Tributes to former President Jimmy Carter

Tributes have been paid to former US President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on 29th December at the age of 100.

Carter died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Born in 1924, Carter, a former peanut farmer, was the longest-lived president in US history and the first Southern Baptist to be elected president of the United States.

After leaving the White House, he founded the Carter Center to advance peace and democracy, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden said, “When I look at Jimmy Carter, I see a man not only for our times, but for all times. A man who embodied the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away. And while we may never see his likes again, we would all do well to try to be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”

After leaving the White House, Carter and his wife spent decades volunteering with Christian charity Habitat for Humanity. Its CEO Jonathan Reckford said the couple had made an “incredible impact. The Carters put Habitat for Humanity on the map, and their legacy lives on in every family we serve around the world.”

Carter authored more than 30 books during his lifetime, including many on the subject of faith and morality, like The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East, Living Faith, Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, NIV Lessons from the Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power and Faith: A Journey for All.

Civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Push Coalition said he had “touched countless lives, offering hope where there was despair and love where there was indifference”.

He regularly led Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains, Georgia, teaching as late as 2015 when he was ill with cancer.

Carter had close ties to late evangelist Billy Graham, helping with the organisation of his crusades and guest-speaking on occasion.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) paid tribute to Carter’s “strong faith in God”.

It recalled one particular occasion when Graham had needed someone to help run racially integrated Gospel film nights in the lead-up to his Georgia crusade in the 1960s. Carter “was the only man who had the courage to be the chairman”, Graham later said.

Under Carter’s leading, different races sat side by side to watch the Gospel film together prior to the crusade. Carter spoke about the experience during an appearance at Billy Graham’s 1994 crusade in Atlanta.

“When I went to the major churches, none of them would let us come in,” he said. “So we went to the basement of an abandoned school building and that’s where we had our integrated planning meetings.”

Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, who heads the BGEA, said Carter and his father “had a close relationship”.

“I know that his family would appreciate your prayers,” he said.

Article and photo credit: www.christiantoday.com