EXCLUSIVE: Rev. Franklin Graham is calling on Americans to remember the extraordinary turn toward faith that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to “turn back” to God as the nation marks 25 years since the day that changed the world forever.
“September 11 is a day I’ll never forget,” Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, told Fox News Digital.
“It’s impossible to describe the tremendous amount of pain that I witnessed at ground zero in the aftermath. There were so many who were in shock and grieving,” he added. “It is still hard to fathom the depths of evil that caused so much destruction.”
As Americans commemorate a quarter-century since the attacks, Graham said his prayer is for America to rediscover her reliance on faith he witnessed in the aftermath.
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A search-and-rescue worker walks through the rubble of the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City. (Courtesy Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
“As we observe the 25th anniversary of this day when our world changed forever, my prayer is that America will recognize our need for God like we did after 9/11,” Graham said. “Churches were full. People gathered to pray in public places.”
Graham also recalled his father, the late evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, addressing the country from Washington National Cathedral during a national day of prayer and remembrance following the attacks.
“We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially,” Billy Graham said at the time, according to Graham’s statement. “We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.”
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People visit the South Memorial Pool during 9/11 ceremonies at the World Trade Center site in New York City. (Robert Deutsch/Pool via Reuters, File)
“Just as America needed the help of God then, we still need His help today,” Franklin Graham said.
Those themes are at the center of BGEA’s new 30-minute program, “A Day That Changed Our Lives Forever,” hosted by Graham and featuring survivors reflecting on the attacks and the faith and hope they say emerged from the devastation.
Among them is Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last person pulled alive from the World Trade Center rubble.
Guzman-McMillan spent 27 hours buried beneath the ruins, unable to move and unsure whether she would survive.
While trapped, she said she began thinking about her late mother and crying out to God for forgiveness and a second chance.
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Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last survivor pulled from the World Trade Center rubble, reflects on her experience in BGEA’s “A Day That Changed Our Lives Forever.” (Courtesy Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
At one point, Guzman-McMillan said she could no longer endure it.
“God, are you listening to me? Please show me a sign,” she recalled saying. Then something happened that she still cannot explain.
“And then someone grabbed me by my hand,” Guzman-McMillan says in the special. “He told me his name is Paul.”
She said Paul held her hand and reassured her.
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Genelle Guzman-McMillan, who survived 27 hours beneath the World Trade Center rubble after the 9/11 attacks, stands along the New York City waterfront. (Courtesy Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
“You’re gonna be fine, help is on the way, I’m not gonna let you go,” she recalled him saying.
As Guzman-McMillan began hearing rescuers’ radios, she said Paul encouraged her to keep calling out. Eventually, she heard a rescuer say, “I see her.”
“I just knew I was going to go home,” she said. “I am the last survivor, buried for 27 hours. I myself couldn’t believe that I survived it.”
Guzman-McMillan said she believes the mysterious Paul was “an angel looking out for me.”
“I wasn’t hallucinating, I wasn’t dreaming,” she said. “I knew the conversation that I had.”
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Responders work to clear rubble at Ground Zero in New York City on Oct. 8, 2001. (Ken Tregellas)
“Something happened under that rubble,” she added. “I found Jesus that day.”
The special features another dramatic survival story from Sujo John, a father-to-be who worked on the 81st floor of the North Tower while his pregnant wife worked on the 71st floor of the South Tower.
After escaping, he spent hours believing his wife had died. Then his cellphone rang.
“I picked up that call thinking this is going to be the worst news of my life,” he recalls.
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New York City firefighters gather near ground zero after the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (Corbis via Getty Images, File)
His wife was on the other end. She had been late for work by just minutes.
“She thought I was dead,” he said. The two arranged a meeting place and ran toward each other. “We both survived.”
Graham also recounts traveling to New York after the attacks and seeing people holding photographs of missing loved ones and desperately seeking information.
He began calling pastors and asking them to come help comfort and pray with grieving families.
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Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center are seen from the Tear Drop 9/11 Memorial in Bayonne, N.J. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images, File)
That response ultimately led Graham to form the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, which BGEA says has grown into an international network of thousands of crisis-trained chaplains who minister to people facing emotional and spiritual needs following tragedies and disasters.
Graham hosts “A Day That Changed Our Lives Forever,” airing on Fox News Channel at 12:30 a.m. ET.
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Twenty-five years later, Graham said his prayer for America remains clear.
“My prayer for our nation is that we will turn back to the God of Heaven who has brought us to this day and sustained us every step of the way.”
