Rev. Graham rests up for last revival meeting

Now 86 and in frail health, the Rev. Billy Graham is all but certain that his revival meeting in New York City next week will be the last he ever leads in the United States — and probably the last that the famed evangelist does anywhere.

"In my mind, it is," he said during an interview with The Associated Press at a Long Island hotel where he's resting up for the June 24-26 event.

"I wouldn't like to say 'never,' " Graham added with a chuckle. "Never is a bad word."

The elder statesman of the evangelical movement is soft of voice those days, but alert, amiable as ever, and appears in conversation to be bearing up well under a host of ailments. He's brought his simple but powerful message of salvation through Christ to over 210 million people in 185 countries — and is still in demand.<