bsnead@ljworld.com ? The faithful and the hopeful began arriving at 7 a.m., 12 hours before Benny Hinn’s “Good Friday Miracle Service” was to begin at Kemper Arena.

Two hours before the service, parking lots around the arena were filled, and inside nearly every seat was occupied or spoken for. Half of Kemper’s main floor was occupied with people in wheelchairs, portable hospital beds and those using crutches or walkers.

“Hinn’s people were expecting 14,000, but by our count there were 17,971 people in there,” said Eric Nemeth, a Kemper spokesman. “We opened our ‘Replay Sports Bar’ and wheeled nearly 100 people in beds and wheelchairs in there to watch on closed-circuit television.”

Large crowds are not unusual for the man many recognize as the world’s most celebrated faith healer. In February, Hinn attracted a record 4.8 million people during a three-day service in Mumbai, India, and every folding chair in the area — 200,000 of them — were rented for the event. Some people walked two days to attend a service.

His reputation and image as a healer precede him.

Hinn’s television show, “This Is Your Day!,” is seen in 192 countries and runs more than 200 times a week in the United States. It’s translated into a half-dozen languages and is seen in 100 cities in India.

‘Slain in spirit’

The 51-year old Israeli-born preacher is probably most famous for his apparent ability to bring people into a swoon and off their feet by touching their head. With the wave of his jacket, he has been known to send rows of the choir reeling like reeds in a swirling wind. He also rearranges visiting ministers sitting on stage with the sweep of his arm. They are said to be “slain in the spirit.”

He recently did all of the above in Kansas City.

Last year, Hinn told the Los Angeles Times he knew not everyone was healed when he laid his hands on them. “There’s the real and the genuine, and there’s the phony,” Hinn said. “All I know is that I pray for them. What happens between them and God is between them and God.”

Benny Hinn

In a recent Newsweek poll 84 percent of Americans said they believe in miracles and 77 percent believe God or the saints cure or heal people given no chance of survival by medical science.

By the 7 p.m. showtime in K.C., the packed house was singing and waving arms for half an hour. Civility was common as people approached their seats, through crowded hallways and up steep stairs. Smiles and good manners far outnumbered somberness.

Hinn, a small man in a vanilla-colored Nehru jacket, stepped onto the stage to the frenzied delight of the audience, which had been fueling up on pizza and popcorn during their long wait.

A musical group played “How Great Thou Art” and the crowd joined the massive robed choir of area volunteers that filled the seats behind the stage.

Tears dotted the cheeks of a young mother from Ghana, West Africa, while she sang, holding her young daughter.

“I saw pastor Hinn in my country seven years ago, and I’m so excited to see him again,” she said at the song’s end.

A WOMAN RAISES HER ARMS toward the ceiling during the Benny Hinn Good Friday service at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Hinn's television show, This

She said she watched his television show every day.

“This may be the last Good Friday on earth,” Hinn said with a smile, and the place erupted with applause.

Hunger for Jesus

Early in the program, the audience was asked if anyone would like to come to the front of the stage and accept Jesus Christ as savior. Hundreds of people worked their way down to the stage.

Those who stayed behind raised their hands toward the rafters. Hinn prayed over the mass of people surrounding the stage who, as they headed back to their seats were given pamphlets listing contact names and numbers of local churches.

“I’ve never seen such hunger,” Hinn said with arms raised. “You didn’t fill this stadium tonight to hear a man talk; you’re hungry for Jesus.”

Another burst of applause from the crowd.

A short video showed masses of people at the India crusade. At its completion, Hinn informed the audience that spreading God’s word in India had cost $2 million.

“To give is God’s command,” Hinn prayed. “We obey God and for this we will be blessed … God touch the people as they give … as the poor giveth, bless them with blessings untold and give in faith.”

Large, white, plastic buckets with contributions in envelopes bobbed up and down the darkened rows of people.

Music and song filled the arena for the next 15 or 20 minutes and it seemed as if everyone who was able stood, sang and waved their arms.

“Once a year on Good Friday we display thousands of photographs that people from around the world have sent us of their loved ones and have asked us to pray for them,” Hinn announced.

Eighteen men carrying 2-by-3 foot boards covered on both sides by photos formed a human ring at the front of the arena floor, holding the displays above their heads.

Hinn asked for prayer from the crowd.

Kemper erupted in rhythmical prayer. Some prayed in tongue, others held up photos of their own as they prayed loudly with eyes shut. Some cradled their seatmates’ faces in their hands and prayed together. Others linked arms and swayed, and thousands of voices and hands were raised toward the darkened ceiling.

The din and intensity of the praying seemed endless, emotional and almost overwhelming.

The happy, orderly crowd filed out of Kemper at 11:40 p.m.

The three tractor-trailers loaded with the trappings of Benny Hinn Ministries pulled out of the parking lot at 2 a.m.

For many, it had been a feel-good Friday night in Kemper Arena.