Building upon his grandfather’s 25-year service as a missionary doctor in China, Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham took part in the historic dedication of the QI Jiang Anwen Township Medical Clinic.

Anwen is an agricultural and mining village of 20,000 people that is part of the sprawling Chongqing City in the interior of China. The village’s only medical facilities had to be replaced after the building cracked during a prolonged ice storm that ravaged southern Chongqing Province in February 2008. Samaritan’s Purse contributed significantly toward the construction of a new three-story facility, which began in July 2008 and was recently completed.

The 38-bed clinic can provide multiple services and procedures, including surgery, obstetrics and gynecology. This marked the first time Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with a local community in China to help to build a rural medical clinic.

Hundreds of local villagers crowded tightly around the outdoor platform area where Tuesday’s ceremony was held, with dozens more hanging over walls to listen. Patients at the clinic and their visiting family members listened from open windows.

Municipal government leaders voiced their appreciation. “Thank you for Samaritan Purse’s assistance and support to the heath-care assistance of our city,” said Chen Jingqiu, vice president of the Chongqing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Council (CPCCC). “This project will play an important role of serving the people,” he added.

Chen told Graham, “I especially want to extend my appreciation to your family. Your family has sent so much support to the nation of China and the Chinese people.”

Mr. Zhang Jiang, vice chairman of the Qijiang Committee for the CPCCC, said that the Anwen Clinic partnership has fostered closer ties between China and the United States.

“We sincerely hope that the Chongqing Association for Friendship and Samaritan’s Purse will widen foreign exchanges, deepen our friendship and support the health-care undertakings of our country, just as in the past,” Mr. Zhang said.

During the dedication service, Graham shared how his grandfather Dr. L. Nelson Bell came to China in 1916 and served 25 years as a medical doctor and surgeon. He also related how his mother Ruth Bell Graham was born in China in 1920 and lived there until her late teens, which is when the Bell family was forced to leave when Japan invaded China at the start of World War II.

Then Graham told the crowd that he came as a Christian minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to dedicate this “beautiful, brand-new building” to the glory of God. “We pray that it will bring healing and comfort to the people of China,” he said.

Just as he has done throughout his trip to China, Graham presented the Gospel message, quoting John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“We know that God loves us, and He cares for us very much,” Graham said. “God loves the Chinese people. May God bless you.”

Following the dedication, Graham toured the facility. As he was walking through the clinic looking in on rooms, he told officials that Samaritan’s Purse would extend further support by upgrading their aging operating room and x-ray equipment. Samaritan’s Purse operates a medical warehouse that has shipped more than $50 million in medical equipment and supplies to hospitals around the world.

Visiting an Earthquake Memorial
The Anwen Clinic dedication came the day after Graham toured the city of Hanwang, utterly destroyed in last May’s powerful earthquake. He walked slowly through the ruins, which remain untouched as a memorial to the some 4,000 townspeople who died there, many of whom were schoolchildren.

Graham met with Chen Xinyou, mayor of the neighboring city of Deyang, who expressed his appreciation for how quickly Samaritan’s Purse responded to the earthquake victims. Samaritan’s Purse loaded 90 tons of emergency supplies onto a 747 jumbo jet that was the first privately chartered relief flight from the United States to land in the Sichuan province.

Graham commended Mayor Chen for his commitment to rebuild the city of Hanwang nearby within the next two years.

As they talked, Chen said that he had never met a minister, so Graham asked if he could share what he believes as a Christian. He explained that God created and made all mankind, but that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and have broken His standards. Graham pointed out that we could do nothing to bridge the gap between our sins and a Holy God.

Quoting John 3:16 again, Graham told the mayor, “The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ took our sins and died on the cross and that God raised Him on the third day, and if we’re willing to confess our sins and repent and by faith trust to receive Christ, God will forgive our sins.”

Mayor Chen thanked Graham for presenting his beliefs.

Graham then visited the Sichuan Seminary and told the nearly 80 students that there is Holy Spirit-filled power when the Gospel is proclaimed.

“As you teach the Word of God, make sure your preach and present the Gospel every opportunity you have,” Graham said. “You preach John 3:16 and you give an invitation, the Holy Spirit of God will take His Word and touch and pierce hearts. You do that, you will see fruit in your entire ministry.”

Dedicating a Center to Train Preachers
On Saturday, Graham spoke at the dedication ceremony for the Lay Training Center at Bethel Church.

“My prayer is that there will be young men and women who will leave this training center to go throughout China and the rest of Asia to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Graham said, as the audience erupted into rousing applause, punctuated by shouts of “Amen!”

The six-story training center will accommodate 120 to 150 people, many of them coming from rural areas in the Hebei Province and surrounding areas. An additional 50 students can stay in the church’s basement, where training classes have been held up to this point.

“This new building is a beautiful testimony to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Graham said.

Graham arrived in China on Thursday and met Friday with Wang Zuo An, the newly appointed director general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).

“Because of this special relationship between your family and China, you have made a lot of contributions to the friendship between China and the United States,” Director General Wang told Graham.

Wang said he was born in Jiangsu, the same province where Dr. Bell served and Graham’s mother was born. He also expressed his appreciation for how Billy Graham promoted friendship between China and the United States. “I believe that with your effort, you, too, will promote mutual understanding and friendship between our two countries,” he said.

Graham conveyed greetings from his father and expressed gratitude for the strong relationship and cooperation between SARA and Samaritan’s Purse as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

“We thank God for all that He has done,” Franklin Graham said. “As a minister, I want people everywhere to know of God’s love for them, and I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.”

“It’s important that we continue building bridges between our two countries,” Graham added. “We want to be good neighbors, good friends, and we will work toward this end.”

Graham also met with recently appointed U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman at his residence in Beijing.

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Samaritan's Purse , China , Evangelism , Proclaiming the Gospel in China