Edward Graham tells students to embrace fear, build on the baseplate of God during special Global Focus Week Convocation

In conjunction with this year’s Global Focus Week, Liberty University welcomed Samaritan’s Purse Chief Operating Officer Edward Graham to the Convocation stage on Wednesday to encourage students to find God’s calling and “go where you’re scared.”

Graham opened his message by noting he spent one year as a Liberty student on the Flames Men’s Soccer team before feeling called to attend the United States Military Academy West Point. After graduation, he served 16 years with the U.S. Army before joining Samaritan’s Purse in 2018.

Sharing war stories from his time as an Army Ranger, Graham highlighted one specific situation in 2006 where he and his team were hunting a high-profile target in Afghanistan. Following a failed bombing by several Air Force pilots, his team was caught in a 24-hour firefight. The battle culminated with the squadron firing an 81 mm mortar at very close range to ensure the rescue of several men pinned down by enemy fire.

Graham explained that to ensure a mortar remains steady and fires in the intended direction, it must be stabilized by a baseplate. Referencing the story of the wise house builder from Matthew 7, he urged students to ensure they have a solid foundation for their lives.

After serving his country, Graham chose to dedicate his life to bringing others to Christ through sharing the Gospel worldwide. Despite any fear he had in making the drastic career change (including giving up the full retirement benefits if he would have received if he had stayed for 20 years), he said he felt confident in God’s providence over his future.

“If you want to be part of a miracle, you have to get out of the boat,” he said, noting the apostle Peter had to leave the security of the fishing boat to walk on water with Jesus. “Liberty could be your boat. The church you go to could be your boat. You feel comfortable and secure in your safety zone. You have to get out. The army special operations, my career, had become my boat. … But I realized I had become comfortable, and it was time to be scared again.”

Graham then applied his life experience to the lives of Liberty students, encouraging them to leave the comforts of life behind to be challenged by God. Referencing the recent assassination of Turning Point USA Executive Director Charlie Kirk, he argued that Christians must be bold in their faith despite any opposition that may arise.

“Jesus tells us they will hate us because they hated Him first,” he said. “I would offer to you, ‘If you’re not hated, what’s wrong with you? Where is your faith?’ You should find encouragement when the flaming arrows come at you. You should be in combat. I’m not talking about physical combat; I’m talking about spiritual warfare. If Satan’s not flying flaming arrows at you, you need to know and wonder where your spiritual walk is. Are you grounded? Is your baseplate settled?”

“If I had not come to Liberty University and if I had not surrendered my identity at a young age to my Lord and Savior Jesus, my baseplate would have had a cracked foundation,” he continued. “When the storms of life came, I would have shimmied and shook. How far off would my life and family be right now if I did not build my foundation on the Rock of Jesus Christ?”

Highlighting the great humanitarian work Samaritan’s Purse does daily, including the 12 million Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes sent around the world to children in need, Graham emphasized that his primary objective is not to “do good works” but to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He argued Christians must be willing to preach the Gospel in any circumstance, fully confident in the inerrancy of every word of Scripture.

He also encouraged Liberty students to consider joining the mission of Samaritan’s Purse to help further the Great Commission.

“I need talent at Samaritan’s Purse,” Graham said. “I need interns to come. I need people that will go around the world and not do good works, not do charity, but preach the Gospel and be unafraid and unashamed of the consequences that come from it. You’re in a world that’s going to hate you, let’s get hated together. I’ll be there with you. It’s not going to get any better until He comes back.”

“I believe without a shadow of a doubt that this school, which Trains Champions for Christ, is what God will use to change the world forever. He can use this school and His people if you come here. … I want this school to be the instrument God uses to speak the truth and share the Gospel.”

Graham’s time on campus coincided with Liberty’s annual Global Focus Week, which aims to connect Liberty students with missions’ organizations from around the world dedicated to advancing the Gospel.

Prior to his message, the Liberty Worship Collective sang songs from their multilingual release, which features three songs in Spanish and another in Korean.