Taking The Gospel to the Middle East

Hi, I'm Joanne Vickner, Memaw with It's Storytime Memaw, an answered prayer for stories that point children to God on the Truth Network for kids. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. How many Arabic speaking human beings are on planet Earth?

And do they need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ too? Amazing. If you just look to the last 50 years, how many Arabs knew the Lord Jesus compared with the 1950 years? It's amazing. God's working out. I am at a restaurant. I'm with two Arabic pastors from Syria, a college basketball coach, a young life leader, an entrepreneur missionary from an ultra missionary from Lebanon, and the director of the YMCA, all sitting here at Biscuitville. And Kaleem, these two men of God really are heroes of the faith. Set the table for us, literally, as the biscuits go down and the gravy and grits happen.

Talk to us. Well, it's the kingdom of God, of course, you know, like, put us all together on one table here. And that's what happens this this amazing brother Farhan Eid. We met him in Syria right before the civil war in Syria. We visited him and the town. We went into his church and the church almost 100 people all from Muslim and the roos background all all of them they come from, who loves the Lord who put their lives, you know, on the line for Jesus Christ. For our faith here, you know, we're having a nice conversation about Christ. No one's arresting us.

There's no police at the door waiting for us. But right here in the in the in North Carolina, but it's different from these brothers, like you were just on the phone with a guy who just got kicked out. You're trying to find him a house now, right? Well, this is exactly you know, that's what the kingdom of God looks like, you know, you could bring people together like this. And so he just asked me about this brother who was kicked out from his house. He said, Do you know anybody in Antioch, southern Turkey, right? The great Antioch, the city of Paul and Barnabas and John Mark? Do you know anybody said, Of course, we come alongside this pastor Hamdallah is Antioch Christian Church in Antioch.

And we've been serving these people for 15 years. And I said, let me give them a call, we're gonna find a place for this wonderful brother to stay. And so we reach out to the pastor's wife, illness, this amazing lady. And we asked her, she said, Of course, we're gonna find a place for this guy.

And here we go. It's the body of Christ to work, Pastor Farhan, your passion for all of this. I mean, you know what I am is also what's the what's brother Kaleem did, because for three, four weeks, I was really turning around myself, because I don't know anyone there to help this, this brother, where this brother because he came from very fundamentalist Muslim background, and he accept the Christ. And then he kicked out, and he's written his life written, literally. And I didn't find any solution for him when I just took him away. When I just talked to brother Kaleem, imagine in two minutes, he said, right now, he just call that pastor's wife while we were in the restaurant here, like it just happened. Yes, and that's happened.

And now now I connect back this friends. We call him Renee, this is not the real name, but I call him and he is he is exciting because he was praying for one month just to find a place. Wow. In Pastor Ray, these Muslims come to know Christ as their Savior. Suddenly, they're evangelists, they're trying to reach souls, and they're willing to die for their faith.

What what kind of commitment? I'm not I'm not used to that here in the West. Yes, exactly. And those people, they come with so much thirst, to study the Bible to know about the Bible and to share their faith with their fellow family and brothers and sister, and brother, brother for Han has a heart to really disciple them and to to give them the curriculums and tools for them to study the Bible and to share their faith with their with their family. I want to circle back to what you're doing now and how we can pray for you. But I want to bring my brother Andrew and he works with Young Life. And Andrew, as Western Christians in ministry does a lot of let's talk about perspective, a couple of your cool students and alum just walked in, you gave a big hug. You're discipling young people.

First World problems dealing with a lot of different things. But here you have brothers who've seen you have their friends who they will never not see the heaven who died in the last couple months for their faith in Christ in in Syria 11 in the Middle East. Talk about perspective, will you? It's such a great question because we are caught up in the world we know the best picture I ever heard of culture was two young fish swimming in the ocean. An older fish passes by and says, How's the water today, boys?

And as they go by the first fish looks at second says what's water? Because culture is what is around us that we're not even aware of it. And so what the world that far as speaking of compared to the world we see, I'm with young men that they are frustrated because their friend got a car when they turned 16 and they didn't, or their friend got a nicer car or things of like that we how many likes were given on the different social media platforms. They don't know suffering in that way. Yet at the same time, they are suffering. And I'd say that COVID did not suddenly cause a crisis of anxiety, but it did reveal and speed up where there is a longing in the hearts for all of us, but especially for adolescents in that season that they are longing, they don't need more information. This is the first generation that did not need to ask adults for information.

They have always had access to information. So that creates a disconnect of respecting and honoring adults because they don't need their help. But the second piece is it's not they need more information. They need someone who wants to just know them. They want to be heard.

They're not looking for more information. They want to be heard and then to be able to process with someone who will allow that. And so the longing is the same across the world, even in the context looking very different of the world they live in. Pastor Farhan, tell everyone what you're up to now and your response to that and how we can wake up here in the West. And this isn't to shame people. Andrew, we're encouraged, aren't we, by what God is doing here and how are we passionate about what really matters?

I mean, I will tell you something. It's personally happened to my life because when I get saved 1991 in Syria, going to church, I mean, I got kind of partially persecution, just verbal persecution from people. Why you are going to that evangelical church?

Those are bad people, those I mean, all kind of bad reputation because they related always evangelical churches with Western countries and America. And that's in Syria was not accepted. But that's it. That's all. Later, I start to discover it was very easy for us to start to start a new church or new meeting or wherever we want.

And God clearly showed me that we are in golden time where we can start a lot of ministries. But this will not be for a long time. And we lost the freedom. Imagine the same country today. I cannot walk there. I cannot go there.

I cannot do anything there. The last week I was there. I faced death four times in 30 hours.

Two times they shoot at me directly. And by God's grace, I got saved. And you know what? Today, the people cannot do more. And we lost our freedom. And here in USA, you have huge freedom, huge open doors, huge opportunity, huge chance to reach others with gospel. Please don't do our mistake because I don't know how much this will take song. Maybe I hope decades but could be years could be months, then please the doors right now open.

Please use it before you lose it. Pastor Ray, you use construction, you've preached, you've taught, you've studied theology, you have a degree, you have a from Syria, you're all over Germany working with the church. Tell us your passion and piggyback kind of what he says your word to the Western Church. Just that the opportunity we have right now, we see we see not not hundreds but thousands of people from Muslim background. They are opening their eyes because of the media because of the tools we have right now we are able to reach millions and millions of people, countries that we never was able to reach before. Now we can reach those those country and spread the gospel and, and share, share the news with them and we're using the precept study. It's an amazing, amazing method for someone brand new and never opened the Bible to see and use the observation and, and the interpretation and the application method, so he can apply, and the Word of God become a life. Okay, for him.

Wow. So get behind and love on your, your young life leader, your, your YMCA go there and serve Christ and mentor kids it's free to do, you know, we get thousands of people coming in our border yeah that's illegal that's immoral but guess what, they're here. So it's a mission field. God's rebuke the church since we weren't going out there as much now he's brought the mission field here. So what a great opportunity for the gospel in your closing thoughts Pastor Farhan, I mean, I will tell you something sometimes we ask wrong questions. And sometimes we can get the right question like, for example, when when I came to Germany God brought me to Germany.

There were like six to 10,000 Syrian in that time there. I always ask God why I am here I am, what I have to do in two months later, the doors open for refugees to come all the way, all the Syrian came to Germany, and the number increase from 10,000 to 1,300,000 refugees who speaking Arabic, and they need people to reach out there, and I just found myself God sent me ahead of them to reach out them. Now, after a long time now just a few few years ago, one of my friends he told me please tick tock the platform. There is no one doing anything in Arabic and a lot of Muslim people attacking the Christian believing. I said, what what pastor will do there. But I was asking wrong question, then later I said Lord what you would like me to do there.

And I just start my, my real profile with my real name. I just start to teach Bible there for Arabs, and, and many Muslims coming attacking Bible I answered them by his grace. Now if you don't, you do not believe that my followers there I have 32,000.

I have 32,001 now I'm not sure how to understand all the Arabic bubble jump on there. And you know what I always tell Ray Oh, I have one hour to open a live stream and speak about gospel and said, I wish you one hour, because you know what, I start to have one hour, and it's ended with me with 811 hours talking where thousands of people coming to that life, many of them, accepting the Lord on air in that crazy. What's the best way to learn more about y'all's ministry website with that precept precept and for Han is on tech talk for Han elite, and he's on Facebook, also as for Han elite meet him there we'll take a picture for everyone to meet in YouTube also, I have YouTube channel I have Facebook I have a tick tock, and all I do the precept courses in Arabic for all of you that have Arabic speaking friends you got no excuse now.

Don't say well I don't understand him Yes, you do. And you got a guy right here, who's your brother in Christ who wants to help you reach them with the good news of Christ and man I tell you what heaven is going to be a lot less like we think it's gonna look like right. Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you all you guys. This is the truth network.