Board of Directors

Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, has gone from rebellious young man to someone who has devoted his life to meeting the needs of people around the world as a means of sharing the love of Jesus Christ. He serves as President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association worldwide and is the founding member of Samaritan’s Purse Australia. Under his leadership, Samaritan’s Purse has met the needs of poor, sick, and suffering people in more than 100 countries. As an evangelist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, he has led crusades around the world. [ FULL BIO ]

Graeme Pearson OAM (Chairman), joined Nylex as a trainee chemist and in 1996 retired as CEO of BTR Nylex after 36 years service with the group.  At the time of retiring BTR Nylex was Australia’s largest manufacturing company.  During his career with the company, Graeme held a number of technical and management positions including General Manager in Malaysia and New Zealand and a director of the UK based parent company, BTR plc. He recently retired as chairman of MYOB,  He is also a director and partner of Business Leader Development, the holding company of  The Executive Connection, and is past president of The Peninsula Country Golf Club.

In 2010 Graeme was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for “services to the community through a range of charities.”

Graeme is married to Bette with adult children and seven grandchildren, and his interests are golf and yachting. He was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 1995.

Jorge Rodrigues started his business career in the accounting and company secretary field, before moving to marketing and general management. He gained extensive international business experience serving sixteen years with the USA Butterick group of companies as Managing Director of subsidiary companies in South Africa, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Jorge then served as Director of the National Scriptures Division at The Bible Society in Australia Inc. for eight years and was Chairman of Anglosec, the world-wide grouping of English language Bible Society publishers. He has an MBA from Macquarie University Graduate School of Management, Sydney.

Jorge is the Executive Director of Samaritan’s Purse Australia and is married with two children. He was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2010.

Edward (Ted) Bearn had a business career that was largely with the Smith & Nephew Healthcare group where he held a number of management positions in the UK, Singapore and Australia over a period of 36 years.   His final position was Managing Director South East Asia. On completion of full  time employment in 1996 he served  10 years as a director of the Baptist Baxter Village, a large retirement complex incorporating high and low care Nursing facilities.   Ted was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2003.

Duncan Brown is the Senior Pastor of New Peninsula, a contemporary evangelical church of over 1,000 people on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Duncan is also the chairman and founder of Capacity Builders, a company formed to empower not-for-profit organisations – predominantly Christian – to realize their visions. It does this by brokering a team of professionals – in the areas of strategic planning, communications and fundraising – to provide an affordable injection of expertise. Clients include: Wycliffe Australia, SU Qld, Global Interaction, Anglicare Sydney.

Prior to commencing at New Peninsula, Duncan was the CEO of SU Queensland, an inter-church Christian movement employing over 600 staff with more than 3,000 volunteers.

Duncan is married to Tricia, and they have three children.  He was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia  in 2007.

David Dawson has pursued the interesting mix of business and Ministry over a life time.  Involvement in the Building industry and property development takes some of his time. Ministry interests are with missions, men’s ministry and encouraging people in developing areas of the world.  With over 30 years in leadership with MMM  he is particularly passionate in taking business people and others to expose them to the needs of developing nations.

Married to Meryl for over 40 years, together they have three adult children and nine grandchildren, who all reside in Melbourne and attend the same church. He was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2002.

Karl Faase is the Senior Pastor at Gymea Baptist Church in Sydney’s southern suburbs. He has been the senior pastor of Gymea for the past twelve years. Karl is also the Executive Director of the Australian Arrow Leadership Development Program and was the co founder of the Media Project, “Jesus – all about life”.  He is involved with media ministry through his organisation Olive Tree Media which has produced “Face to Face”, a weekly television program, the DVD “Remembering 59” and his radio spots are heard around Australia on Christian radio stations.

Karl is married to Jane and has three adult children. He was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2001.

Wendy Francis is the Queensland State Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. Her professional background is in management at Griffith University and Queensland Baptists. She is currently the Executive Producer of the Lord Mayor’s Carols in Brisbane and is a Committee Member of Family Association of Queensland.

She is married to Peter Francis, Senior Pastor City Tabernacle Baptist Church, and has three children and ten grandchildren.  She was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2008.

Robert Greaves (AM) has been a leader in the building and construction industry in Australia for many years. He is a former national President of the Australian Institute of Building and was made a member in the Order of Australia for his services to the industry. Robert  has also served as Chairman for Youth For Christ International and travels extensively in his business operations, on behalf of his church in Perth and Youth For Christ.

Robert was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 1998. He is married to Jackie.

Paul Saber was Senior Vice President, USA Corporate Division of McDonald’s from 2001- 2003 and served on the Board of Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities, as well as Serving as Chairman of the National Leadership Council of all McDonald’s operators, where he restructured the National Operator Advisory Board to become more collaborative, working with the McDonald Corporation Chairman and President in the US.

Paul serves on the Board of Directors of Horizon Christian Fellowship, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, CA; Samaritan’s Purse, Boone, NC; The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Charlotte, NC. He also serves on the BGEA/SP Affiliate Office Boards of Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. Paul was elected to the Board of Samaritan’s Purse Australia in 2008.

Paul and his wife Dianne have two children. 

Key Staff
Jorge Rodrigues, Executive Director, Australia & New Zealand • Abby McPharlin, Projects Manager, Australia & New Zealand • Daniel Barreca, Operation Christmas Child International Manager – South East Asia Pacific • David O’Connor, Operation Christmas Child Manager,  Australia & New Zealand • Kenneth James,  Disaster Relief Manager, Australia and New Zealand • Paula Haywood, Marketing & Communications Manager, Australia & New Zealand • Rodney Trinidad, Youth and School Relations Manager, Australia & New Zealand • John Kranenburg, Secretary to the Board