Contact: Susan Zahn, WDC Media PR, 877-862-3600 ext 2, szoffice@wdcmedia.com, faithwireservice@aol.com 

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- Our dear friend Dr. Oral Roberts was a spiritual father to millions of people both here in America and around the world.  We are so thankful for the commitment he made to God to spread the Gospel message of salvation and healing.  He was a sawdust pioneer who brought his tent revivals into the 20th century by means of radio and television and became the highest rated evangelist in prime time television.  He opened the door for all of us who are now in Christian television.
 
We've always considered Dr. Roberts a wonderful part of our TBN family.  In fact, our relationship with him goes back many years before TBN was started, in the late 1950s, when Jan and I were living in Rapid City, South Dakota and I was the local news anchor at the then new NBC affiliate television station.  Dr. Roberts had come to town to hold one of his great crusade meetings.  This was major news for the little town of Rapid City, as Dr. Roberts was the preeminent healing evangelist of that day.  I invited him to be a guest on my news program, which he graciously accepted.  Little did I know that 25 years later our paths would once again cross as Jan and I had the joy and privilege of interviewing Dr. Roberts for the first of many times on the Praise the Lord program. 
 
We will always be grateful for Dr. Roberts' enthusiasm and support for TBN, and will forever treasure the messages of inspiration he gave to Jan and me personally as he encouraged us to expand the vision and outreach of TBN to reach the whole wide world.  His prayers and wisdom helped strengthen our faith in times of trial and difficulty.  We shared his sorrow when his sweet wife Evelyn went home to be with the Lord a few years ago, and were blessed to see that he still had the desire to continue sharing the message God gave to him until his assignment was finished.
 
Now, his day of graduation has arrived and Jan and I rejoice that he is in the presence of Jesus enjoying the rich rewards of a life spent in faithful service to our Savior.  We will miss his wonderful smile, encouraging words and precious prayers.   He cannot be replaced, but he will always remain with us through his spiritual legacy and powerful, life changing messages of faith and healing.
 
Dr. Paul Crouch
Trinity Broadcasting Network

Media Notice:  Please be advised that Dr. Crouch is not available for interviews. Please refer to his statement on the passing of Dr. Oral Roberts.