Rev. Franklin Graham is tugging on the heartstrings of Christians from all over the world to send a birthday card to terminally ill Arizona teen Jacob Priestley, who is turning 14 this August 28.
Instead of asking for extravagant toys and lavish parties, all Priestley is asking for are caring words from strangers. "The gift of encouragement is priceless! Priestley...is getting ready to turn 14, and we can help make his birthday a happier one," Graham writes on his Facebook page.
"He's not asking for something expensive, but something most of us can probably do – just send a card to encourage him," he says. "I don't know Jacob personally, but I read that he has a terminal illness and loves to receive cards. His mother posted that she wanted to make his birthday super special and would like for him to receive 10,000 cards for his 14th birthday on August 28!"
Graham then quotes the Bible verse 1 Thessalonians 5:11, which says: "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up."
The evangelist is going to be one of the thousands who are going to send a birthday greeting to Priestley, and he hopes other people would follow suit by sending letters to P.O. Box 855, Queen Creek, AZ 85142.
Last year, Jacob asked for the same thing and he received over 8,000 cards on his 13th birthday. His letters came from people as far away as England, Australia, and even China. Even some prison inmates took time out to write him a happy greeting.
"They make me feel better and they just make me happy," Jacob told KWCH12 of the letters.
When Jacob's mother started the request on her Facebook page, she expected only relatives and friends to write to Jacob as well as a couple of hundreds of strangers. But she was floored when thousands of people showed compassion to her son by greeting him a happy birthday.
