PRESQUE ISLE — One of the nation’s leading evangelists is coming to Aroostook County in April to begin a month of crusades across the state.

Luis Palou, a Billy Graham-style evangelist who has has preached to almost 13 million people, plans to hold crusades in several cities from April 6 through May 1.

The series, called “Mission Maine,” is expected to be the first major multidenominational, statewide crusade to be held in the state.

“We are hoping to reach a lot of people with the news of Christ,” said the Rev. Scott Benner of the State Street Baptist Church in Presque Isle and chairman of the local revival.

“We’re hoping to have a big impact on the state and turn the state back to God,” Benner said Sunday.

Palou, who will also be speaking in Orono, Portland, Augusta and Lewiston, is second only to Billy Graham in the number of people he has preached to in stadiums, according to Fred Baye of New York, director of crusade media and public affairs for the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association.

Although not associated with Graham, Palou, 64, said he was inspired by the popular preacher as a teen-ager in Argentina.

According to Benner, about 35 Protestant churches are involved in the planning for the three days of meetings in Presque Isle. Statewide, more than 100 church and business leaders are involved in planning the special meetings, Baye said.

Thousands more are volunteering as spiritual counselors, choir members or ushers, Baye said. Several “prayer rallies” and counselor training sessions already have been held in various churches in preparation for the crusades.

In addition to the evening services, there will be activities for youth and children. Luncheons with Palou are planned with local business and professional people while the evangelist is in Maine.

“He wants to get out and meet people, talk to local officials and go to the mall,” Benner said.

A Portland, Ore., resident, Palau vacationed in Maine in 1997 and attended church in southern Maine. Benner said the evangelist was asked to speak in Portland initially, but then invitations came from throughout the state for him to hold crusades in various cities.

“He [Palau] doesn’t choose a city, but a city chooses him,” Baye said recently.

Born in Argentina, Palau began preaching on the weekends when he was 18 and working at a bank. He moved to the United States in 1960 and established his evangelistic association about 10 years later. He has written 42 books, more than 100 articles and speaks at national conventions.

The evening meetings are fashioned after the Graham crusades.

To publicly declare that faith, listeners are asked to come forward to the podium where individual counselors read the Bible, pray with the person and explain the way of salvation.

The crusades will be held April 6-8 in Presque Isle; April 9-11 in Lewiston; April 15-17 at the Alfond Arena in Orono; April 19-21 at the Augusta Civic Center; and April 28-May 1 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.