K-Love Donor Wins Unexpected Israel Tour, Asks “How did this happen?”

Sometimes God answers prayer in the most surprising and delightful ways. In the words of K-LOVE contest winner William Gray, “How did this happen? Praise God!”

Inspiration recently partnered with the K-LOVE radio network as a sponsor of their pledge drive. Everyone who pledged money to its listener-supported stations was entered into a drawing to win a trip to Israel on our upcoming 2015 tour with Big Daddy Weave and Northwestern Media. K-LOVE listener William Gray made a donation during the last hour of the pledge drive—and his name was chosen.

But there’s much more to the story than that.

William Gray is 73 years old, which is significantly older than the average K-LOVE listener. He retired a few years ago but recently returned to work as a driver for a company in Kansas. “I drive all night,” he says, “so I listen to K-LOVE all night. I keep it on all the time. My coworkers hear it and ask ‘Is that alternative rock?’ and I say, ‘Yeah, you could call it that.’”

William was intrigued when he heard about the contest, but misheard what was really being given away. He thought K-LOVE was offering a trip to the Holy Land Experience, a Christian theme park in Orlando. He’d learned about the park by watching TBN. “I thought that would be cool. We got to the end of the pledge drive and I put a pledge in,” he says. “I wanted to support the radio station because I listen to it every night when I drive. That’s my way of praising the Lord.”

When William’s name was selected, an Inspiration team member called and told him he’d been chosen to go on the Israel tour. He still didn’t quite understand what he’d won. “The only thing I heard was March 5th, 2015,” he says. “I told everybody at work I won this trip to an Orlando Bible theme park.” When it finally became clear that he had won a 11-day Christian travel experience to the real Holy Land—with Big Daddy Weave—William was absolutely stunned.

Here are two things you should know about William. First, he is a huge fan of Big Daddy Weave. “I keep listening for them to pop up on the radio,” he says, especially their number-one single “The Only Name (Yours Will Be).” He says it’s one of his favorite songs. “I just love it, love it, love it.”

The second thing you should know is that William has always wanted to visit Israel, and has been praying for that opportunity all his life. “That’s been my desire since I was a little kid,” he explains. “I was in the Navy and got to see a lot of places, but Israel has always been my number-one goal since I started going to church. I want to walk the footsteps where Jesus walked!”

In fact, William writes poetry in his spare time, and in 2012 composed a poem about how much he wanted to visit the Holy Land. He gave us permission to share it:

Israel

"I’d love to go to Israel before I pass away
I’d love to go to Israel so I can kneel and pray
I’d love to walk those roads He walked while He was here on earth
I’d love to see Jerusalem, His holy place of birth
I’d love to see the Dead Sea and listen to the sounds
of all the people gathered there from nations all around
I’d love to see the holy walls and put my prayer somewhere
within a crack like millions have, hoping He will hear their prayer
I’d love to climb Golgotha's Hill where He was crucified
to give us all a second chance before He left and died
I’d love to see the tomb someday where He was laid to rest
and rose again after three days to conquer even death
I want to laugh, I want to cry, as I whisper His name
and then I feel His hand in mine to never be the same."

After William recited the poem for us, he laughed. “Isn’t this amazing that this is going to happen?”

Yes! It IS amazing!

We love William’s enthusiasm. We love the fact that he gave to K-LOVE primarily because he was a faithful listener, and secondly because he wanted to go to a theme park. And we love the fact that God answered his prayer—not by sending him to the artificial version of the Holy Land, but to the real thing.

God is faithful. When God answers prayer, he blesses us above and beyond what we can even imagine. He gives us the real thing in a world of shallow substitutes.

“I am just praising God ever since I found out,” William says. “I just throw up my hands and say, ‘Thank You, Jesus.’”