Ruth Graham moved by Death Row visit

Associated Press

ANGOLA, La. — Ruth Graham, daughter of famed evangelist Billy Graham, was unable to speak after a recent visit to Louisiana's Death Row — moved by the men she had met and prayed with, and their stories of wasted lives and reclaimed faith.

Graham and her husband, Greg Briehl, stopped at several cells where prisoners sat reading, listening to music, or watching television at Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Bobby Hampton, 39, who has been on Death Row since Sept. 5, 1997, spends his time weaving thread into necklaces and crosses. He presented one to Graham, who clasped his hands and prayed at his cell.

"I can't, I just can't say how much it moves me," Graham gasped as she left.

Graham brought Ruth Graham & Friends, her ministry based in Waynesboro, Va., that combines workshops and worship, to the maximum-security prison. She spent about 45 minutes on Death Row, where about 90 inmates are confined, talking to the condemned prisoners on two tiers and praying with them.

Graham's group also visited the death chamber, the hospice program and met with prison ministers.