Luis Palau, an evangelical pastor who was born in Argentina and went to work with Billy Graham before establishing his own international ministry, died at his home in Portland, Oregon.
The Luis Palau Association. said he died Thursday at the age of 86. He announced in January 2018 that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
“It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that we share with you that Dad passed away this morning. He died suddenly and very peacefully, as he expected, ”said his family in a statement. “This is difficult news, but Luis is experiencing the beauty of the Lord face to face.”
Born to a wealthy family in Buenos Aires, Palau emerged from obscurity to become one of the most well-known international Christian evangelists. Over a career spanning more than half a century, he wrote 50 books and addressed more than 30 million people in 75 countries at evangelical “festivals” that were his modern version of the more traditional crusades that propelled his mentor and idol, Graham, to fame.
“In many ways, I feel that the Lord has much more in store for me. However, whatever we have tomorrow – I am completely at peace. Patricia and I are, ”he wrote to his followers after the diagnosis. “When we look back, we praise the Lord. Fifty-seven years of marriage. How many places have we been. How many people we reach with the Gospel. “
Its radio programs, including the Spanish international “Luis Palau Responde”, are broadcast on 3,500 stations in 48 countries, and its Luis Palau Association, based in Portland, Oregon. organizes dozens of events every year on five continents.
The vastness of his evangelical empire, especially among Spanish-speaking believers, has long earned him the nickname “Billy Graham of Latin America”. A decade ago, Palau began transferring the daily operations of that empire to three of his four children, including one who is now an international evangelist in his own right.
“Everything is ready, so if the Lord wants to take me home … I’m ready,” he said in a January 2018 video to his followers. “I have been preaching about heaven … and many times I have been preaching about the second coming and the resurrection, and now, it is a reality for me.”
Condolences came from other religious leaders when news of Palau’s death spread.
“Luis Palau was the apostle Paul to the Spanish-speaking world. He was a leader that God used him to inaugurate the great revival that swept South and Central America, and that was just the beginning, ”said Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders. “Today, we have lost a giant in Christian history.”
James Dobson, who broadcasts the Christian radio program “Family Talk” to 1,300 stations, called Palau “a dear friend”.
“His passion for sharing Jesus Christ around the world was immeasurable,” he said in a statement.
Palau was immersed in the faith from an early age by his father, a businessman who had been introduced to Christianity by a missionary. But when Palau’s father died, the family went through difficult times. In an autobiographical video interview on his website, Palau recalls his mother sharing bread between her children or cutting a steak into eight pieces for dinner.
Palau, who hoped to become a lawyer, was working on a basic job at a bank when he heard Graham on the radio in 1952. He was transformative, he would say later, and Palau decided he wanted to become an evangelist.
“I would have been happy to have a business or be a lawyer – anyone – but my life’s real commitment was to win people for Jesus Christ. There is nothing bigger in the whole world, ”he said in an interview on his website.
Palau moved to Oregon in 1960 to attend the Multnomah Bible School in Portland and met his future wife, a student at the Bible School named Pat. The couple married in 1961 and had four children, building their family life around missionary work.
Palau did an internship with Graham in 1962 during a crusade in Fresno and served as Graham’s Spanish-speaking interpreter during the crusades in South and Central America in the 1960s.
Palau started his Spanish radio program in Colombia and lectured in Latin America during the 1970s.
Now an American citizen, Palau has started to attract tens of thousands to his presentations in Colombia, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico and Spain. In 1978, Palau entered his ministry in Portland and later set a record attendance at the city’s huge waterfront park during an evangelistic event.
Reaching an American audience represented a challenge. In 1999, Palau shifted its emphasis from traditional crusades – the evangelists’ longstanding staple – to bolder, more modern-day Christian “festivals” to attract unbelievers.
The events had corporate sponsors and featured Christian rock bands, skateboards and family activities.
“This revolutionized everything we do,” said Palau.
Flaccus writes for the Associated Press.