As president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Rev. Franklin Graham has traveled the world helping people in need.
But during a recent trip to southern Israel, the scene of Hamas' massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, Graham told Newsmax on Monday he experienced something unfamiliar to him in his other travels.
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"I don't think I've been exposed to evil quite like this," Graham told "American Agenda." "It's hard to describe. When these people come in and are shooting women, children, everybody and just mowing them down, it just breaks your heart.
"You just see the senseless killing. These people, they're just barbarians. They're demon-possessed people. I can't explain it any other way."
Graham visited with survivors at some of the kibbutzim that were attacked.
"I talked to a widow whose husband was a doctor, and he had run to the clinic which was about 100 yards away," he said. "They knew there was some shooting, but they didn't know what it was. He was killed in his clinic. For 14 hours, she hid in the house trying to stay alive, and she's a wife with two little children. Now, she's a widow and facing life without her husband.
"I met a woman who lost her daughter in that same clinic, and so she came to see me with her three remaining daughters. There were four daughters total, and one was killed. Just the sadness and the hopelessness, and I just shared with them from the Old Testament and quoted some scripture to them, and just loved on them and prayed for them. And they were so appreciative of someone just taking time to pray for them."
Graham said close to 500,000 people in southern Israel have been displaced and are living in hotels. He said Samaritan's Purse is providing them with food boxes and food vouchers, as well as hygiene kits and even defibrillators. He said the organization is also working with small churches in Gaza and the West Bank to provide aid.
He also said because Israeli ambulances responding to the attack were targeted and destroyed by Hamas, Samaritans Purse will be providing 21 ambulances to Israel, including seven that are armored.
"We're doing whatever we can just to help," he said.
American evangelical Christians are among Israel's most ardent advocates. Graham said he even met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and prayed with him.
"I'm a Christian, and I want people to know I'm there because of my faith," Graham said. "I just prayed with everyone, even the prime minister. When I met with him, we talked for a while. Then I said, 'Mr. Prime Minister, can I just have a word of prayer with you?' And I prayed for him. There's a lot of need in in Israel and that part of the world right now."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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