Anne Graham Lotz is speaking at the “West Michigan WelcomesJoe & Martie Stowell” dinner gala Sept. 12 at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids.

“People are elated that she’s coming,” said Ben Peterson, Cornerstone University alumni director. “We have people traveling and coming to the event because Anne Graham Lotz is here.”

Lotz is the second oldest daughter of Billy Graham, a well known global evangelist and the founder of Billy Graham Evangelist Association in 1950. Joe Stowell, CU president, is on the board of the association.

Billy Graham has been one of the world’s leading spiritual advisers since his 1949 crusade in Los Angeles that led thousands of people to dedicate their lives to Christ. This revival catapulted Graham into the mainstream public eye where he has remained for more than 50 years.

Lotz was born in 1948 to Billy and Ruth Bell and has four siblings, including Franklin Graham, an American evangelist who leads evangelistic festivals around the country.

At 18 years old, she married Dan Lotz and had three children. She also taught a weekly Bible and fellowship class in Raleigh, N.C. for 12 years.

In 1988, she founded AnGel Ministries, also based in North Carolina. The ministry’s Web site says its purpose “is to serve God by evangelizing the lost and reviving the hearts of God’s people in their relationship with Himself through exalting Jesus Christ and proclaiming God’s Word.”

Lotz has spent 30 years sharing God’s Word and, as the Web site says, “her gripping narrative and heart-touching teaching have inspired listeners in arenas and prison cells, stadiums and Bible studies, sanctuaries and seminaries, the United Nations and Amsterdam 2000.”

In 2000, she launched the “Just Give Me Jesus” tour, which is a national and international traveling revival for women. The revival is named after her bestselling book released the same year.

The tour features Jill Briscoe, executive director of Just Between Us, a magazine for women in church leadership, Fernando Ortega, a singer and songwriter, and Stephanie Seefeldt, a musician.

Her ministry also sponsors “Pursuing MORE of Jesus,” which its Web site describes as a “breakaway for women.” Its purpose is to “encourage women to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ through His Word.”

At the event, Lotz “conducts workshops on how to study the Bible and issues challenging messages.

Lotz has authored nine books including “My Heart’s Cry,” in 2005 and “I Saw the Lord,” released in 2006. She has spoken at the International Congress of Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam and the School of Evangelism in Moscow and has received numerous collegiate honorary doctorates.

Tim Detwiler, associate provost for undergraduate education, said that he reserved his seat as soon as he received the invitation and is eager to attend. He said he believes Lotz’s appearance will “validate the institution and give us some credibility in the public eye.”

Peterson said he is certain Stowell’s connection with the Graham family will have great significance within the Michigan community, and the fact that all 2,000 seats of the dinner gala are filled is extremely remarkable.

“We love Anne Graham Lotz, and she’s coming to celebrate with CU, and that’s a fantastic blessing.”