At the riverside near Vicksburg, Miss, one morning last week, Evangelist Billy Graham stepped up to a platform, lifted his eyes to heaven, and blessed a 200-ft. converted LSM (Landing Ship, Medium) and its crew. This week the ship, known around Vicksburg as "The Ark of LeTourneau," will cast off and nose out into the muddy Mississippi. Its cargo consists of $500,000 worth of heavy earthmoving, lumbering and land-clearing machinery, food supplies for a year, 500 New Testaments and a dozen "technical missionaries." Its destination: Liberia.
The Liberian expedition is the latest...