Photos by Brian Pino / Slideshow / Watch
Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham expressed optimism for today’s college students in their hunger for the truth in the wake of LifeWay research that indicates that an increasing number of U.S. Protestant church attendees believe some biblical truths do not align with their personal beliefs.
“I want to tell you that, actually, I have hope,” Graham told students at Grand Canyon University Chapel on Monday in Global Credit Union Arena. “I love what I see. I love your generation. I truly do, and I think your generation is hungry for truth.
“So many of you were, I think, raised on social media and hearing from people that call themselves influencers that are hungry for truth themselves, but they don't know where to go. But you have found where truth is, and it's not in this,” Graham said while raising a cellphone.
“But it’s in this,” Graham said while lifting his Bible.
Graham leads the international and domestic operations of Samaritan’s Purse and frequently travels to disaster areas to organize operations and encourage families impacted by disasters. He also communicates with top government and church leaders in impacted areas to start relationships and organize staffers and volunteers.
Graham, who was born on Sept. 11, was a junior in the U.S. Military Academy when the terrorist attacks occurred, and he spent 20 years in the military, which included hunting terrorists before “God would move His hand and He would call me to ministry about seven years ago to work at Samaritan's Purse.”
But Graham, who has shrapnel in his body from his battles, said he joined Samaritan’s Purse not for charity but to preach the Gospel because “I believe the Gospel will change the world, and it does.”
Graham also stressed that being the son of Samaritan’s Purse president Franklin Graham and the grandson of renowned evangelist Billy Graham didn’t guarantee him “a free ticket on how to be an evangelist or how to preach the Gospel,” adding that all three of them are introverts who were called to preach.
Before Chapel, Graham met the Worship team and shared John 17:17, “Sanctify them with the truth. Your Word is the truth.”
“I can care less about these social media influencers,” Graham said. “Just as soon as something happens, they want to get on there. They want to get on X and tell you exactly what they think. I don't really care what you think. Never happened. I don't know.
“After you’ve been in a couple firefights and been shot up and blown up, people's opinions mean very little to me. I'm a person of action. I believe in moving forward and moving with great purpose, but also as someone that believes in truth. And I believe every word of this is true.”
Shortly after his introduction, Graham referenced Hebrews 4:12 before elaborating on the state of affairs:
"For the Word of God is alive and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints the marrow, it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart."
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are a divided world,” Graham said. “Look at this country alone, and just in our politics. We are divided, but the only thing that will penetrate that divide and split is the Word of God, and that's what I want to talk to you today is about the Word of God, the truth.”
Graham shared a story about a mission in which he asked his platoon sergeant if his baseplate was settled, because the smallest instability could put everyone at risk. The platoon sergeant gave the green light, which allowed the attack to continue and enabled the Rangers to return to safety.
“The question I ask you is: Is your baseplate settled?” said Graham, who transitioned to Matthew 7:24, which relays that those who listen to Jesus’ words and apply them is like a wise man who builds a house on a rock and can withstand torrential rains and strong winds, while the foolish man who doesn’t keep those words is one who builds his house in the sand and watches it erode after the rains and winds arrive.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that house, the rock it's talking about here, the rock is Jesus Christ,” Graham said. “That is who the rock is.”
Samaritan’s Purse, Graham said, helps those who are suffering, regardless of faith or sexual orientation, in following the Book of Luke.
“I see you have an engineering department. I need engineers in Samaritan’s Purse to build our water filtration systems,” Graham said.
Those systems were needed in places like Jamaica following a hurricane, and vehicles were purchased after Hurricane Helene in 2024.
But there is one stipulation that Graham emphasized.
“I need people to come work for us that are unashamed of the truth, and they know where truth comes from, because it says in (the Gospel of) John, and He says it very clearly (in John 14:6): "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
Following Chapel, Graham invited students to talk to representatives from Samaritan’s Purse on the Quad, and the organization held information and meet-and-greet sessions later in the day.
“Jesus is not just kumbaya hugging,” Graham said. “He is a God of war, and we're at war right now. And that may be hard for many of you to understand, or maybe you had a pastor that you grew up with that talked differently. But I would tell you, there's many pastors out there that are false teachers, and they're weak, and they've been leading people astray for a long time.
“If you're in a church that doesn't believe every word of it to be true, then get out of it, run from it. And if you're not in church, that's a whole other issue. Get in there and worship the Lord.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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Next Chapel speakers: Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma, "Girls Gone Bible" podcast, 11 a.m. Oct. 19, Global Credit Union Arena.
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