Greta Van Susteren, the host of "On the Record" on the Fox News Channel, and her husband, John Coale, recently accompanied evangelist Franklin Graham to Cambodia ten months after installing an irrigation system for 230 villagers to help alleviate hardship caused by the droughts.
"While [in Cambodia] in January we learned that villagers starve to death because of droughts - they have no water for their rice paddies, so they can't farm," Van Susteren wrote in a recent Facebook update. "When the villages get desperate from no food, human traffickers descend upon the villages and prey on the vulnerable promising the moon, and you know what happens then. There are labor and sex trafficking -- the most inhuman conduct done to vulnerable people."
In response, the couple decided to commission the help of Samaritan's Purse and Rev. Graham to build an irrigation system so that two villages would forever have water for their farms.
"We came back to Cambodia - 10 months later - to check on the project," Van Susteren continued. "The irrigation system is now complete and to our great delight, a giant success. It is 3 miles long and does exactly what we wanted - it effectively provides the water needed for the two villages so that they will not starve. Incidentally, while the canal was being built, John and I also provided the rice for more than 220 families in the two villages and Samaritan's Purse distributed the food."
A report from Samaritan's Purse notes that in addition to the new irrigation system, teams with the organization have been working to distribute food, seeds, and fertilizer, mushroom spores, and create linkages with local markets.
"Helping others is fun - and comes in all forms," Van Susteren concluded. "It can be traveling 1/2 across the world to build an irrigation system - or it can be visiting a lonely elderly person in your apartment building or even just giving someone a ride who needs one. Helping of all types is very valuable. All it takes is doing it. It is so enriching to help."
As reported by the Gospel Herald, both Franklin Graham and his father, renowned evangelist Billy Graham, have referred to Coale and Van Susteren as "close friends" despite possessing vastly different religious beliefs. The elder Graham has also expressed admiration for Coale's strength and courage in his book, "The Reason For My Hope."
In April, Franklin Graham took to Facebook to ask for prayers for Coale ahead of open heart surgery.
"Greta and John are great friends and supporters of Samaritan's Purse, he wrote at the time. "John is Greta's soulmate, they do everything together. Open heart surgery is not for sissies. John is one tough man, so much so that my father wrote about him in his book, The Reason for My Hope; but there can always be issues. Pray for John-and let Greta know you're praying in the comments below. I believe in the power of prayer!"
