Rev. James Robison, a television evangelist who founded the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International, died on Sunday, his ministry announced on social media. He was 82.
The host of the long-running “Life Today” show on Trinity Broadcasting Network was lauded as a pastor who “devoted his life to sharing the Gospel and bringing hope, help, and healing to those in need around the world.”
“Though we grieve this tremendous loss, we also celebrate a life faithfully lived in service to God and others,” Robison’s X account noted. “In the months and years ahead, we will faithfully carry on the mission James cared about so deeply -- bringing food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, and mostly, the hope of Christ to a hurting world.
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Rev. James Robison, the beloved founder of Life Outreach International.
— James Robison (@revjamesrobison) May 17, 2026
James devoted his life to sharing the Gospel and bringing hope, help, and healing to those in need around the world. Together, James and Betty stewarded… pic.twitter.com/Rb41fk7Mh8
Robison was born on Oct. 9, 1943, in the charity ward of a Houston hospital, The Christian Broadcast Network reported.
The pastor often spoke about being taken in by a suburban Houston family after his 41-year-old mother was raped and gave birth, AL.com reported. She put an ad in the newspaper asking for a couple to take her child in. Rev. and Mrs. H.D. Hale, who pastored in Pasadena, answered the ad and raised the young boy for five years, CBN reported.
On the “Life Today” website, Robison spoke of the trauma he experienced as a 5-year-old when his birth mother went to the Hales and took the boy back.
“As though it happened yesterday, I can still feel my fingernails dragging across the hardwood floor as she pulled me out from under the bed where I was hiding,” he wrote. “While Rev. and Mrs. Hale wept convulsively, my mother and I left the house and literally hitchhiked 175 miles from Houston to Austin. I carried a small cardboard suitcase, which still sits in my office.
“I will never forget that journey I was about to begin, nor will I forget the incredible supernatural journey I was to travel.”
Robison was given a second chance to live with the Hales when he was a teen.
In 1968, Robison and his wife, the former Betty Freeman, launched “Life Today,” a daily television program.
According to his website, Robison preached in more than 600 evangelistic crusades attended by more than 20 million people.
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