Evangelists farewell

last updated 8 January 2015

New York

In what is likely the last American revival meeting of his long career, the Rev. Billy Graham this week used his own frailty to preach the urgency of repentance. “I know it won’t be long,” Graham declared, telling a rapt audience in New York City that their time on earth could end at any moment. “Are you prepared?” he asked. “Have you opened your heart?” The three-day crusade, which attracted 230,000 people, came 48 years after Graham’s first New York appearance established him as a national figure. Graham, 86, now suffers from Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer. “If I die right now, and that’s a possibility,” Graham said, “I’ll go right to heaven and see Jesus.”