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Former Speaker of the House Visits Boone, Franklin Graham Welcomes Newt Gingrich to Samaritan’s Purse

Gingrich and Graham
Gingrich and Graham

Feb. 13, 2013. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista visited the headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse today to meet with Franklin Graham and speak to the staff of the international Christian relief organization.

Gingrich served as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999 and more recently was a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.

Gingrich, one of the authors of the 1994 Contract with America, talked optimistically about the future of America and the importance of people putting their faith in Jesus Christ.

“We tend to forget sometimes—you don’t save a nation, you save a person,” he said. “And if you save enough people, then you’ve saved a nation.”

Gingrich described the impact of several Samaritan’s Purse programs, including Operation Christmas Child and World Medical Mission, as he thanked the staff.

Photo courtesy of Samaratin's Purse
Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse

“What you all are doing is extraordinarily important,” he said. “There are lots of ways to spend your life, but very few of those ways will affect as many people in a positive way as what you are doing. I thank you for what you are doing. We are very deeply indebted to you and what you are doing here in the middle of the mountains to help people in over 110 countries.”

Gingrich also stopped in North Wilkesboro to tour the U.S. Disaster Relief facilities of Samaritan’s

Purse. The organization currently has teams deployed to Mississippi, Georgia, and New York to help hundreds of families recover from devastating storms.

Gingrich is the author of twenty-four books, including fourteen New York Times bestsellers.  Newt and his wife, Callista, host and produce historical and public policy documentaries. The couple lives in McLean, Virginia.