Sarah Palin dined and prayed with the Reverend Billy Graham, who has counseled presidents and other politicians for decades.
Graham had never met Palin, who was scheduled to stop at Fort Bragg, a military base in eastern North Carolina, yesterday to promote her memoir Going Rogue: An American Life.
The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee and members of her family flew into Asheville in the western part of the state, then went to Graham’s mountaintop home in nearby Montreat for dinner.
Graham said it was an honor having Palin in his home to join his family for dinner and that they took the opportunity to pray together.
“I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country,” he said in a statement. “I appreciated hearing her speak of her own spiritual journey and her life in Alaska.”
Palin was joined by her parents, Chuck and Sally Heath; aunt, Katie Johnson; daughter, Piper; and son, Trig.
Graham’s son, Franklin, got to know Palin early this year in Alaska and he invited her to North Carolina. She accompanied him as Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief agency he heads, delivered 20 tonnes of groceries to Alaskan families who had been hit by a harsh winter in villages along the frozen Yukon River.
Samaritan’s Purse, based in North Carolina, has an office in Alaska and Franklin Graham owns a cabin in the state. He also leads the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which his father founded decades ago.
The 91-year-old Billy Graham said he shared his memories of preaching in Anchorage in 1984. Graham, who has suffered from ill health for some time, has been dubbed “America’s pastor.” He has counseled US presidents from Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s through George W. Bush and is known worldwide for his preaching and activism.
“Life in the spotlight is not easy and I pray that whatever lies ahead for this family that their faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, would remain strong and that God would put a hedge of protection around her and all those she holds dear,” Billy Graham said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in