Report: Governor Palin cancels Sudan trip

Schedule conflict? Let's see, what else is happening around July 9? Hmmmm...
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The Washington Post's Amy Gardner reported this afternoon that Sarah Palin has canceled a trip she had planned to take to Sudan early in July. The war-torn nation is highly unstable, and the plight of Sudan's Christians has become a major concern for American evangelicals:

Palin scrapped her plans to visit the North African country for scheduling reasons, several sources close to Palin said. She was planning to travel with Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical leader Billy Graham, as well as Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren to the July 9 independence ceremony of South Sudan, the sources said.

[...]

“She would be a very good person to help draw attention to the plight of the Christians in South Sudan,” Graham, who also traveled to Haiti with Palin, said in an interview. “We’ve got George Clooney, we’ve got some Hollywood-type people. I’m very grateful or what Mr. Clooney has done. But we need everybody we can find.”

One U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of Palin’s potential political aspirations said the governor had gotten so far in the planning process as to secure permission from the government of South Sudan to attend the independence ceremony. The official said Palin was planning to travel with Van Susteren in addition to Graham.

The official said one challenge of the trip was security; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is also tentatively scheduled to attend the ceremony, may not make the trip because of safety concerns in one of the world’s most war-torn countries.[More]

We know of no scheduled events for Gov. Palin around July 9, but the Conservative Leadership Conference -- which attracts hundreds of conservative activists, bloggers and leaders -- is scheduled for the weekend of July 9 and 10 at The M Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. A GOP presidential debate sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform and The Daily Caller will take place on the second night of the CLC conference.

We hasten to add that Gov. Palin is not listed as one of the speakers at the conference or one of the participants in the debate. But if she has a schedule conflict around the 9th of July, we can't imagine what other event could be the cause of it. Willow's birthday is Thursday the 7th, which leaves plenty of time for celebration before the weekend. Again, we're sure this is just pure coincidence, as Sarah Palin is neither announced nor confirmed at this time for either of the Las Vegas events.

- JP

Winder: A Picture of Servant Leadership at its Finest

As The Cypress Times' Publisher John G. Winder observes, many repeat the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Few however, actually do a picture justice with their thousand words. Winder is the rare exception, and his commentary on the following photograph is both insightful and moving:

This was a picture of determination, perseverance, faith and the beauty of life in the midst of death. This too was a picture of the kind of leader I want for our nation as we move forward into ever turbulent times.

This is Sarah and Todd Palin who went to Birmingham, Alabama to serve along with other volunteers from Rev. Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. This poignant photograph shows Todd and Sarah praying along with J.L. Price, a Birmingham man who some would say lost everything in the horrific tornadoes that tore apart the South last week.

J.L. Price could be seen as representative of all of America over the past several years. With gas and food prices rising, the economy shaky, and our children’s children swimming through a quicksand of debt, some might look at America and say we have lost, or are at the very least, in the rapid process of losing everything.

Yet, when I look at this photo of J.L. Price, I don’t see a man who lost everything. I see a man who has faith and therefore has everything, not the least of which is hope, courage and perseverance.

I see alongside J.L. Price a woman who could be anywhere in the world, doing anything she wished, doing anything else other than choosing to be sweating under the physical strain of manual labor in a steamy tornado ravaged town in Alabama.

I see servant leadership at its finest. I see servant leadership based on faith.

[...]

This is the kind of president I want for me, my wife and our family. This is the kind of president I want for our nation. I want someone who rolls up their sleeves and gets down in the dirt with the rest of us in order to serve our nation.

I want someone who knows who we are and will lead with the courage that is derived from faith, love and yes, hope. Real hope.

[More]

- JP

Palins pitch in with Samaritan's Purse volunteers in Alabama

Rev. Graham: "I appreciate their willingness to bring hope to people in need.”
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From Rev. Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse Today Blog, we learn that Todd and Sarah Palin joined other Samaritan’s Purse volunteers Wednesday to assist tornado victims in Birmingham, Alabama:

“I came here to work hard,” Todd said. “There’s no point in being here if you’re not going to work hard.”

After getting a safety briefing and talking with volunteers, the Palins joined a crew assisting homeowner J.L. Price. The couple helped haul off brush and debris, and with the rest of the crew, prayed with Mr. Price.

“It feels great to be working out here,” Sarah said. “I hope more people sign up with Samaritan's Purse so they can be blessed like I am today.”

The Price home took a direct hit from a tornado and sustained extensive damage.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving this,” Todd said. “What a terrifying time it must have been for them. This just really gets you.”

[More]

Pitching in to help with Samaritan’s Purse relief efforts is getting to be a regular activity for the Palins. Last year they joined Rev. Graham for two-days in Haiti, and in 2009 Gov. Palin and Graham distributed food to hungry families in Alaskan during an unusually harsh winter.

Samaritan's Purse has a short video posted on Facebook.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Helping Haiti this Christmas

A suggestion...
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Posted Wednesday by Gov. Palin on Facebook:

Helping Haiti this Christmas

If you are still looking for a cause to donate to this Christmas, allow me to make a suggestion. Todd, Bristol, Greta Van Susteren, and I recently traveled to Haiti to witness first hand the amazing work done by Rev. Franklin Graham’s organization Samaritan’s Purse. Bristol wrote about our experiences on her Facebook page here.

In an effort to fight a deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti, Samaritan’s Purse has flown over a dozen flights carrying vital medical supplies to the two cholera treatment centers it has been running since the start of the outbreak. These centers, run by medical volunteers from the U.S., Canada, and the UK, have helped save the lives of nearly 5,000 patients.

The cholera treatment centers are part of a larger Samaritan’s Purse effort aimed at restoring the human dignity and economic independence of the Haitian people. Since the disastrous earthquake in January of this year, Samaritan’s Purse has spent $29 million on relief, helping more than half a million people by building 10,000 shelters (more than half of the shelters built in Haiti to date have been put up by Samaritan’s Purse); providing non-cholera related medical assistance (including 250 surgeries) to a total of 43,000 patients; providing clean drinking water to more than 75,000 people; and clearing the rubble from 179 building sites.

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of countless small donors. With all the blessings bestowed upon us in this great country of ours, we also have an opportunity to share those blessings with people who are less fortunate. Samaritan’s Purse is doing exactly that – saving lives one person at a time.

If you’d like to support the great work Samaritan’s Purse does in Haiti and around the world, please visit their website.

Below you’ll find some photos of our Haiti visit taken by Greta Van Susteren. They show what we saw at a temporary housing camp, at the cholera clinics in Bercy and Cité Soleil, and at a meeting where we helped to bring smiles to children’s faces by handing out shoeboxes filled with presents as part of Samaritan's Purse’s worldwide Operation Christmas Child.

- Sarah Palin

Greta Van Susteren and her husband, John; Franklin
Graham and his daughter, Cissy; and Todd, Bristol,
and I had the privilege of passing out Samaritan’s
Purse gifts to Haitian children. Volunteers with
Samaritan’s Purse assembled 8 million Christmas
gift boxes to bless children around the world this season!

At a temporary housing camp. Over one million Haitians
have been displaced since January’s earthquake.

Washing clothes in streams they bathe in.

In Samaritan’s Purse’s cholera clinic operated by volunteers.

In the clinic with a baby receiving cholera treatment
in a syringe.

In the clinic with a tiny six-month-old baby with
cholera and pneumonia, a twin who was in the
clinic after his mother died.

Bristol and the six-month-old orphan.

Rev. Franklin Graham and I addressing media in Haiti.

At the end of a day in Haiti, Bristol and I took in the
physical beauty of the country while discussing what
seems like improbable poverty and great malaise in a
country with so much potential.

- JP

Rev. Graham and Gov. Palin arrive in Haiti

Evangelist and Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham and Sarah Palin arrived in Haiti today to survey the organization's work with cholera patients, deliver Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts, visit shelters, tour rubble removal sites, and meet with volunteers and staff.

"I am pleased that Gov. Palin will accompany us on a brief trip to Haiti this weekend, and I appreciate her willingness to visit Haiti during such troubled times,” Graham said. “I believe Gov. Palin will be a great encouragement to the people of Haiti and to the organizations, both government and private, working so hard to provide desperately needed relief."

Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, who visited North Korea with Samaritan’s Purse in 2008 and 2009 to report on the organization's medical work, is also on the trips.

More, including photos, at the Samaritan's Purse Today blog.

Updates...

AFP reports:

Conservative US politician Sarah Palin was undeterred by days of politically-charged rioting that has left at least five people dead as she began a weekend tour with a visit to an earthquake refugee camp.

Stepping off a yellow helicopter, Palin visited a community where Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse provides shelter for victims of an earthquake in January that killed 250,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless.

"I've really enjoyed meeting this community," Palin said. "They are so full of joy. We are so fortunate in America and we are responsible for helping those less fortunate. Samaritan's Purse is still here doing the tough work."

Palin, accompanied by leading US evangelist and Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham, will see for herself the massive devastation from the quake and learn about a cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 2,200 lives.

Also along on the trip, Todd and Bristol Palin, as well as Rev. Graham's daughter Cissie Graham Lynch, who is tweeting here.

- JP

Samaritan's Purse: Saving lives in Haiti

"We're going to be here for several years to come"
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As we reported Thursday, Gov. Palin is headed for Haiti this weekend with evangelist Franklin Graham. Hopefully, her visit will help focus some attention on the work Rev. Graham's relief organization Samaritan's Purse is doing in the earthquake-ravaged country. Here are some videos that describe the situation in Haiti and the relief efforts undertaken by Samaritan's Purse:


- JP

Gov. Palin headed to Haiti with Franklin Graham

In humanitarian effort by Samaritan's Purse, Franklin's relief organization
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Politico has confirmed with a Palin source that Sarah Palin is traveling to Haiti this weekend with Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham and an evangelist like his father. CNN broke the news today that Gov. Palin and Rev. Graham will visit a cholera clinic and other locations in a humanitarian effort by Samaritan's Purse, Franklin's relief organization.

Leave it to Politico to focus on the political aspects of the trip, as Andy Barr doesn't shy away from doing:

The Haiti trip could serve two distinct political purposes for Palin.

First, it provides an opportunity to expand her image and policy portfolio beyond her limited image as a darling of the tea party movement.

Second, she'll be able to better establish her claim to evangelical voters if she chooses to seek the Republican presidential nomination. Evangelicals overwhelmingly supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, one of Palin's potential 2012 rivals, in the early 2008 GOP primaries and caucuses.

Or maybe Rev. Graham simply asked Gov. Palin to help out some people in need. 'Tis the season...

- JP