
As fires continue to rage in LA into their second week, Franklin Graham weighed in on whether he thought the fires were a result of God “judging” Hollywood. Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, discussed the devastation. “People have lost everything,” he said. “A lot of people are asking ‘Why?’, and that’s a hard question to answer. We want to reassure them of God’s love – that He cares for them and that He hasn’t turned His back on them.” He noted that images of pain and suffering have become more prevalent due to technology like TVs and smart phones. “The reality is we’re going to have more storms like this,” he said. “It’s not going to get less and the most important thing that we as Christians can do is make sure everyone understands that God loves them. And that when storms like this come, it’s not God’s judgement. I don’t believe that for a second. We know that God loves us.”
Graham began to speculate about the possibility of why the Hollywood area, which has often been at odds with a Christian worldview, was facing a particularly devastating fire. “Could God be judging Hollywood? I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” he said. Graham stressed that the most important thing was to have the assurance that should catastrophe happen, people are prepared to meet Jesus. “We can have that assurance, knowing that whatever storms come our way in life, we’ll be prepared to stand before God,” he said.
Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, as well as other Christian disaster response programs have been gearing up to head to LA once the fires are contained enough. Groups such as Convoy of Hope and World Help are also working to send aid. A group of four from Samaritan’s North Carolina support team has already landed in LA. “Samaritan’s Purse has an assessment team on the ground for the fires as we speak,” said Samaritan Purse’s Jason Kimak. There are plans to send more volunteers to the area. The team remains on standby until the fire can be safely contained. “We’re just trying to help families look through ashes and find personal belongings like heirlooms, jewelry, coins. Or things that will bring back memories,” said Kimak. “As soon as we get clearance from emergency management and local officials on the ground, we will start bringing in volunteers to work in the burn zones. We want those impacted to know there is hope.”