VAN NUYS : Preacher Now Knows Where the Valley Is

Evangelist Luis Palau, a preacher who has led crusades in Poland, Taiwan, Phoenix and Fort Worth in recent years, said Tuesday that while planning the five-day San Fernando Valley crusade last year, which begins tonight, he and his aides described it as the “Hollywood-Burbank Crusade” because few people knew the location of the Valley.

“When the earthquake hit there was no need to say Hollywood-Burbank anymore,” he quipped during a news conference at the crusade site, the Tom Bradley Field at Van Nuys’ Birmingham High School.

Palau also confessed that he had early misgivings about trying to preach at a football field rather than in an enclosed arena.

“I wondered if anyone would come out to a football field,” he said. But looking around at the stands that can seat 10,000 and a playing field that could accommodate an estimated 5,000 more, Palau said, “This is really nice--like a junior college stadium.”

Organizers hope that the more than 200 churches and religious ministries that have pledged support to the evangelistic crusade will turn out and bring friends, relatives and co-workers who may be only nominal Christians or somehow looking for answers from evangelical Christianity.

“This is not a party for the already converted,” Palau said. “In California there is more of a spiritual search than most people realize.”

About 1,800 people have been trained as counselors to help people each night who “come forward” to commit their lives to Christ. The number of volunteer counselors is much higher than at previous Palau crusades, organizers said.

The crusade has attempted to appeal to younger adults with Saturday night’s Christian rock concert and guest appearances on other nights by entertainers such as Smokey Robinson and Leon Patillo, former lead vocalist for the rock group Santana.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Madonna and Michael Jackson turned to Jesus?” Palau asked more than a dozen pastors who showed up at the news conference.