The Navajo Nation 

Office of the President and Vice President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2020

Franklin Graham visits the Navajo Nation to offer support for COVID-19 response efforts

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — On Monday, Christian Evangelist Franklin Graham visited the Navajo Nation to offer his support for COVID-19 response efforts for the Navajo people as he joined Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Vice President Myron Lizer, and Second Lady Dottie Lizer during a food, water, and supply distribution in the capital of the Navajo Nation on Memorial Day. 

During the visit, Vice President Lizer held a meeting with Graham and officials with the Billy Graham Evangelist Association & Samaritan’s Purse. Graham focused on the organization’s offer to establish a field hospital on the Navajo Nation, within a community in great need of the resource. In the Philippines and Cambodia, Samaritan’s Purse provided hygiene kits, hand washing soap, and coronavirus prevention education to the citizens of the two countries. Samaritan’s Purse teams, including doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel, worked on the frontlines in two of the most impacted areas in the world, according to Graham. 

“Vice President Lizer and I had a great opportunity speak one-on-one with Franklin Graham to talk about possible partnerships to help fight COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation. We are thankful to him for reaching out to the Navajo Nation and for taking the initiative to visit with us and to gain a firsthand perspective for himself and his organization. We will continue discussions with Mr. Graham to determine how we can best work together for the benefit of the Navajo people,” said President Nez. 

“We’re blessed to host Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse within our homelands on the Navajo Nation,” stated Vice President Lizer. “The Nez-Lizer Administration will continue to collaborate with other non-profit organizations that will strengthen our fight against COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation. We are Diné strong, and we become stronger when entities lend a hand-up to Navajo,” added Vice President Lizer. “Prayerfully, we can defeat this virus by staying home, following hygiene protocols, and having the faith that there will no longer be positive cases within our Navajo communities.

If the Navajo Nation partners with Samaritan’s Purse to establish a field hospital on the Navajo Nation, it will benefit many COVID-19 patients by allowing them to be treated closer to home rather than sending them to hospitals off of the Navajo Nation. With the additional hospital space and more doctors and nurses provided by Samaritan’s Purse, the Navajo Nation would be positioned to strengthen its ability to slow and stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Office of the President and Vice President offer their prayers and gratitude to Franklin Graham and the Samaritan’s Purse team for the visit to the Navajo Nation and looks forward to more discussions to build partnerships that benefit the Navajo people. 

https://www.facebook.com/NezLizer2018/posts/2508311839434344