Evangelist Franklin Graham has written to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, requesting a cease-fire during Holy Week.
Holy Week for the Western churches begins April 10, and for the Eastern churches, April 17.
Graham told RNS – “If they can stop fighting for a week or 10 days, maybe they can stop fighting for two weeks. If they stop for two weeks, maybe they can stop for a month. If they stop for a month, maybe they can stop for good. You’ve got to start somewhere.”
Graham, the president of Samaritan’s Purse, said he isn’t confident he will hear back from the leaders but believes the attempt is necessary.
Graham recently returned from a visit to Ukraine, where Samaritan’s Purse has set up two field hospitals and three medical clinics. One of the field hospitals is situated just outside Lviv in western Ukraine. The ministry is operating a 24-hour clinic at a Lviv train station.
Samaritan’s Purse is resupplying its hospitals and clinics weekly on a DC-8 cargo plane.
Graham told Moody Radio this week –“We’re consuming quite a bit of supplies. The most important thing we can do is pray. Pray for the churches and pray for the people there and just pray that God would somehow intervene and bring this to an end.”
Samaritan’s Purse has committed $16 million to the region’s churches in direct cash payments.