$4.5 Million in ‘Quick Money’ Will Prolong His Life, Oral Roberts Says
Oral Roberts needs about $4.5 million in “quick money” from followers or God won’t let him live past March, the evangelist says.
“I’m asking you to help me extend my life,” Roberts told his television audience Sunday. “We’re at the point where God could call Oral Roberts home.”
Speaking from the clinical laboratory at his City of Faith Medical and Research Center, Roberts asked viewers to send $100 immediately and pledge additional amounts for February and March.
Roberts said he needs the money to fund scholarships for medical school students at Oral Roberts University.
The evangelist, who will be 69 on Jan. 24, said God told him that raising the possibility of his death was necessary to get the attention of his followers.
A Dallas television station manager called Roberts’ appeal inappropriate and said he has been assured that future programs will not make similar suggestions. “We had several calls . . . from people who . . . complained at the method Oral Roberts was using to raise money,” said Dave Lane, WFAA-TV general manager.
No one at the Roberts organization in Tulsa was available Friday for comment.
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