Reverend Franklin Graham lauded the US government's decision to sign an agreement with Russia on the safety of the two nations' pilots to avoid an inadvertent clash over Syria. Graham hopes that the coordination between US and Russian forces will put a stop to the violent acts being carried out by the Islamic State jihadist group in the name of Islam.
"Tuesday Russia and America signed an agreement to help regulate aircraft flights over the battlefields of Syria. This is good news," Graham wrote on his Facebook page. "There have been several close calls, and this could help avoid potentially deadly incidents. We need to be working closely with Russia in the war against ISIS—we need them as an ally, not an enemy."
Graham urged Christians to pray for their leaders President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin in this "critical time" in history. He cited Bible verse Proverbs 21:1, which says: "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will."
The American evangelist hopes that Russia and the US-led coalition forces will finally be able to deal with ISIS and help mitigate the worldwide migration crisis as well.
A report coming from their charitable organisation Samaritan's Purse revealed the horrible condition faced by refugees who are arriving Greece by crossing the Aegean Sea in small boats.
"It was a horrific scene. The people were hypothermic and catatonic with fear. The kids and women weren't even crying, everyone was just delirious in shock and fear," one of their staff members shared. "We jumped up and started helping people off the boat and wrapping them in emergency blankets. Several people had drowned and the Coast Guard was doing CPR on several more. Out of the 60 on the boat, maybe 40-some made it to shore. The rest either died or were lost. The horror and trauma that these people endure...fear and death is a reality every day here."
