Flashtraffic: Ground Game

The gospel ground game in Iraq is indeed a great story, and Franklin Graham doesn't mind who knows what he's doing. He runs Samaritan's Purse, a disaster relief ministry with a 2003 budget of $194 million. For months, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled emergency supplies and equipment in Amman, Jordan. Now Mr. Graham's team is helping provide food, drinking water, clothes, and medical supplies to more than 100,000 Iraqis. Other groups led by Arab Christians are providing hundreds of thousands of Arabic-language Bibles and gospel literature.

An April 15 Washington Post editorial, "Evangelize Elsewhere," denounces Mr. Graham's efforts. But he isn't backing down. "The church has been in this part of the world for 2,000 years, and we've been invited by local Christians to come and lend a helping hand," he says. "We love the Iraqi people-both Muslims and Christians-and we are poised and ready to help meet their needs."