Evangelist Billy Graham preaches on faith at last 'crusade'

Jun 25, 2005, 12:06 GMT

New York - The Reverend Billy Graham, who has preached to an estimated 200 million people in 180 countries over his long Christian ministry, focused on faith when he spoke Friday at an event that is being called his last U.S. crusade.

Graham, 86, spoke at a massive outdoor gathering in New York City where he was cheered by tens of thousands of followers at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. Graham didn't mention politics, but drove home his message of faith, CNN reported.

Graham, who has battled prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, got to the podium with the help of an assistant before he proclaimed the saving message of Jesus Christ. Graham has been America's pre- eminent Protestant evangelist - "America's pastor" - for more than five decades and is believed to have preached to more souls than anyone in the history of the world.

He was scheduled to deliver two more speeches this weekend, both just 35 minutes long, during the event at Flushing Meadows, venue of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. It has been billed as Graham's farewell to his millions followers in the United States.

"I'm looking forward with great anticipation to my own death," the white-haired Graham said in an interview that aired Friday on NBC News. He told reporters last week his passing "could happen any day".

Graham held a 16-week-long revival - a series of prayer events - in 1957 in New York's Madison Square Garden that helped spark the modern U.S. evangelical movement and television evangelism.

His message of personal redemption through Jesus Christ and his warnings against communism, liberalism and moral decline have reached many millions worldwide through television appearances and rallies.

He also has been an adviser on matters spiritual and political to every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower, and he stood by George W. Bush in the 1980s when he gave up alcohol and led him to Christianity.