asbury College paper about his evangelistic work; letters from Helen Sunday, the wife of the deceased-evangelist Billy Sunday. Sunday was an important Fundamentalist leader in her own right and her letters describe her activities. Gustafson’s yearbook from Asbury is in folder 7-1.

Folder 1-10: (1945) A newsletter of evangelist Percy Crawford’s organization, The Young People’s Church of the Air.

Folder 1-12: (1951) Letter from Frank Fenton of Shiloh Gospel Hall in Jamaica about evangelism on the island. Folder 1-14: (1955) Diary of Gustafson describing the first tour he led to Israel and other biblical lands.

Folder 1-15: (1959) Several letters to his wife, giving his impressions of the BGEA’s Australian and New Zealand evangelism campaigns. Graham had personally invited Gustafson to join him for these crusades. This marked the beginning of Gustafson’s lifelong association with the BGEA.

Folder 1-16: (1960) Several letters to his wife describing Billy Graham’s Africa tour, and the conference held with forty-two Christian leaders that served as a beginning point for the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism, and evangelistic meetings in Switzerland.

Folder 1-17: (1961) Booklet about the planning of the 1961 North of England (Manchester) Crusade.

Folder 1-18: (1962 ) Letters to his wife Gwen about his preaching tour in Rhodesia; handouts from the BGEA 1962 South American evangelistic tours (Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay).

Folder 1-19: (1963) Materials from the BGEA’s Orient Tour (Philippines, Taiwan); report prepared for Billy Graham on the British colony of Hong Kong emphasizing religious situations: letter about Gustafson’s December 1962 evangelistic mission at Mt. Holyoke College.

Folder 1-20: (1964) Letter from a missionary about genocide in Rwanda; English translation of a statement of criticism of the Catholic Church in Argentina by three priests.

Folder 1-21: (1965) Statistical reports for the North Valley (Oakland, California) and Greater Marion County (Hillsboro, Kansas) Crusades, both of which were BGEA meetings led by Gustafson.

Folder 1-22: (1966) Correspondence from Aileen Coleman about the ministry to the Bedouin in Mafraq, Jordan; reports on the World Congress on Evangelism (Berlin), including one by Billy Hall of Jamaica; letter from the [Dino] De Laurnetis production company about the possibility of Billy Graham seeing and endorsing their film, The Bible; critical correspondence from Clarence Benware about Graham’s association with Oral Roberts (see also folder 1-23 and scrapbook XI); note from Ruth Graham.

Folder 1-23: (1967) Letters from Gustafson to US senators defending the Rhodesian government against criticisms of it by Prime Minister of Great Britain Harold Wilson; text by Gustafson for a slide/tape lecture on a tour of the Holy Land, which gives some idea of what his presentation on his tours must have been like; letter from Aileen Coleman about working among Bedouin.

Folder 1-24: (1968) Transcripts of a week of chapel messages Gustafson preached, perhaps to a BGEA staff and team meeting in Florida; biblical lands tour booklet; complete transcripts of talks given at the 1968 BGEA School of Evangelism in Australia; sheet music and testimony for Lee Fisher’s hymn, The Christ of Every Crisis; very detailed thirty-nine-page, typed, very favorable description of a Holy Land tour by one of the participants in 1968.

Folder 2-1: (1969) Transcripts, apparently, of telegrams sent by Graham after his visit to Israel was cut short because of the death of former United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower; transcripts from the 1969 BGEA School of Evangelism in Auckland, New Zealand, including Bishop Jack Dain’s “The Call of God to the Christian Ministry.”

Folder 2-2: (1970) Clippings and other material about Gustafson’s talk in Toronto to a group of Christians and Jews on Israel in Biblical prophecy.

Folder 2-3: (1971) Letter from Aileen Coleman about Franklin Graham’s assistance to Gustafson in leading tours to Israel; clippings about talks Gustafson gave to Jewish groups on Israel in prophecy; several very cute handmade thank-you notes from tour participants, with a caricature of Gustafson.

Folder 2-4: (1972) Letter from Aileen Coleman in Mafraq, Jordan about Franklin Graham’s visit.

Folder 2-5: (1973) Letters about US policy toward Rhodesia; several thank you letters from Holy Land tour participants; material from President Richard M. Nixon’s second inauguration, including a booklet from the White House worship service at which Graham officiated.

Folder 2-6: (1974) Information on Gustafson’s evangelistic campaign on Iloilo in the Philippines; booklets for Holy Land tours; thank you letters from tour participants; letter of appreciation from the Israel tourism ministry; letters from Rhodesia information office about efforts to keep Wheaton Travel from sending tours to Rhodesia.

Folder 2-7: (1975) Letter about Christ the Only Way Movement in the Philippines; report about Gustafson’s speaking to conferences on Biblical prophecy in Venezuela; letter to his wife about arrangements he was making for Graham’s trip to Israel and Egypt that year.

Folder 2-8: (1976) Information on evangelistic work in South Korea; letters from Rhodesia about Gustafson and Dave Hill’s evangelistic tour of the country, including a thank-you letter to Billy Graham from Scottish/Rhodesian businessman Aldsworth Cowan; letter from Senator Harry Byrd and a U.S. congressman C. W. Bill Young about United States’ policies toward Rhodesia; letter of appreciation from mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kolleck.

Folder 2-9: (1977) Material on Gustafson’s evangelistic tour of South Africa (March-April) and his participation with the BGEA’s Manila evangelistic campaign in November. Many letters from participants in Holy Land tours, with both praise and criticism; correspondence about Rhodesia.

Folder 2-10: (1978) Letters from evangelist V. Samuel Jones; information on Gustafson’s evangelistic work in Hong Kong; brief reports from evangelistic meetings in Rhodesia.

Folder 3-1: (1979) First letters from “the Jewish kids;” correspondence from Wheaton Travel about Gustafson’s going with a different travel agency.

Folder 3-2: (1980) Material from Jamaica crusade; letter about medical missions in Kenya; documents from the tour Gustafson led in China; paper written by one tour participant on her experience in Israel.

Folder 3-3: (1981) A song book from the Kuching Evangelical Church (Malaysia?); book from Samaritan’s Purse with color photos of their work in 1981; obituary for evangelist Harold Wildish; prayer letters for Samaritan’s Purse and World Medical Mission; letters of appreciation for Gustafson’s book, In His Land - Seeing is Believing; report on Baptist missions in Bangladesh.

Folder 4-1: (1982) Information on the church in mainland China; copy of Wang Ming Dao’s message from Shanghai to the church worldwide (see also folder 7-7); report on Project Pearl - a plan to bring Bibles to mainland China; letter from Franklin Graham to Wesley Urirch about the work in Mafraq; report on the work of Sami Dagher in Lebanon: clippings, reports and other materials on the ordination of Franklin Graham by his father, Billy Graham.

Folder 4-2: (1983) Materials from Gustafson’s participation in the Amsterdam ‘83 conference; Samaritan’s Purse reports; material on Gustafson’s evangelistic tour of New Guinea.

Folder 4-3: (1984) Reports on the work of Sami Dagher in Beirut; program for the annual BGEA Team and Staff Conference; birthday card from Bill Clinton; material about the BGEA’s Mission England and Gustafson’s part in it; document on a baseball chapel; report on Gustafson’s meetings with pastors in Zaire and Kenya.

Folder 4-4: (1985) Samaritan’s Purse reports on its work in various parts of the world; materials from Gustafson’s participation in a pastors conference in Ethiopia; information on the ship the Doulos, owned by Good Books for All; a German Christian youth organization; material on Sami Dagher work in Lebanon; report from Aileen Coleman on the Mafraq Sanatorium Association; information on evangelistic work in Burma.

Folder 5-1: (1986) Reports on Samaritan’s Purse’s and World Medical Mission’s work; documents from Gustafson’s participation in the Amsterdam ‘86 conference as a steward; letters about missions and evangelism in Sawark, Gambia; thank-you notes from people who had taken tours led by Gustafson; documents from a Christian conference in Madras, India, he attended.

Folder 5-2: (1987) Letter from Don Bailey about leaving BGEA; letter from George Beverly Shea; report on the dedication of Samaritan’s Purse’s headquarters in Boone, North Carolina; material from Gustafson’s participation in Amsterdam follow-up conference or evangelistic tours in Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, El Salvador.

Folder 5-3: (1988) Report by Preston Parrish on visit to Lebanon for Samaritan’s Purse; letter from Ann Lotz; materials from Gustafson’s preaching tour of the Fiji Islands; documents about the ships of Operation Mobilization; list of participants for a Florida Bible Institute alumni reunion; funeral program for George Johnston, board member of Samaritan’s Purse.

Folder 5-4: (1989) Card of appreciation to Gustafson from the Feather Sound Community Church for fifty years of Bible teaching; letters about Christian work in Zaire and Honduras; documents from the mini-Amsterdam conference in Bolivia; documents from Gustafson’s meetings in Puerto Rico.

Folder 5-5: (1990) Material about congresses of evangelism in Peru and Ecuador; letter about missions in Argentina.

Folder 6-2: (1992) Letter from BGEA evangelist John Wesley White about his illness.

Folder 6-3: (1993) Letter from Ernest Steury about Tenwek Hospital in Kenya; materials about Graham’s participation in President Bill Clinton’s inauguration: Gustafson’s letter to his Israeli travel agency with complaints about recent failures in service.

Folder 6-4: (1994) John Corts’ letter about ministry in Argentina; material relating to Gustafson’s quadruple by-pass surgery in 1994; copy of pages from history of the Peniel Baptist Church of Florida with material on Billy Graham and Gustafson.

Folder 6-5 (1995) Calendar for first third of the year, showing Gustafson’s activities, including March 13 “Last? H. L.[Holy Land] tour.”

Folder 6-6: (1997) Newsletter from the Mafraq Sanatorium Association; letter from Franklin Graham about the funeral of Eleanor Soltau; article about Gustafson retiring from Holy Land tours after leading 146 Holy Land tours.

Folder 6-7 (1998) Article about Ruth Munce’s work in Kenya. Folder 6-8: (1999) Information on Christian work in Myanmar; a fax of a letter from Billy Graham about his friendship with Gustafson.

Folder 6-9: (2000) Letter from T. W. Wilson; newsletter about Samaritan’s Purse in North Korea.

Folder 6-11: (2002) Ad for a book about Aileen Coleman; condolence notes received by Gwen Gustafson after her husband’s death.

Folder 6-12: (Undated material) History of the band in the Elton public school in which Gustafson participated; music sung by Christians in Malaysia which Gustafson brought to the United States.

Folder 7-3: Printed transcripts of sermons Eugene Bertermann, Walter Maier, Arthur C. Piepkorn from the radio program, The Lutheran Hour.

Folder 7-4: Reports by Gustafson, often with photos on his post-retirement (1986) mission trips under the sponsorship of the BGEA to Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Thailand, Malaysia, and Zaire. The ministry reports in general are impressionistic descriptions of the countries as well as the Evangelical community in that country and the conditions for evangelism. The file also includes: a 1959 report which was part of a survey of arrangements that BGEA staff did of several countries throughout Africa as part of the preparation for Billy Graham’s 1959 tour of Africa; and a 1983 report on a voyage on the Doulos, a Christian bookstore and ministry ship.

Folder 7-6: Contains correspondence by and with Tun, a Christian minister in Myanmar and a 1998 booklet giving the 25-year history of Witnessing for Christ, a Burmese ministry.

Folder 7-7: Typed manuscript of Denial / Wang Ming-Tao and the Truth about the Lie, with a forward by Ed Lyman, by Brother David and Sara Bruce, which was published in a different form as Walking the Hard Road: The Wang Ming-Tao Story by Harper Collins in 1989. The manuscript was apparently given to Gustafson for his review, probably during his 1986 visit to Wang. The book describes Wang’s life and ministry, particularly his imprisonment and persecution.

Accruals and Additions

The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Gwendolyn Gustafson in 2003 and 2004.

Accession 03-76, 04-03, 04-05

May 12, 2011

Bob Shuster

K. Emmert

Title
Collection 659 Papers of Roy W. Gustafson
Author
Bob Shuster
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Roman Script

Repository Details

Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository

Contact:
501 College Avenue
Wheaton IL 60187 US
630-752-5910