US Evangelist Graham Hands Over Ambulance To Israel
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham said Sunday that his aid group “dedicated the 20th ambulance to Magen David Adom”(MDA), Israel’s national emergency service, amid terror threats against the Jewish nation.
Graham, the CEO of Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), described the vehicle as an “armored ambulance—a bulletproof hospital on wheels.”
He explained in a statement from Jerusalem that Samaritan’s Purse will give MDA 42 ambulances in total.
Graham said he also met “several families whose loved ones were killed or taken hostage by Hamas,” designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and most of its allies.
Some 251 hostages were taken on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, which also killed about 1,200 Jewish people in Israel, according to officials. Most have since returned, dead or alive, but some 58 others are remaining in Gaza.
Among the hostages are the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and 20 hostages believed to be alive. However, there are “grave concerns” for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials said.
ENCOURAGING HOSTAGE FAMILIES
“I wanted to be an encouragement to them,” recalled Graham after meeting the hostages’ loved ones. “I spoke about the first hostage in Israel that’s recorded in the Bible—Abraham’s nephew Lot. When Lot was captured, Abraham became Israel’s very first, first responder—the MDA of his generation,” Graham explained.
“The Bible says when Abraham rescued Lot and brought him back to Israel, the Priest of God met him and said, ‘Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand,” the evangelist added, referring to Genesis 14:20.
“Please continue to pray with us for the safe return of the remaining hostages—and for the peace of Jerusalem,” Graham stressed in a statement seen by Worthy News.
Additionally, Graham said he had the “honor to also have our friend, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and his wife Janet there” during the handover of the ambulance.
“I’m grateful to Greg Laurie, his wife Cathe, and his church and ministry outreach for providing the funds” for the latest armored ambulance, he added.
While in Jerusalem, Graham said he was accompanied by his wife Jane Austin and three of their children, five grandchildren, and his cousin Mel Graham.