TOTAL ATTENDANCE AT NEW ZEALAND CRUSADES 355,000;
RECORDED DECISIONS FOR CHRIST NUMBER 15,982
Sydney, April 9 - SPECIAL The Billy Graham Crusades in New Zealand occupied
a total period of just 10 days -- but in those 10 days three concurrent crusades
were conducted in the cities of
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with a total attendance of 355,000 persons,
and nearly 16,000 recorded decisions for Christ.
In each city a preliminary crusade was conducted by one of the Graham Teams
s Associate Evangelists, with Billy Graham on hand to preach at the two concluding
meetings in each city.
In Auckland, under the leadership of Associate Evangelist Rev. Grady Wilson
the attendance at the first five meetings tota1le 55,000, with 610 recorded
decisions. The two final meetings addressed by Billy Graham attracted 108,000
persons (48,000 on Friday, April 3 and 60,000 on Saturday, April 4). In those
two meetings 6,280 individuals answered the evangelist’s invitation to
record their commitment to Christ.
Moving South to Wellington, Associate Evangelist Leighton Ford conducted six
meetings with a total attendance of 22,000 persons, from which there were 657
recorded decisions, On Sunday April 5 25,000 persons heard Billy Graham,
and on Monday, April 6 another 12,000 were in attendance -- a total of 37,000
in Wellington. In those two meetings 4,083 decisions for Christ were recorded.
The final New Zealand meetings were in Christchurch where Associate Evangelist
Joseph Blinco conducted six meetings at which 43,000 persons were in attendance,
and during which there were 521 decisions. On Tuesday, April 5 Billy
Graham addressed 40,000 persons there and on Wednesday, April 6, there were
50,000 persons in attendance. From that total of 90,000 persons in two days,
3,831 individuals made their decision for Christ.
The Team’s New Zealand meetings marked the largest attendance in the history
of New Zealand for religious services, and on a proportionate basis, surpassed
the recent Melbourne Crusade in the response to the presentation of the Gospel.
On Thursday, April 9 Billy Graham and his Team flew back to Sydney in preparation
for the month-long Sydney crusade which begins on Sunday, April 12, in the R.
A. S. Showground.
Meetings in the Sydney crusade are scheduled nightly at 7:30 p.m. during the
week, and on Sundays at 3:00 p.m. only, continuing through Sunday, May 10.
Following the Sydney meetings, concurrent crusades will be conducted in Brisbane,
Adelaide and Perth, with the final meeting for the Graham Team’s Australian
visit scheduled for Perth on Sunday, June 7.
During the Sydney Crusade, a special one day meeting will be conducted in the
Federal Capital, Canberra, on Monday evening, April 27.