[00:00:06] Speaker A: The Michael Hatfield ReMax team presents real Estate and more. Bay Area real estate is different than in all of America and why? What's up with home buyers?
[00:00:17] Speaker B: What's on sellers minds, how is the market? And much, much more.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Now here's your host, Michael Hatfield. Welcome to the Real Estate and More show and I'm so glad you've tuned in today. On our show today, we are thrilled to have a very special guest, Christy Graham, the podcast host of on the Ground with Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse, as you are well aware, is a globally respected humanitarian organization and they're renowned for their faith based mission to provide food, medical supplies and spiritual support to those affected by disasters all over the world. And recently, Christy and Samaritan spurs felt the impact of up close and personal disaster with Hurricane Helene. Although unaffected directly herself, it was neighbors and friends that were nearby that had to had to deal with this catastrophe. And Samaritan's Purse was there on the ground and responding and doing what they do best, taking care of those in need. So through her work, Christy Graham brings us into the heart of Samaritan's Purse today. And they are one with big compassionate response efforts and showing the world what it means to stand in faith, solidarity and service. I'm so glad to have you on the show, Christy.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. I've been looking forward to it.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: So you interview victims as well as workers in these disaster ridden areas and locally right there in North Carolina near your headquarters. Doesn't it get really heart wrenching at times? How do you feel about all that?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: It does. It's hard.
Especially, you know, on the Ground with Samarin's Purse we literally take you to the front row and behind the scenes of our work. And our work is all over the world. And so some days it is talking to people in an IDP camp, some days it is people that have been hit by a hurricane or natural disaster. And so it is, it's hard for me. I'm a psychology major and I feel and you know, I love to talk to people and have great empathy. So it is sometimes hard for me to shoulder that and I have to surrender it to the Lord who knows and sees everything. But it is, if you go into our incident management room, sometimes we see, you know, the cat, the, they have clocks from all the places we're in and maps and just everything that we're affiliated with. And it's overwhelming sometimes. And you realize what Jesus told us in this world you will have trouble. But Take heart. I have overcome the world. And so we can do this because we know Jesus has overcome the world, and we know that we have a hope that we can give to people in dark and difficult times. So, yes, it's difficult, but when I take it off myself and realize that, you know, we are taking hope and encouragement, it makes it easier to do. And it's a joy to share the stories because there are good things coming out of hard things.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. Definitely. So please tell us a little bit about the history of Samaritan's purse. It's a $1 billion organization. I think they're ranked like 23rd as far as support for. As a humanitarian organization. They've just done amazing things. Can you give us some history and background of this incredible organization?
[00:03:41] Speaker B: I think everybody thinks Franklin Graham started it, but he didn't. A man named Bob Pierce actually founded the organization in 1970, and his heart was broken traveling and seeing people in poverty and wanting to bring the hope of the gospel. So he founded the organization with the mindset of going to people to meet physical needs, working with the local church, and sharing the hope of the gospel. And that mission has stayed the same. It has become bigger. And God has know, brought upon things that we never would have asked or imagined. And in 1978, Bob Pierce had leukemia, and he asked Franklin to take over. They had traveled years prior, and he. He told Franklin when they were traveling, I want God to break your heart for the things that break his heart. And that sure happened to Franklin. He was able to see poverty at its worst, hopelessness, and he wanted to bring the hope of the gospel. So about a year after Bob Pierce died, Franklin became the president and chairman of the board, has led the organization since.
But again, the mission has remained the same. I think God has given us different vehicles, and we'll talk about it in a minute. Different medical, you know, different things have came out of it, but the heart has been the same, and it continues to be the same, which is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to people that are hurting in the ditches of life. And so it's based off the parable of the Good Samaritan and Luke 10, where, you know, the Samaritan sees somebody in the ditch and he goes to them and meets a physical need, but more importantly, helps and brings the spiritual need, paying the debt for him that he couldn't pay, which is that for us is the gospel. And so we share that in all of the works that we do around the world.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: What a disaster victim believes or what A worker, a volunteer worker believes can be done to help, to do something worthwhile is absolutely critical. And I think by administering to the disaster victims, as well as the ones that work on the scene to help and putting their mindset in what you described initially is just so very, very important, you know, so very, very important. So Nancy says that Samaritan's Purse actually fills the gap where there is not a lot of help for these people of disasters. We're not just talking about the recent one that you're experiencing in North Carolina, but in other areas. But she says that Samaritan's Purse actually fills the gap between people just having so hopeless of a feeling, as opposed to, you know, I can recover, I can get over this, I can get through this, and I can make life worthwhile again. And it seems like Samaritan's Purse and their spiritual support is just so important.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, no, and that is, you know, because, yes, in the here and now, we say in their circumstances, there isn't hope. You know, when your house has been destroyed or your family killed in a war, I mean, hopelessness sinks in. And so we go, and we want to be with people. I think the ministry of presence is so important, and we see that time and time again, and that's why we work with the local church. We want to go in with people that know the communities well, know their needs, know their. Their hearts, and introduce us to them.
But we also, yes, we want to help physically. We. So we do meet a need, whatever it is, but we also want to give the hope of the gospel. And I just want to share. Romans 15:13. It says, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that is what all of our staff and volunteers, that's what we offer. We offer the hope that's been given to us by God, and we overflow. It's not in and of ourselves or that we're anything great. It's. It's what God's given us. And oftentimes when we do meet physical needs and we go to the ends of the earth, people will ask, why? Why are you here? You know, a stranger? Why are you coming to us? And then that's when we can share. The hope of why we come is the hope of the gospel. So you're right, it's hard and it's devastating to see people at their worst, but it's humbling because they let us in at the darkest times. Of their lives. They let us walk alongside with them and strangers become family as we work with them and again work with the local church for that long term discipleship and care.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: So you work with the local churches and in most all cases, I know it has to be a concert of effort. In many, many of these cases, of course, in North Carolina, if you were to go to South America, which you have done as an organization, you align yourself with churches there as well. I know, for example, in Japan when the tsunami occurred, our son was a general contractor and volunteered for more than two months over there to help the victims and help the rebuilding after the stabilization. But it seems like you're on the ground, you're doing these things and you're working spiritually as well as with sustenance of water and food. How can an organization do so much for so many areas and locations in this world? How does it do it?
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Well, it's, it's God. In fact, Bob Pierce, our founder, he said it was the God Room principle. You know, he said, take on a need that is bigger than you and your human efforts, more than what you can do and accomplish. You know, say yes to a challenge or a need, not knowing how or where, where you'll get the funds to accomplish it. Say yes because God will bring the people, the finances, the resources. And so we've seen that time and time again. Yes. Samaritan's purse. We, we plan and we are try to be good stewards. And we, we do take proper precautions and planning, but we trust that God is going to direct. In fact, Proverbs 69 says that. It says in his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps. And so that's how we work as an organization. We meet every morning for staff devotions. We pray and read God's word and ask God, what do you have for us in this response? When news headlines hit, we ask, what do you want us to do? But we do have a lot of resources and capacity that we can say yes. We can go in to the local government or churches when, say, an earthquake hits or whatever it is, we can come in and say, okay, here's what we can offer. What do you need? And then we tailor our response to what the needs on the ground are.
But, and we'll talk about it in a minute. We do. I mean, the Lord has given us great talent and expertise to create so many different things like our water, sanitation and hygiene, you know, our water systems, our medical. I mean, there's so many different things and so When a disaster hits, we're able to help them physically in what they need. But again, more importantly, we work with the local church everywhere, and we do have church partners all around the world. It's incredible. And they help us sometimes get into somewhere so fast because they're more connected than anyone else, I believe. And so, yeah, it's just incredible to watch God pre position us and I think give us even in something we're responding to, like Ebola, you know, he gives us a challenge and, you know, a way to learn infectious diseases. And, you know, again, we weren't looking to get involved with COVID years later, but I think he used that experience and that response to prepare us as an organization to take on things like Covid. And so, again, it's all God. He gets all the glory. I mean, he works before, during, and after every response. And we do the best that we can in our human capacity, but we trust and allow him to work. And so, yes, we're able to work in different cultures and contexts because of what he's done in our staff.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: The logistics of it all must just be tremendous. You know, I know that you have a DC8, I understand, 757 Boeing, and you have all of these transportation facilities to administer the actual, I would say, physical side of your response effort, an enormous effort to make it all work and go together to go to various places in the world. And disasters don't always happen when you plan them. They happen when you're not expecting, and they happen in places that you wouldn't expect. How the logistics side of things administered is that, do you have like a control center like an airline does or.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: What we do, we have command centers and then we have security and people in. In country, at our country offices around the world. And it is. It is quite a logistical operation. And yeah, when you would love the aircraft that's involved because we're in so many places where you can't access places by roads, you know, in Africa and places. And so it is a lot of work. In fact, this one most recent with Hurricane Helene, we started doing airlift missions with helicopters, and we do have a helicopter. But then people, as they were seeing what we were doing, Blackhawks and military and private helicopters got involved and came and said, where do you know, what coordinates? Where do we need to go? And so again, God gives us what we need, but because we are doing, you know, we have an aviation ministry headquartered in Greensboro, bro, that.
I mean, they're brilliant and they. They work around the clock. But he said disasters we don't plan for. And so they go off on their communications and people that are wherever we need to be. But it is a. It is a big effort. And watching Helene work alone, I mean, my husband, it was 24 hour days, you know, just long hours to get these missions accomplished. But again, God brings us people that are willing to work around the clock. It is a true call to work here. It is not a 9 to 5 where you check the block. You know, in disaster response, people are willing to do whatever it takes. And again, we do have wonderful people with all, you know, every level of expertise needed to have the logistics to accomplish all these missions that God gives us.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: How did Christie come to this calling? How did you personally come to this. This calling? Did you marry into that, or was it something that affected your heart and drew you in on a separate journey?
[00:14:19] Speaker B: Sort of. I did marry into it. And in fact, at first I thought, I don't want this job just because I'm a Graham. But I think the Lord, you know, my husband Edward served in the military for 16 years, and so we lived all over the country. And I think God used and prepared that time for when he was called to work here at Samaritan's Purse. And so when we came, I realized, as his wife, I had a front row seat to a lot of our staff that had been all over the world, and I got to hear their stories firsthand. I also got to travel with him. And so I think for me, I realized that was a privilege.
But also, I love telling stories, and I love talking to people and hearing their heart, hearing their testimony and their story. And so, you know, it just kind of happened right when we moved here that they had wanted to start a podcast. There's obviously a need, as, you know, audio is such a great way for people to hear about organizations and.
And it's a great way to do a long, you know, storytelling. And so it started pretty much when we moved here almost six years ago.
I again realized the opportunity that I had that some people will never get to meet some of our staff members or people that we work with across the country or across the world. Some of the people that we help, volunteers, I realize that they may never get to meet them here on Earth. And so I'm kind of like a bridge to tell their story. And I think my. My calling truly is to tell stories of what God is doing around the world. And I never realized, you know, that I think God does prepare you for things. And, you know, you've had multiple careers And I think. I think I'm just old. All right. Yeah. Well, no, but our identity doesn't come from our job or our title or our role. Right. It changes all the time. But our calling can be the same wherever we are. Whether, you know, my role as a mom, a wife, an army wife. I think for me, my. My calling always was to connect people. I love hearing stories and their testimonies and then being able to encourage them or tell them of what I've learned. And so I think looking back, my calling was always the same. It just had a different hat or role or title. And it's. It's been fun because it was something I never would have thought I would do. I'm a psychology major who thought I would do counseling. You know, I always said, when the kids are grown and there I have time to pursue that, but I'm doing it. It's just again, in a different role in different theater. So I never would have seen this. If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I wouldn't have said that I would be doing this. But the calling I have to come back to is. Has always been the same. And so God has equipped and prepared me for this role such a time as this. And so it's been so fun to share these stories with people around the world.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: If there's a disaster somewhere, Christy goes there. She's on the ground. She interviews victims and listens to their story, and she also talks to the workers that are either staff or volunteers from Samaritan's Purse and gets their perspective. And I noticed lately there was a television show with Dr. Phil. He was on the ground doing a lot of what you do, although you're much prettier than he is. And you such an eloquent job. So you go around the world and we'll put your boots on the ground and interview these people that are involved with the disaster to get an inside look at what actually is being done. And so much is being done by Samaritan's Purse. I have so much respect for your organization and for what you do and the hard efforts of the entire organization. Her podcast is on Saturday mornings on KSFO here in the Bay Area. That's five, six. It's on the ground with Samaritan's Purse, hosted by Christy Graham. But so we're so grateful that there is an organization to step in the gap to do this ministry, I would imagine, comes from the Franklin side overall to disaster victims as well as to the staff and volunteers. Doesn't he provide the Ministerial assistance to these areas or does that come from Samaritan's Purse as well?
[00:18:39] Speaker B: Franklin is the president CEO both of the Billy Graham Evangelistic association and Samaritan's Purse. And I love it because, you know, when he was even young, people would ask him, what do you want to do? And he said, I don't want to do the same thing my whole life. And he has so many varied interests. In fact, he's a pilot as well. And, and I love that again, God, you know, because being the son of Billy Graham, there was a lot of pressure, there was a lot of, you know, eyes on him and he was not called to do exactly what the way his dad accomplished sharing the gospel. And so I love that, yes, he does go to stadiums and he still does crusades and he loves that. But. And so that's what Billy Graham Evangelistic association does. But Samaritan's Purse, you know, we say we go to stadiums in the ditches, you know, we go to the people that can't make it to the stadium. And so we both are doing the same thing. We're both sharing the gospel and the mission. And essentially, you know, why we do what we do is the same. It just is carried out differently. Although we do actually work together. The Billy Graham of Angelica bgea, I'll just say that has rapid response team chaplains that come alongside Samaritan's Purse. So whether we're responding here in western North Carolina, our teams in the orange shirts, the volunteers that are helping to mud out houses and tarp roofs, we're doing the physical work. But then the rapid response team chaplains come alongside and they can share the gospel, they can sit with the homeowner and counsel them as needed or listen or. So we work together. And so yes, both organizations, they work together as a ministry.
But again, I love how each one is a little bit different in what we've called to do and the vehicles that were given to carry out sharing the gospel. So yes, but Franklin, I just love it because God has worked in his life so much and he is a very hands on leader in both organizations. I mean, he is on the ground, he will respond to the disasters. He is in the office, he led devotions to our staff this week. So he's very hands on. But yet each organization has their, you know, vice presidents and their, their lanes and roles. But he is a very hands on spiritual leader for both ministries.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Now, how are the medical services set up? I mean, to respond to a disaster? How are they set up? I Know, you have doctors and nurses and people that are medically trained. How does that work in so many areas of the world?
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Well, so it's huge. It is a huge undertaking. And I.
We have what's called a disaster Assistance Response Team. So it's a DART roster, essentially, where people have come in, they've been trained, they have, you know, been vetted, but they don't work for us full time. They might be a doctor or radiologist or, you know, something somewhere else around the country. And when a disaster strikes and we need to set up a field hospital, and typically we go for, you know, six to nine weeks, depending on the need. And so we will call our DART roster and we'll say, can you come deploy for four weeks and set up this emergency field hospital? They drop everything. And you, you mentioned your. Your son was a contractor in Japan. And so again, it's not all medical. Sometimes we need logisticians and, you know, we need all different people to set these responses up. But we can, within a couple days, we can put our field hospitals onto our DC8 cargo plane. It's like a little puzzle that we fitted on there. And we can unpack those hospitals anywhere in the world in about three days. And I've watched these be set up, and it's incredible because, I mean, everybody, they, whatever needs to be done, you know, they take off their hat and do whatever is needed. Doctors will be helping build these hospitals. And I love watching just the body of Christ and people do what needs to get done to get it set up quickly. And we can tailor those to whatever the need is. So if it's. We had an earthquake in Turkey and so a lot of medical was needed, orthopedic surgeries. And so we can tailor our hospitals to whatever the disaster, whatever the crisis needs. And so it's incredible. And it's. It's fluid. And again, we, we keep things organized and. But disaster is reactive and responsive, so we, we tailor each disaster to whatever is needed.
So it's pretty incredible.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: I saw a video with, with Franklin Graham and he was showing the water system that is being used with Helene. That's a reverse osmosis system with storage ability for the, the local victims of the catastrophe back there. That's amazing. Is that part of this template that is used to respond, you know, the fresh water, the clean water in foreign countries, it seemed like that would be a real big issue in foreign countries when a disaster strikes, is it not?
[00:23:31] Speaker B: I mean, it is, it is. And so that's one of our sectors. Yep. It's called Water Sanitation and Hygiene. Our wash department is incredible. And I have been in the warehouse. We have engineers that have created those systems that you saw Franklin talk about. And yes, they can either desalinize the water if it's, you know, near an ocean, or they can set up freestanding, make potable water for up to 10,000 people a day. So we can tailor it to whatever the need is. In fact, we just went up in Western Carolina. We don't usually do these in the United States, but Swannanoa in Buncombe county was hit really hard, and their water system was down. And so we were able to use our water systems here in the U.S.
but, yeah, we will go wherever. So Grenada was a recent international crisis where the hurricane, you know, wrecked their water system. And so we can go set up water, water filtration systems anywhere in the world. And they're. And they're incredible. And typically, we put them at a local church. And so people, you know, when they have that physical need of needing water, because we all know we can't live without water, that's the one component that we can go fewer days without. And so when people have that lack, they'll come to the local church, get their water, and people can tell them about the living water of Jesus Christ. And so it is. It is incredible. And it is not my technical expertise, but our engineers are brilliant and incredible, and they build these systems. And they said, you know, every. Every time they go to a response, you know, they think through, okay, how can we do this better? How can we make it lighter? How can we make it more portable? And so. So I've watched them welding and creating these systems, and it's really incredible that just the gifts and talents the Lord brings to our organization to do things like this.
[00:25:16] Speaker A: But let's talk about one that's dear to Samaritan Purr's heart, the Operation Christmas Child.
Can you fill us in on what that program's all about and how it works and how people can get involved with that?
[00:25:30] Speaker B: Definitely. And I don't know when you're airing this episode, but national Collection week is coming up in about two weeks. And Operation Christian Child's incredible. It started in 1993, and it has grown. And in fact, when we say we go into countries through our church partners, a lot of our church partners are Operation Christmas Child church partners. I mean, they have. They are all over the world and allow us to have networks and to help with disasters. But it is an incredible ministry. And so I encourage people, if you can't go across the world. You can do missions in your living room or in your church if you do a packing party. But basically you are packing a shoebox to send to a child. All around the world we go, you know, to natural disasters, we go to war torn countries and we want to offer hope and even just a normal childhood to some kids that their childhood has been ripped apart. And so you put in things, you can go to our website, samirtspurse.org and they'll tell you what to put in our shoebox. Because there are certain things, school supplies, hygiene items. Unfortunately we've had to change things because of customs with liquids. So there are specific instructions. If you've never done it before. But these boxes, it might sound simple to us here in the us but to a child that has never received a gift for themselves, it means the world. I mean it shows them that they're loved and they're seen. And I've, I've watched kids open them and I can't even, I get teary just thinking about it, the squeals and the excitement. And one time a little boy opened a box and he had, it, had a pack of, you know, four or five Matchbox cars. And he, he looked at me and he said, which one do I get to keep? And I said, they're all for you. All of them. You know, they're just used to communal living where they're sharing things or if it's a soccer ball, they assume it's for the whole school and to have something of their very own. And so, but, but not only that, you know, they get that gift that they'll never forget. But we also work with the local church and they get a little booklet called the Greatest Journey and it introduces them to Jesus and tells them that they created by a loving God and they are seen and it shares the gospel. And then they can go start coming to their church. There's a 12 week discipleship course called the Greatest or the Greatest Journey is the course, the greatest gift is the little booklet they get and so they can keep coming back. So maybe, you know, they've come to this outreach, never heard about God, never been to the church before. But not only do they get this physical need that allows them to go to school or you know, it just, it gives them that gift. But then they are connected with a local church and they are loved and seen and they can learn about Jesus. And these kids, they do the course. I've been to the graduation for the Greatest Journey and it's incredible. These kids take such pride in what they've learned. They share it with their family. And, I mean, the ripple effect of this one little box is huge because many have never been given a gift in their life. And so to get a physical gift and then hear the gift of the gospel, it truly changes lives. So encourage people, pack a shoebox this year. You know, we. We need. We always need more and more and more. And they're so fun. And you can personalize it, put in what you would want to get or give as a gift. And it's always incredible to see the kids get this gift around the world.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: And are there any words that you would like to leave our audience with today?
[00:28:55] Speaker B: Oh, man. Thank you. I just appreciate you introducing to Samaritan's Purse. I, as a family member, I am very personally involved. And I can tell you that, yes, God is working in the midst of heartache. And I just want to encourage people, if you're in your own personal heartache, I want you to know you're not alone and encourage you to. Yeah. Go to our website to hear more.
But having been through Helene recently in our community as still recovering, and I think I have learned and watched God use heartache and devastation to bring community, you know, to bring us together. And we are rebuilding, and I think we will be stronger than we were. So I just want to encourage people, whatever they're going through, you know, heartache isn't the final answer. There is hope. And so thank you for spotlighting a lot of our projects.
It's really humbling and exciting to be a part of this work.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: Well, it's humbling to hear your powerful stories. Christy Graham, I would like to thank you so much for sharing these powerful stories with us and the audience today. Thank you. I appreciate that so much. And to hear you talk about this wonderful humanitarian organization and what they do is just heartwarming all of itself.
So to our listeners, I hope this conversation has been as inspiring to you as it has been for us at the Real Estate and More show. Let's remember that resilience isn't just about overcoming adversity. It's about extending a hand in coming together and having community instilling faith and hope in those in need. Thank you, Samaritan's Purse, for the incredible work you do throughout the world. And thank you, everyone, for tuning in today. Let's all continue to make a difference. We'll be right back with our next special guest. Stay tuned. Please remember to go to our new YouTube handle, My Real Talk Show. That's
[email protected] and touch that subscribe button. You can also find past aired shows at our handle myrealtalkshow on YouTube.com on.
