World’s Foremost Televangelist, Billy Graham Dies At 99

Nigerian clerics have extolled the virtues of the late televangelist, Rev. Billy Graham, who passed on today at 99.

Graham, who held worldwide crusades and served as adviser to United States Presidents for many decades, was one of the most influential religious leaders on the globe.

He died in his home in Montreat, North Carolina,U.S. on Wednesday.

In 2015 his son, Franklin told the press, “My dad is ready to go to heaven.” He was in and out of hospitals for treatments relating to old age. The cleric had been ill for a number of years and was regularly listed in polls as one of the “10 Most Admired Men in the World.”

The televangelist had ministered to over 200 million people across the world, according to a report.

His Christian crusades took him from Manhattan to isolated African villages and according to the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (BGEA) website,Graham preached to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history.

According to BGEA, his audience swelled to about 215 million people across 185 countries and territories with several hundred thousands of millions more viewing him on television, video and webcasts.

A Nigerian cleric, Pastor Evans Emmanuel, who had benefited from the ministry of Graham in the 1980s, said Graham was an exceptional Christian leader.

“Billy Graham is a man sold out to the kingdom of God. His passion for evangelism is one that every young person need to imbibe. He continued the work of God till the end. He finished strong,” Emmanuel said.

His uttermost wish for his hearers was for them to know Christ. “My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which I believe comes through knowing Christ,” Graham once said.

Graham graduated in 1943 from the Wheaton College where he met fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, daughter of a medical missionary who he later got married to in August of same year. The union was blessed with five children 19 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

After 64 years of blissful marriage, Ruth went to be with the Lord in June of 2007.

Billy Graham who was about the most popular televangelist in world history arrived national prominence in the United States of America with his 1948 Los Angeles Crusade earlier scheduled for three weeks which lingered to eight. His subsequent programs also outstretched normal schedule. For instance his event at the Madison Square Garden in Ney York ran for months in 1957.

His BGEA organization was founded in 1950 with Headquarters in Minneapolis which in 2003 relocated to Charlotte. The BGEA conducted the weekly ‘Hour of Decision’ radio program and published the ‘Decision’ magazine and produced several television programs.

Apart from preaching, Graham is also a renowned author. He wrote a total of 29 books in his time. His biography, ‘Just As I Am,’ his last book, ‘Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well’ published October 2011 would be blessings to humanity centuries after him.

Graham fought against racial discrimination during the height of discrimination against blacks in the United States. In the 60s he opposed segregation and refused to minister to segregated audiences. “The ground at the foot of the cross is level and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross,” Graham once said.

The world however commiserates with the Graham family from who the announcement for the burial arrangement is awaited. His elder son, Franklin may succeed him in ministry.

*Additional reports from Foxnews.com