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Franklin Graham visits campus for Global Focus Week

October 31, 2018

Franklin Graham

Samaritan’s Purse CEO and President Franklin Graham participated in Liberty University’s Global Focus Week in October. He spoke at Convocation and gave students the chance to see what his organization does in the midst of humanitarian crises through tours of its mobile Emergency Field Hospital, which was set up on the Academic Lawn.

Liberty President Jerry Falwell introduced Graham, a personal friend of his, to a packed Convocation crowd and highlighted the tremendous global impact of his organization.

“What Franklin has done with Samaritan’s Purse is nothing short of miraculous,” Falwell said. “I’m so honored that Liberty continues to partner with Samaritan’s Purse, most recently by sending a team of students to help with flood cleanup in North Carolina.”

Graham read from the Gospel of Luke on the cost of following Christ. He pointed out several instances where people were asked to follow Jesus only to respond with an excuse.

“We need an army of men and women who are willing to go and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth,” he said. “Remember you have to love Him more than anything else in this world. No excuses.”

During Convocation, Liberty also honored two longtime servants of the Gospel, Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull, with the first Liberty Global Partner Award. The Turnbulls founded Baptist Haiti Mission, which has changed lives in Haiti for more than 70 years, planting more than 360 churches and impacting 146,000 students through Christian schools.

After Convocation, Graham led President Falwell and his wife, Becki, on a personal tour of the mobile hospital, which was arranged the same way as it had been in Mosul, Iraq, in 2016, when Samaritan’s Purse provided emergency medical care for those injured during the conflict between Iraqi forces and ISIS. Doctors and nurses who worked in Iraq were on hand to answer questions.

“The students have been lined up since they set up the tent,” Falwell said. “Our students are so committed to serving others in need, so there couldn’t have been a more perfect place for Samaritan’s Purse to do this. I feel so honored that Franklin chose to bring the whole organization here and to go to the trouble of setting up these tents so students can get a feel for what it’s like. We hope this will be a huge help to the students in the future.”

At the Campus Community service following Franklin Graham’s visit, students were challenged to pack shoeboxes for 6,000 children and become part of the largest-ever partnership with Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child.

This was the first time that the hospital had been set up on a college campus.

During Global Focus Week, representatives from several organizations talked with students about global opportunities. Special events included workshops, a world market, and an art exhibit. Nancy Writebol, the second American citizen to become infected with the Ebola virus while volunteering in Liberia during the outbreak, led a trauma healing workshop for students.

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