God Spared Him Because Flock Raised $8 Million, Roberts Says

Evangelist Oral Roberts told his flock Wednesday that God spared him because his followers contributed more than $8 million, but he also said that he will need that amount every year until “until Jesus returns.”

“It’s April and I’m alive. And I’m on fire,” the 69-year-old evangelist told a television audience Wednesday.

Roberts, who has drawn international attention since saying on Jan. 4 that God would “call him home” if he did not raise $8 million by the end of March, ended a 10-day vigil Tuesday night when he came down from his prayer tower at Oral Roberts University.

He also said his vigil had rejuvenated his healing power.

“I went up there to rekindle the healing gifts in my life. And I want to tell you that hand’s on fire,” he said.

Roberts said the money would allow Oral Roberts University medical students to graduate debt-free and become missionaries in Africa.

“I have lived for this day when we begin to turn the medical school around,” Roberts said on his son’s “Richard Roberts Live” television program.

“I don’t want to misrepresent in any way. It takes time to turn it around. We must raise the $8 million every year, for the rest of our lives, until Jesus returns,” Roberts said. “It’s a hard battle. And the Lord warned me when I came down from the prayer tower to tell you that we must continue doing this. There’s no way out.”

He said followers contributed $700,000 more than the original $8-million goal for scholarships. In addition, he said, financial problems that threatened his ministry’s survival late last year had been remedied and the ministry’s support base has a $400,000 surplus.

“God had said raise this above the regular needs of the ministry,” Roberts said of the $8-million goal.

He said his ministry was struggling at the end of 1986.

‘Dared to Mention’

“I can tell you now that we’re through it, it was far more serious than we even dared to mention,” Roberts said. “The devil could have pulled this whole support base down and wiped it out, so that the $8 million would have done no good at all.”

“That’s just the beginning,” his wife, Evelyn, said. “There’s a never-ending process. God knew that. That’s why he started sending us the overflow.”

A Florida race track owner handed over a $1.3-million check March 23 to Oral Roberts to help meet the $8-million goal.

Roberts has been criticized widely for his statements that God told him that he would die unless the fund-raising goal was reached.