I was a child in the sixties, and grew up with Billy Graham on our little black and white TV.  We weren't an overtly Christian family (far too admittedly dysfunctional), but he was my parental attempt at being mainstream, I suppose.  My Mom loved him, so I did. 

In a past life I was very close to someone who worked for  Samaritan's Purse as first a missionary and then, eventually, a numbers cruncher.  As the former, his family suffered due to his long absences and meager pay.  The latter came to pass because four kids and a wife finally said no more to both.  Even as true believers, the family complaints (and questions) were eventually enough to make the difference.  He was able to stay closer to home, though his pay was still minimal.

Samaritan's Purse is a worthwhile organization ... I truly believe that it was intended to be just that, and hope that it still is.  Due to working for his parents for an entirely different business, I was involved in packing boxes, etc. for their various programs around the world.  I saw them work to collect used eyeglasses, shoes, coats - anything and everything.  My friend (their son) and his fellow missionaries flew around the world whenever a crisis hit - I saw the anxiety when there was an earthquake, a tornado ... a hurricane.  A tsunami, a political uprising ... a coup.  Incredibly dangerous places called to them and they went.  Courageous people left faithful people behind to make a difference, to save lives.  They did.  We simply cannot ignore or discount the important work that has, and is still being, done by so many people who just want to help.  Please remember this paragraph as I move along.    

Franklin Graham is the head of a corporate organization that shrouds itself in a Christian cloak.  Samaritan’s Purse, under his leadership, has done wondrous work.  Just don’t work for it, because the employees don’t find it quite so wonderful.  You won’t find anything about it on Google … which isn’t unusual if you’re accustomed to searching for negative about the positive.  Franklin is a rich man; his employees are anything but.  Rinse and repeat.  My knowledge about the organization is anecdotal, and qualifying it with data is difficult at best – but I do have second-hand knowledge about what it means to give your life to their cause.  I don’t know if it’s the case with all or most charities that those who drive the good works are treated as nothing more than boots on the ground, but I sincerely hope not.  Those boots are the reason that good things happen – that people are really and truly helped.  But I suspect that the people at the top, like Franklin Graham, didn’t necessarily make personal millions through good works and dirty boots.  They got there on the backs of those who believed in their cause.  They got there with an idea that could only be realized through the use of good people willing to do much more than they would ever do.  Graham, perhaps as an extension of his father, knows this.

Charitable giving via a website, text, or a check in the mail is obviously a worthwhile thing to do.  Who could argue?  But maybe something local … a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, after-school program … you know your neighborhood.  All I’m suggesting is that if you don’t want to spend time and money on places you’re not sure about, spend that time and money on your local necessities.  Franklin Graham and those like him have enough.