The paper documents in the Palau Papers are subdivided by the following subseries:

Crusades, 1964-2016

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1964-2016

Volume: 7.7 linear feet

Boxes: 1-16

Notes: Files for Palau's crusades (both city and church-based), primarily in South and Central America, but also in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Files contain assorted crusade materials, songbooks, press materials, reports, press releases, media advertisements, promotional flyers, meeting minutes, event agendas, posters, prayer and other form letters, schedules, lists of local leaders and contacts, correspondence, emails, faxes, evangelistic tracts, badges, financial reports, a few photographs, newspaper clippings and other press coverage, a dissertation, and crusade evaluations. Folders titled "Press releases" usually are more expansive in the types of documents they contain, not limited specifically to only documents recognized as press releases. Some files contain documents in plastic sheets that appear to have been kept in notebooks; although these are spread across this Crusades subseries, there is no indication which notebooks these came from, or whether they were compiled together. Some folders contain extensive documentation (see especially Folders 12-8 through 15-9 for the 2015 New York City crusade, with notes near the end of this subseries description), while others contain very little. Many of the crusades that appear in the chronology are documented.

Documentation for many/most of the later crusades, beginning with Folder 10-4 for the 2005 Washington, DC, crusade, include extensive "media overview" binders made available to media outlets. This seems to have become a standard feature for many larger crusades as similar binders (see Folders 10-5 and 11-1 and others) appear in subsequent crusade folders, such as for the 2006 crusade in Orlando, Florida, and the 2008 event in Portland, Oregon, among others.

While most crusade-related files limit their scope to a particular city or year, some files (e.g., Folder 3-19) consolidate materials, such as press releases, over a span of years; some of these materials may overlap with the contents in the city or year-specific files. Some files are limited to Spanish or English documents. See the attached chronology that reflects many of the events documented in this collection. Like the overall subseries of crusade files, the vast majority of events are in Central and South America or along the Mexico/United States border; however, beginning in 1972 Palau began holding evangelistic meetings in other parts of the United States and world.

Also see the (Palau organization's online partial chronology of events, 2008-2023).

Exceptional Items:

Folder 1-1 includes transcriptions of three lectures on "Missionary - National Relations," a series of lectures by Palau at San José, Costa Rica, in March 1964.

Folder 2-13 contains a Spanish 181-page post-crusade study, analysis, and assessment of the 1972 Costa Rica Crusade.

Folder 2-17 includes a one-page handwritten "Palau Team Budget Hightlights - 1975, D.V."

Folder 3-19 documents the crossover year (1978) for Palau from being part of Overseas Crusades, president at the very end, to launching the Luis Palau Evangelistic Team.

Folder 4-2 includes the Final Report for the 1981 Scotland Crusade. Folder 4-3 consists of Palau's extensive entries to document the 1981 Scotland meetings; also see Folders 6-1,2 for many letters reporting on the impact of the 1989 Tell Wales Crusade on individual's lives; without explanation, (Folder 6-1) includes a form letter from Mrs. James A. Baker, III, about the upcoming 1988 U.S. presidential campaign, Senator Lawton Chiles, about the 1988 Prayer Breakfast, and another from a prisoner commenting on the impact of Palau's book, My Response.

The 1983-1984 Mission to London (Folders 4-13 to 18, and 5-1,2,3) is among the most extensively documented of Palau's evangelistic events in the collection, including the particulars and post-event analysis. Folders 4-10,11 consist of two reports analyzing the efforts and impact of the 1983-1984 Mission to London. Folder 4-13 adds Peter Brierley's report "Mission to London: Phase I: Who responded?" Folder 4-14 adds Brierley's companion report, "Mission to Lond: Phase 2: Who went forward?" Folder 4-16 provides reports and evaluation of the mission. Folder 4-17 consists of the 53-page accumulation of Palau's journal entries between January 13 and June 14, 1984. Folder 5-2 includes two edited testimonies from participants in the mission. Among the Mission to London files was one (Folder 5-3) consisting of many photographs taken by Mick Rock for the Palau Team; these photographs were relocated to a photo file described separately in this collection guide.

Folder 5-10 contains a five-report series on the 1988 crusade in the Faroe Islands.

Folder 6-3 contains what may be the earliest document written by Kevin Palau on a 1989 visit to the Soviet Union.

Folder 6-15 includes a large-format schematic laying out the timeline of key steps for the Dublin Crusade in 1992.

Folder 7-6 includes a letter to Palau from Dick Hillis on the occasion of the 1993 Taiwan crusade with advice about how to attune the gospel to Taiwanese culture; Hillis was founder and first general director of Overseas Crusades, with some missionary experience in Taiwan.

Folder 7-15 contains relatively little on the 1996 Chicago Say Yes event, but Collection 650, the Say Yes, Chicago Records, consists of twenty-two boxes (10.0 linear feet) of files.

Folders 8-1 through 8-7 were originally compiled in a single press release notebook spanning various 1997 events. Among the sections were those related to Palau's book, Is God Relevant?, the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the crusades in Hong Kong, Bristol (England), and El Paso.

Folder 10-6 includes a proposal, "Houston Media Plan," for the 2006 Houston crusade.

Folder 10-7 does not appear tied directly to a 2006 crusade in China, but may be documenting an ongoing relationship between the Palau organization and Chinese representatives (in this case, a letter to Palau is from the president of the China Christian Council and chairperson of the National Three Self People's Movement) about a Bible exhibition that traveled to several locations in the U.S.; this may have also been in anticipation of future events, such as the one that was held in Hangzhou in 2007. A similar visit to China took place in 2009, when representatives of LPEA met with Chinese and expatriates in Hangzhou.

The event most extensively documented in the subseries is the 2015 New York CityFest (see folders 12-8 through 15-9), with planning documents starting in 2011, including projected timelines for projects and events. Most of the documents for this event were received unfoldered but appeared to be in roughly chronological order and were therefore foldered accordingly. Among the files are exchanges between LPA representatives and New York church and ministry leaders, a large proportion of the exchanges reflected in printed emails. Much of the documentation records many of the details for laying the groundwork for the events and efforts culminating in the Times Square and Central Park events in July 2015; also documented are various aspects of the program, including women's and men's involvement, children and youth, counseling and follow-up, prayer, arts and music, affinity groups, service (CityServe, initiated by Luis Palau Assocation, is described as "a long-term, citywide movement that identifies, develops, and nurtures church-connected, neighborhood-focused collaborations throughout the boroughs of NYC in the areas of justice, mercy, and education"), advertizing and media, pastors and congregations, fundraising (see Folder 13-7, and outreach to New York's diverse population. Throughout, the documents reflect a great deal about the New York City context. Folder 12-9 includes the testimony of an elderly attendee at the crusade. Included in Folder 12-1 are booklets for the 2012 Movement Day (gathering of leaders and Gospel movement representatives for a one-day focus on cities), and the NYC Movement Project, a "partnership to accelerate urban gospel movements." Among those who are frequently represented in the files are Luis, Kevin, and Andrew Palau, Tim Keller, A.R. Barnard, Eric Metaxas, Jane Stradley, Fred Conklin, Ruben Proietti, David Jones, Gail Stockamp, Colin James, and John Ogle. Spread throughout the New York crusade files are photographs printed on copy paper (these have not been separated out to be filed in photo files). The final folders follow the crusade conclusion, including reports, testimonies, and evaluations. Folder 15-8 includes "Good News for the City: A Vision to Impact Cities and Change Lives | 2015-2020," a forward-looking effort to continue LPA's focus on urban evangelism.

The final two files in the subseries consist of evaluations of Palau's crusades, including Scott Bauer's "Crusade Evangelism" on the 1994 San Fernando Valley crusade (Folder 16-1), also emphasizing intersection with Jack Hayford's Church on the Way, of which Bauer was on the pastoral staff. Folder 16-2 contains a variety of reports or papers evaluating the impact of Palau's crusades, including 1983-1984 London, 1987 Fiji, 1986 Auckland, 1984 Colorado Springs, 1987 Hong Kong, 1989 Spokane, 1988 Cuttack, India, 1989 Madras, 1990 Quad Cities, 1991 Philippines, 1997 Bristol, 1998 Palau, and 1998 Uruguay.

Correspondence, 1962-2016

Arrangement: By Subseries

Luis Palau Association, 1977-2010

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Date Range: 1977-2010

Volume: 0.4 linear feet

Boxes: 18-19

Notes: The few files in this subseries are not the records of the LPA but rather Palau's files on his Association; understandably, the documentation on the operation, his leadership, the goals, and activities of the organization would appropriately be found in its corporate archives, which were retained by the Luis Palau Association. Nonetheless, the files in Palau's Papers provide a significant glimpse into the Association's operation. Folder 19-2 includes the extensive "Long Range Plan 1980-1987 Under God" and the 1990 "Say 'Yes' America" report. Also included are the Association's published 2010 edition of "Changed Lives: True Stories of Transformation by the Power of the Gospel, Vol. 1," Folder 19-2) consisting of many personal accounts and accompanying photographs; a series of annual ministry reports (Folder 18-5) two generously-illustrated booklets (Folder 18-4) branded for the Luis Palau Legacy Campaign that report on achievements and goals for the periods 2007-2009 and 2011-2014; and the Association's publication, Proclaim! (Folders 18-6 and 19-1), published once or twice a year with updates on activities, upcoming plans, and columns by Palau.

Messages, 1954-2011

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1954-2011

Volume: 0.3 linear feet

Boxes: 19-20

Notes: The subseries consists primarily of Palau's notebooks of notes for presentations, along with a few transcripts of his messages. The handwritten notes in the notebooks, many in Spanish, span a variety of topics, many of them evangelistic, but also including books of the Bible, the Christian life, calling, missions, other theological themes, and his own testimony. Also among the notes are those related to ministry and organization life. Transcriptions of several of Palau's messages also are found for his messages at Amsterdam '86 (International Conference on Itinerant Evangelism) in Folder 20-1, and at West Point US Military Academy in 2001 in Folder 20-2. Folder 20-3 contains his messages 2008 Portland Festival, three messages to the 2010 President's Council in Phoenix, his remarks on the occasion of this 50th anniversary of ministry celebration in 2010, and his message at the Arizona CityFest in March 2011.

Calendars and Other Items, 1947-1985

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1947-1985

Volume: 0.2 linear feet

Boxes: 20

Notes:

Exceptional Items: Includes several address books, planning and day calendars (1962-1985, not comprehensive for the time period), and Palaus' prayer cards.

Folder 20-10 adds a single planning notebook (1969-1976 while he led the Overseas Crusades Mexico Team), which consists of Palau's handwritten notes on a variety of themes, projects, or goals. Importantly, these span the period up to when he became the mission's president. Among the notes are long-range goals, "Goals for 1976, Under God," fund raising projects, "Working On," "Requests from Exec. V.P. - 1974," goals/projects related to each of the Evangelistic Team (Galo Vasquez, Gail Denham, Jim Williams, Stan Jeter), "Palau Priority Responsibilities," and much more. An important note, "Team Offices & Personnel," lists the Evangelistic Team's offices by geographic location, and the correspondence team members working in each. Also included is a partial list of Palau's crusades in Central America, the Caribbean area, Mexico, South America, Bolivia, and Spain.