Middle Eastern Christian Festival 2025

Kingdom Pursuits, where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into kingdom pursuits.

Now, live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore. Oh, how fun today. We are live from the Middle Eastern. Christian Festival. In Clemens, we're at 2570 Harper Road.

In Clemens, if you're in the area, by all means, you don't want to miss out on. The kafta, you don't want to miss out on the people from the Middle East, you don't want to miss out on the baklava. It's a little taste of heaven between the fellowship and the food, and there's going to be some dancing here shortly. I can assure you, there's going to be. What do they call it?

It's like a circle dance? Depka, yes. Depka. Depka. Yes.

We need some Depka, Stu. You got to have a little more Depka. I'm telling you right now. More Depka. Mm-hmm.

It's like there's a Shekinah glory over Clemens, North Carolina. When you drive out here, Uh we're talking live on the radio, grandson. And you pull out here, just as an anointing. All this, not just the delicious smells of this food that's just kind of wafts all over me. Oh, my goodness.

But you got this music, this anointed praise, and worship. Look at the bounce house. I got grandson right here, and we're about to go get on a bounce house and get face painting. Bring the youngsters out, right? It's hope for the whole family, right?

Celine. It's very children-friendly, and all the children can have fun, all kinds of activities, from face painting to. To uh, this is such an opportunity, all kinds of them. For children, you see what an opportunity to. Have your children find out about a culture.

A lot of people, when they see somebody from the Middle East, they assume Arab, but they assume a lot of things. But if you met somebody here, they gave you a big old hug from Lebanon, or you ate some kafta, sat down in the tent with them from Egypt, and you really had a chance to, then all of a sudden those children. see a different face to the Middle East. And the next generation is learning what love looks like that comes out of Christ. 100%.

Yes, we love to. We want to have all the community to come and join us in this celebration, that this celebration is for all. We have a common heritage that we bring, a Christian heritage to show a different face of the Middle East. You see, when people hear of the Middle East, they hear war and bombing and killing and all kind of stuff. But here?

I mean, it's peaceful, all kind of people from the Middle East living. peacefully under the banner of Christ. What nations are represented here? What are the different folks people will meet? This is incredible.

Yes, we have people from Egypt, Sudan, people from Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran. And now we have people from the UK and even Salvador. We have people from different and Philippines.

So people need to get their passport. They need to spend about $5,000 plus to buy a ticket to come out here, right? Yes, amen. Amen. No passport needed.

Just get in your car, drive to Clements. We have listeners everywhere.

Now some of our folks, our friends in Richmond and Utah can't get here, but man, they need to check this place out. They need to connect with believers. That may not look like them. Yeah. But man, they love Jesus.

This is what heaven's gonna look like, right, Robbie? Oh, and it's going to smell like this too, I'm pretty sure. You forgot the chicken kebabs, you know. Oh, yeah, chicken kebabs. Chicken kebabs.

Well, we don't want to forget those. And from what I understand, these ladies have been working. For like Like all week long, unbelievable hours to make these unbelievable desserts. And from what I understand, from what I was told, everything came straight from the ground. Yes, all fresh, fresh meat, fresh ingredients, everything's fresh.

Nothing frozen, no preservatives, all healthy. I love it. And it's just fabulous. And this is really. A taste of the Middle East, but it's actually very healthy, very biblical, you know, how this food is prepared and put together.

and we got all kinds of kids and look at look at the crowd starting to come.

So we want to invite everyone that's within driving range. You know, we got some Raleigh folks that can come. But the hours now, if they want to come out right now. Yes, from 10 till 6 p.m. Today.

And then tomorrow tomorrow.

Okay, awesome. We worship tomorrow. Tomorrow at 10, 10 a.m. Worship under the tent. Oh, my God.

Worship. And then it goes on again. Yes. Until 6. But, you know, I've never got a chance to play shenanigans with stew.

Uh-oh. And so it's time, you know?

So, speaking of the Middle East, right? Here we go.

Now the fun begins. Because it's time to play. Shenanigans are waiting. No need to call in today. We're going to see if somebody here will know the answer to my riddle, but we're going to go on with that in a minute.

You know, I got Nick in the studio, I got Stu here, I got Salim.

So snow isn't a problem in the Middle East.

However... What frozen water is a problem? Oh wow. Frozen water. If the water looks yellow, that's a problem.

No, that would be. But this Ice is. Oh man, oh wrong. ISIS. Yes, yeah, that's the problem.

You could sell ISIS to Eskimos at Robbie with that one. I would tell you. It's a tough sell. And so, again, this is. Not speaking that all the ever you know, the piece that we have here, but...

Speaking of the Middle East, if you're actually to go there, why are there no Walmarts in the Middle East?

Okay.

Well no Walmarts in the Middle East. Why are there no Walmarts in the Middle East? You got an idea, Nick? I don't know, I'm thinking a little hard on this one.

Okay, well it's c It's because there's targets on every corner. No.

Okay.

Ooh, shit. That's right. All right, why, or excuse me, what did Alanis Morrisett say when she visited the Middle East? Alanis Morrison. She said it when she visited the Middle East.

What did she say, Nick? You're a music fan, I know you know this. It's a music question. Oh man, I really don't know this now. I'm sorry.

She's coming back. Isn't it ironic? I don't know. Yeah. You know, S next levels.

But so that you can win, if you know this answer, let me tell you, we are going to. Bless you. With a full lunch. From the Middle Eastern Christian Festival, if you drive in with the answer to this question, and you're the first one to the table. Say, Robbie, I got it, I got it, I got it.

We're gonna bless you with a full-on lunch, baklava. Kafta What do they call it? Macaroni baked?

Son of Bachemel. Bachemel is. Bachemel. Bashemel. Beg it right now.

Come on. Where in the Bible? Here we go.

Here's a question. Where in the Bible root? Do you find the giant cedars? Where in the Bible? Do you find the giant cedars?

In what country might you find that in the Middle East? You just drive in here. If you're the first person to come to the tent, say, Robbie, I know what country the Middle East the Giant Seders are in. You're going to get a full-on lunch. You just got to come.

Say, Robbie, I got it. I got it. I got it. I'm talking caught. I'm talking about features of blank.

I'm telling you, you've got to come to the panel. And then there's a sandwich that's like, what do they call that? Goodness. Falafel. Falafel.

Falafel. You won't falafel if you eat falafel. There's shwarma. Schwarma. Schwarma.

I'm kind of schwarming up to this right now myself. You will, Stu. You love it. I'm very excited. Oh, my.

So again, just drive on in. 2570 Harper Road in Clemens, the Bible Church of Clemens here. Be the first person up here to the truth tent to tell me you know where this country is. You're going to be eating like a king. Like a royal king.

I really look forward to that. That's amazing. Yeah, they tell you, beautiful. Saleem, this is a huge event every year. But really your passion for this event.

Lay it on us before we go into this next break.

Well, we want to reach out to our community. with the peace and love of God. and share a common faith and common heritage together. This is the land of the free and God blessed us that we came to this country and this country, the great USA. I mean the land of the free.

Welcome all of us and we honor that. We want to Reach out to the community peacefully and love on them. And for anyone that's interested in missions, which every Christian is a missionary, every Christian is a missionary missionary. Amen. A large number of people up in the millions, even billions in this part of the world.

Have never heard the gospel. But there's a movement of God. Talk about the movement of God in the Middle East, and this is a great way to come out and get a flavor of that. Yes, God is moving in the Middle East. And that's where the Holy Spirit is working hard and we need to join.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the Middle East. God is reaching. to all kind of people over there. To the Muslims, all the people around, and reaching out with the gospel and changing people. Come see us, we're on Harper Road.

The name of the church people can put it in their chat. What's the name of the church? Bible Church of Clemens. Bible Church of Clemens in North Carolina. You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And very exciting, I mean really exciting. We have Camille and we have Walker. And Walker is just bit into what is that you're eating? Donuts.

Donuts. Look at that one. That's a famous Middle Eastern specialty that comes in Winston-Salem. And so. For those of you who have never heard Stu's grandson before, this is your opportunity.

And how old are you, Walker? Five. And is this your first Middle Eastern Christian festival? What's your favorite part so far? I'm the donut.

Yeah, but he's eyeballing that bouncy house. And wait till he starts getting all that schwarma and all that other stuff, Robbie. He's going to get his finger. He's going to get his face painted. Face painting.

Oh, wow. I'm telling you right now. I think they used to have a tent, do they still have it? Uh where You could sit down and they dress you up with the hat and and and you you get a picture like you're in the tent. Yes, I still have a picture of my granddaughter.

When she sat in that tent, it's precious to me. Yeah. High ten too as well. Do you have a kite? Yeah.

So I gotta turn your mic up, I'm sorry. Yes, sir.

So we are so blessed to have You know, those of you who a few minutes ago heard Uh Rema. Her dad's with us now. That's right. And so Camille You look a lot different than the last time I saw you. I hope better.

Yes, yes. Like myself, you're half the man you used to be. Thank you.

So Bob would you're so funny.

So what's going on?

Well, nothing much. We are here celebrating the Lord and share it with the community. And you know, as you know, we our church here is uh unique. We have about almost eleven different nationalities. And all these people with different nationality back home are in conflict and fighting, but in Christ we are united.

Amen. And we decided to share that with the local community and show the whole world What's impossible with the Word is possible with Jesus. And what what country are you guys originally from?

Well, I'm originally from Lebanon. And uh we have uh people here from uh Sudan, from Egypt, from Lebanon, from uh Israel, from Palestine, from uh Iraq. Wasn't there some Palestine in your background too? That's correct. That's correct.

My mom's side, that's correct.

Well, how could so many people from so many nationalities That there's all this war in the Middle East, and we see it on the news. Everyone's like, be careful traveling over there. How could they all get along? I mean, I'm looking back here, I'm just looking at it. Look at the hug right there.

Look at the love. Look at these people, even from completely different countries that might be at war with each other. How could that be?

Well, it's all possible with Jesus. Jesus taught us to love one another and to pray for one another. And then nobody knows that more than your family, right? I mean, as far as... Receiving prayers from this particular, you know, the Bible Church of Clemens, the community.

Absolutely. Absolutely. We heard Rama's story on the Christian Kargai here not long ago, for those who are still listening, but some haven't heard it.

Well, Rima Rima we call her the miracle deer in in my opinion. And And the Lord had really worked tremendously. Through him alive, and you know what? Our church was there and they were praying and asking the Lord to save her, and I really believe. The Lord has saved Rima because of all this.

uh living saints that they they prayed for Rhima. And the beautiful thing is if you listen carefully, you can hear a guitar in the background. Guess who's playing that guitar? Rima. Rima.

Actually, the doctors gave us a list of almost 12 items that Rima will not be able to do. And one of them is uh her her um uh motor skills will not be functional. Her brain will not be functional fully and they really made it sound like she's going to be disabled, almost 70-75%. And you know what? Uh The Lord that Restored Rima, and she's back and she's playing the guitar.

She's in a worship team and she praised the Lord. And it's amazing. It's amazing what God can do. It is, and now we just have to trust Him, you know. And it's amazing to be out here like We have talked about with Kareem, et cetera, that it's like you feel like you're home.

Like, I haven't seen you guys in a couple years. But the second I see you, I'm like, man, I'm home. And you see those smiles and you feel the warm hoe. I mean, it's like acceptance. It's like heaven.

And so how about you, Jalil? Um What's on your heart?

Well, um tha listening to Camille's words talking about Rima and her healing, one of the things I remember the doctor said she would never be able to play an instrument, especially not a piano. And Rima, of course, today plays six instruments, including the piano and the guitar.

So it's amazing. Our Lord is amazing. With all the doctors, and everyone thought she would never be able to make it a semi-normal life. Here she is praising her Lord, speaking his name. boldly and courageously, and she loves him.

and our whole family and church family and community has been touched. with her story and we pray we give him all praise and glory but his goodness that he chose to keep prima for us. And so here's an interesting thing. I'm wondering how you guys deal with it.

So In my case, you know I have a similar situation in my life where I was healed from cancer, then crushed by a Jeep, and then Had a brain abscess and a lot of the complications that Rima went through. and sometimes I give my testimony and sometimes I give my testimonies. in nursing homes. And so this week I was doing that at a nursing home. and sharing with some of those folks.

And one lady there got irate. God didn't choose to heal her sister. Mm. You know, I was kind of, you know, it took me because I never realized that sometimes when you share. You know, how wonderful God's been to you.

God was doing something else. in that particular situation. And so you guys obviously have that same survivor because I'm sure when you were up there with Rima, there were lots of children that didn't make it. Exactly. And you know, it's funny you said that because when Rima was in hospital, Camille and I started helping out just because we saw the need of the families.

And because of that, the hospital came back to us and they wanted us to start officially as a nonprofit foundation. And we started Hope and Love Foundation and through it, till today, we go to the ninth floor, the Cancer Center at Brenners and serve the cancer children and their families. And that's exa you're exactly right. We do witness children that are dying every day. We do witness moms and dads losing their babies.

The kids that we play with today, we might go tomorrow and they're not there anymore and it's heartbreaking. And you're correct.

Sometimes we may not understand why the Lord chooses chose to keep prima, and yet Maybe he made the decision to take somebody else home. and I remember before Rima was healed. When I used to pray for Rima, I wanted healing, and Camille would always tell me Ask for the Lord's will because His will is way greater and better than our own will. And as a mother, it was so difficult for me to surrender and accept that. And I didn't want to accept that.

But at the same time Um looking back, I remember praying and my only hope was Even if Rima dies, my hope is we're going to be united again in heaven. And that was the ultimate hope as a mom I was looking forward to. Whether Rima lives or she dies, the ultimate hope that we're going to be united again in heaven. because I know she accepted the Lord and because of his blood on the cross. And this is the one hope I want to give every parent out there.

Every person who has a family going through cancer or a struggle or Or death, or whatever it is, our hope is in Christ because He paid the price for our sins. And if we accept that, We will be united again eternally. We never have to be separated again. And this is the most joyful time we're gonna have. And this is our hope.

that we look for. for eternity together. Absolutely. And there is a misunderstanding with a lot of people we met in uh in a in a hospital. A lot of them got upset with God because they they thought that God is causing that to their kids.

But the reality is, you know, God is not causing that. to get gets sick. But the sinful nature of this world, the fallen world, the original sin. That is being committed, put us in that situation, and this is the consequence of. living in a sinful world.

And uh we we have I tried to help a lot of families to understand that and some of them did, some of them did not accept it. But you know, like she said, we have hope in Jesus. And if if the Lord decided To let somebody go to heaven. Heaven is, in my opinion, is a much better place than here. and eventually we're gonna unite again, reunite with our loved one in heaven.

We just have to trust God is a good father and a good father will always do what's best for his kids. And uh That's the the the way I looked at it at when Rima was sick. I said, if I'm if I'm a a humanly father. And I I can't do so good to my kids. Imagine a godly father.

Like God Himself. He's a righteous and he will do whatever it takes best for his children. And we just have to trust his decision, even though sometimes we cannot understand and doesn't we cannot fathom. why he allowed this or allowed that, but no. You know, we have to trust he's a good father and he's doing what's best for us.

Yeah, and that It's amazing how God uses this in different people's lives in different ways. Like in your cases, you started the non-profit. and you have a chance to minister to other families, you know, that some will. And some You know, well, it d and but Life is Fragile, life is short. And that's right.

It won't be all that much longer, right? And we'll all be in one way or another. Nobody gets out of this deal alive as far as this body is concerned. Unless you you go up in the in the rapture, however that may work for you, but You know, it's really cool that God did that in your life. And then in some other people's lives, like Bob Young, my good friend, he lost his son.

To drugs. And um But that started his ministry to parents that have lost children. Right, and because God comforted him in such a way that he can now comfort others. because he went through that particular part of it. But he has you guys there in the hospital comforting people that because he comforted you so well.

While you were there, I'm interested. because you're so well spoken, Talil. What's Can you take us back to a We gotta go to a break. When we come back, I want to hear this, even though we got somebody else coming too. If Jalil will share with us.

A moment where you felt God most near during that struggle. We'll be right back with that story. But you got to make your way out. We still got Kafta. We still got.

Hummus, we got all these food, it's amazing. The dancing, you can hear, and you can hear this praising it. You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion. And uses it to build the kingdom.

And oh, am I passionate about the Middle Eastern Christian Festival? Because, oh my goodness, we're live out here. It's again, it's 2570. Harper Road and Clemens at Clemens Bible Church. And oh yes, there's stuff for your family.

Oh yes, there's food. I'm watching a little girl with cotton candy run around right this second, but then there's the falafel, there's the hummus, there's the... Kebab, oh man, you're gonna feel wonderful if you come in here. It's a little bit of heaven from the food, the fellowship, and all. But when we left our hero, Joelle, who had gotten her name wrong during...

You know You're going to get a newer name when you get in heaven, and it might be Jalil. There you go. But sure. Um When you were in the hospital with your daughter, we were going to talk about. When did you really sense God's Pre like it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. Like, oh my gosh. This was so special, this moment. Can you take us there? Yeah, absolutely.

So Rima had one of the worst types of childhood leukemia. One out of 25 million kids get it every year. And after going through two years of treatments, she came down with a case of meningitis. That caused Miima to have a stroke. She was in a coma in the ICU for four weeks.

and she couldn't breathe on her own anymore and they told us she has 24 hours go ahead and make arrangements for her funeral. And as you can imagine, that was the worst time of my life ever. Watching my child dying before my own eyes and couldn't do anything about it to save her. I tried, I fought the Lord for two years and didn't work. and she was on her deathbed.

And I was very scared. and I was very broken. And um my husband told me for two years Um you should surrender. And Go by the Lord's will. Whatever His will is, is the best for our family, and I didn't want to surrender.

I was fighting the Lord because I didn't wanna witness my child dying before my own eyes. A little ten year old. And then that day we met with six doctors and they told us three mahas 24 hours, start making arrangements. And I came back to Rima's room in the ICU. And there was no windows.

one sliding door, I closed the door and there was a curtain. And that day when I was reading in the Bible, I was reading the passage of Jesus right before his crucifixion. when he was in a mountain of olive praying with his um disciples and he prayed and he said Lord May you take this cup away from me. For the very first time, I felt like Jesus was scared, just like I was so scared. Because I've always felt like Jesus is God.

He's perfect. He's the Almighty. He can never feel me or understand what I'm going through. Or feel my fear. That was the very first time I felt like, no, he understands.

He was a human, and he was very scared. And he asked his father, not to crucify him. But yet. His father decided. it is time for him to be crucified so he can save all of us.

And yet Jesus was crucified, but because of that we have eternal life today. And when I was reading that passage, for the very first time I realized who am I. to come against him. Who am I? To tell him no, and I'm going against your will.

And I went inside the ICU room, I closed the door, and I held Rima's hand. And I got on my knees and I prayed, and I said, Lord. I can't believe I'm saying this. But if it's your will for you to take Rima home with you. I surrender.

Let it be your will. I said, would you please, I beg you? Keep our family of seven together for us. But if you're the one who created Rima, You're the one who gave me each and every single one of my children. If you see it's best for our family for you to take Ro home, Rima.

heaven let it be your will And I don't know what happened that moment. I had a cold breeze that ran through my brain and went all the way down through my body, down to my legs. and that curtain. just was flowing. for a few seconds.

And I got up, wiped my tears, put Trima's hand down and for the very first time I left Rima in a room. I used to never leave her alone, ever. and I walked outside. with brothers and sisters praying for her. And everyone thought that something happened to Rima.

I was like, no. And for the very first time. I had the peace of the Lord. that truly surpassed all understanding. And since that day, when I surrendered fully and completely all of that fear, and um was taken away from me.

And today we live day by day. but we live by the grace of the Lord. And I think to me that was the ultimate moment. understanding his will. And since that day, he's like, since now you surrendered, let me show you what I can do.

So when I set aside, he's like, now watch. And look at Trima today. When they thought she would never walk, she would never move, she would never be able to eat on her own. She plays six instruments, she runs, she plays the guitar. She's working on her PhD when she's only 23 years old.

The Lord worked above and beyond what he would do in any normal person's life. It's beautiful. What a story. Amazing. Amazing.

Thank you.

Well, beautiful, so beautiful. We also have with us now. And we've been waiting for a while to get Marina here because If you come with your kids, which we really hope you will, and Marina has three with her. to just make this example. What we talked about Is they get a chance to experience a different culture.

So, Marina is from Egypt, and her family is manning the Egyptian tent, which is fun, and so. What will people experience marina if they come to Egypt here? Again, it's festival. At the festival, yes, we've got some cultural exhibits, one for each of the Middle Eastern countries that are represented at the church here.

So, yes, there is an Egypt tent, and we've got lots of different facts about Egypt from the Bible.

So, you can come check that out. We've also got some ancient Egyptian things, which are pretty fun to see. And there's some delicious food that you can enjoy. There's chicken kebabs. But yeah.

You're obviously Uh part of that whole thing, but your dad was telling me That actually Egypt holds more of the antiquities of the world and they just opened a giant Um Museum, right, in Cairo? Yes, yes, they did. And yes, it's pretty massive. They've got a bunch of new exhibits there that they've recently uncovered, and then they've pulled in some things from other museums in the country, so pretty impressive, yeah.

So, with your family having the Egyptian background that they have, and I'm interested in your take on the book of Exodus, right? And so you know.

So How do you see that, being that you are from that country, and you know, it just seems like you guys remain out to be the bad guys, but you're not, right? No, we are not, yeah. Unfortunately, you know, what happened in the Bible times, you know, it's unfortunate that the Jews were treated that way by my ancestors. But, you know, God is a good God, He redeems, and He gave, you know, the Egyptians had a chance later on to hear the gospel and be safe.

Well, when you think about it, it's really cool from my perspective. That there were a few Egyptians, which actually the Jews would tell you are some of the most remarkable converts in all of history, one of which was clearly, you know, Moses' stepmom, or slash, you know, Pharaoh's daughter, right? Was a remarkable. convert and so some of the first Right, people that were melded into the faith actually came out of Egypt, right? Yes, yes.

And so you've got that background. Yes. Mm-hmm. But Part of that culture is Like when you grew up, did you grew up here in the United States? I did, yes.

But yet, your parents obviously, and so what was that like growing up in the United States when your parents clearly are very Egyptian? Yes, yeah, it was actually pretty interesting. You know, my parents would only speak to me in Arabic at home, and so I actually learned English through TV and then eventually through school.

So, you know, and growing up, when you're so young, you don't realize that your life is different than other people's. You know, you don't realize that, hey, we might eat different food at home or speak a different language. It's just what you know. And so it wasn't until I was maybe in Elementary school, that I started realizing: oh, hey, you know, not everybody speaks Arabic at home, or you know, not everyone eats kebabs, or you know, things like that at home.

So it's pretty interesting, you know, and so I get to take. the good, the beautiful things from both cultures, you know, my Egyptian culture and my American culture, and then I get to blend it together and make a new culture. And so quick before the break, you gotta tell them what's on your kid's t-shirt. Yes, so my kids are half Egyptian, half American, or fully American, and then, so they have shirts that say made in America with Egyptian parts. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion. And uses it to build the kingdom, and certainly we know that God has a passion for the Middle East. It wouldn't take. A rocket scientist to figure that one out. And so, if God has a passion for the Middle East, we have a passion for the Middle East.

That's where it all got started, right, Robbie? It did. How about that? Where would we be if it weren't for that little town of Bethlehem? Right?

You know? It is. It's all. In the holy city of Jerusalem and all those countries and. We got sh Man, and I'm telling you right now, I'm looking at a piece of food, I got distracted.

I went through the line to look. I mean, I'm just going to look. I'm just going to look at this food. And man, they started piling my plate up. I mean, I'm going to give you a little pop quiz.

Yes, sir.

What do you call that? We call this schwarma. You're right. Unbelievable beef. I'm going to dip it in the hummus right here.

All right, down the hatch. Man, they've got this beef, this lamb, these kebabs. I This one here, the long, the longest. That's like a.

Well, you tell us. I know it's called Gofta. Kogosta. Yeah, I was going to say that. They could be Arab if they didn't fill your plate.

How about this one? It'll make you feel false. It'll make you feel falafel. But no, no, no. It's wonderful stuff.

Never mind. And you can hear Stu. He's munching. And look at this. They gave me this cup of free Hot Arabic coffee, absolutely delicious.

Because grandson ate the donut before I could get a bite to dip in here. But I'm telling you, Clements, North Carolina. For those of you geographically challenged. Just type in Bible Church of Clemens. That's right.

It'll bring you to Harper Road near the YMCA. West of Winston-Salem, not far from Charlotte, not far from Raleigh. 27012. Yeah. And you will eat like you've never eaten before, all the way till they're here till 6 o'clock today, and then tomorrow, go worship with them.

And then eat afterward. They're playing praise and worship. There's a bounce house. My grandson's jumping around to that right now with a bunch of new friends. It's awesome.

It is. It is. And we got Sandy. And Sandy Welcome. Thank you.

It's so great to have you here. And so I understand that your father is one of the pastors. That's right. He's one of the Arabic speakers. Yes.

Yeah, kind of describe that for our listeners, that when you guys do a service, you've got English speakers and you've got Arabic speakers, right? That's right. We usually start with the English service and then while the English is running, the Arabic has discussion groups going on in a separate room. and then we switch. The Arabic starts preaching and the English dismisses to discussion groups.

Wonderful, wonderful. And so your dad is... Originally from Syria. Yeah. His ancestors are Syrian, but uh he grew up his entire life in Sudan.

And if people don't know where Sudan is, it's right under Egypt. Stu knows where it is because he went there. Oh, that's awesome. If anybody knows where Sudan is, it would be Stu. Sudan is really where the Ethiopian eunuch went.

It was back then, it was part of Ethiopia, like that whole area was together, and that is a great. Such a good mission view. Yeah. I mean so many people are hungry for truth. And what they've been fed, all these religions and Eastern religions that get them nowhere, and they want to know.

And when they hear about Jesus and there's dreams and visions, there's all kinds of miracles happening across the Middle East. Absolutely. And we're seeing a big. Fat miracle right here in the middle of Clemens, North Carolina, aren't we, Robbie? I'll tell you, and if I stay here much longer, I'm going to be a lot fatter.

He's having to look at this food right here. I mean, look at those kebabs right there. I know, I know. And again, you can't, if you were aware we are here at the truth booth. Um Temporary truth booth, man, we're right across from the barbecue.

Why do they do that, Doug? But they put it right across. They're collecting us. They put the coffee stand right there, the popcorn. There's face cod for children, there's bounce houses, but they put this amazing line.

of these phenomenal foods right there. Yeah, I don't know. The people are one of the main things. You know, when you get to heaven, the food's going to be awesome. We certainly want to see Jesus, but one of the neat things is...

is to feel totally loved, totally accepted. And so as a pastor's kid, not necessarily always the easiest thing to be. Sandy, from your perspective, Tell us about your church. Our church, man, I love our church, it's always open for people. And one of my favorite things about our church is it's founded on truth and it does not compromise the truth, and we definitely need that more.

in uh America and the world in general, um We're not scared to offend people for the truth. and we're going to stand for a minute.

So, yeah, I just love our church. It's welcoming. It's open for everybody to come in to hear the truth about Jesus and who is. And yeah. Yeah, so You know, for those who may not be familiar, one of the reasons for your amazing growth, right?

is a lot of people come to America. And and they speak Arabic. Mm-hmm. And they feel like they're in a foreign place, but here's a place where they speak their language. Absolutely.

Absolutely. That's actually one of my dad's passions. He doesn't know English that well, but Every time he hears there's a Muslim family or people who just strictly speak Arabic, he gets so excited to go share the gospel with them. And I just love growing up, seeing that passion in him, um, evangelizing. He had a huge ministry in Sudan and He still continues it even here.

And Muslims will come to this church because they're familiar with the culture. Hey, the food, and there's a warmth, there's a hospitality. Familiar. Yeah, there's familiar, and it's a great opportunity to share the gospel with them in a loving way. Absolutely.

We're the body of Christ, and we're opening our arms to guests who may not hear their native tongue. around when they go to uh Calvary Baptist Church or somewhere like that, but they'll come out here and they'll hear that language and they'll hear the gospel. I just love that. Yeah. Oh, God's brought this to me.

Well, we got to tell people, you've got to come in. You don't want to miss out on this. Clemens, North Carolina. We'd love to have you. Bible Church of Clemens.

Harper Road. I mean, but it's the food, it's a fellowship, it's a family. We're going to be doing some dances here. You can join with me in the lineup. What's it called?

Depka. Depka. Unbelievable. We're going to be Depka, and we're going to see the depths of Depka. You don't have to go across the world to come and experience the Middle East and what God's doing in so many hearts here and abroad.

It's time we reach our world with the good news of Jesus Christ. That's why we're here still. Our passion, right, is the Middle East. Thank you for listening. I got some kebabs to you here.