December 31, 2001
Billy Graham crusade coming to North Texas in October
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___Billy Graham is coming to North Texas for a crusade next fall, his first in the region in 30 years.
___Officials with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association announced the evangelist has accepted the invitation of a group of North Texas church leaders to hold a crusade at Texas Stadium in Irving Oct. 17-20.
___Gary Hearon, director of missions for Dallas Baptist Association, was chairman of the inter-denominational committee that asked Graham to come to the Metroplex.
BILLY GRAHAM
___"We've been praying and working toward this end for two years now, and words cannot express my excitement and gratitude to God," Hearon said. "This is the answer to the cumulative prayers of many people, and we believe the time is right and God has prepared the hearts of people in this area to receive the gospel message from Billy Graham."
___Graham's most recent Texas crusade was in 1997 in San Antonio, where 247,000 people heard his message and 23,000 made decisions for Christ.
___His last crusade in the Metroplex was in 1971, a 10-day crusade that was the inaugural event at Texas Stadium.
___"The Metroplex has grown and changed so much since we were last there in 1971 that I believe the time is right to conduct another evangelistic emphasis there to reach a new generation and indeed many new Texans with the gospel message," Graham said in a statement.
___More than 500 churches are expected to cooperate in preparations for the crusade. The effort will require 20,000 volunteers.
___Despite fragile health, Graham said he intends to speak each night of the four-day crusade. The Texas crusade will be his second of 2002, following a June event in Cincinnati.
___In 2001, he held crusades in Louisville, Ky., and Fresno, Calif.
___Although Graham lives in North Carolina, he is a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Dallas and has many ties to Texas. The late Clayton Bell, Graham's brother-in-law, was longtime minister at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
___An official announcement about the crusade will be made Jan. 24 at Texas Stadium.
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