This is especially the case with evangelical churches, Sharaiha says, which are in the minority in the Middle East. They know about each other and they are concerned for one another. The impact of the ongoing conflicts on Christian leaders has been heavy.

“I’m sure that anyone, [in] any region, [will] have known someone who has been killed, injured, or someone [who] is really suffering,” Sharaiha says.

Churches are feeling the weight of responding as the hands and feet of Christ to massive needs in Gaza and now in Lebanon. 

“We have 1.5 million displaced out of the 2 million people living in Gaza,” Sharaiha says. “We have, so far, 1.2 million displaced in Lebanon. This is really heavy on different churches because they don’t have the capacity to host, to help.”

At the same time, Sharaiha says it’s also a chance to reach people with the Gospel and show them Christ’s love.

However, in areas like the West Bank, there is incredible pressure. A pastor there told Sharaiha, “We cannot even plan for the future. We cannot even ask people to come to church, because we are overwhelmed.” 

In all this, the MENA Leadership Center seeks to help Christians remember truths of our faith in God. 

“What we are trying to do is remind ourselves and the Christian leaders in the MENA that God is then sitting on His throne. We believe in the sovereignty of God, and we know that God is good in the midst of the whole thing,” Sharaiha says.

MENA Leadership Center partners with more than 132 ministries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. (Photo courtesy of MENA Leadership Center)

Today, the best response you can have is prayer. 

“Please pray for the people of the Middle East. Pray for peace, and definitely pray for ceasefire. Pray for all hostages to go back to their homes,” Sharaiha says. 

“Pray for the Christian leaders to know that they are not forgotten by the global Church, that we are still seeing them, that we are still praying for them, and we are still supporting them. Support is needed in so many different ways. One is prayer. Two is practical help, like blankets, clothing, food, medical supplies and financial resources.” 

Learn more about the MENA Leadership Center here. 

Header photo courtesy of MENA Leadership Center.

The scale of the debris is seven times worse than Türkiye’s last major earthquake in 1999.

Türkiye’s 1999 disaster left behind 13 million tons of rubble. Estimates range between 116- and 211 million tons of wreckage from the earthquakes earlier this month.

“[This is] the largest earthquake disaster in Türkiye’s history and perhaps the largest natural disaster the country has ever faced,” Louisa Vinton, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Türkiye Resident Representative, told reporters this week.

The earthquakes broke more than buildings and infrastructure. Survivors show increasing signs of post-traumatic stress.

“So many people who [survived] this earthquake were refugees from Syria to Turkey. Imagine the agony they are going through,” Fadi Sharaiha of the MENA Leadership Center says.

Originally slated for Tuesday, February 21, MENA Leadership Center postponed its trauma counseling training due to a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria on Monday, February 20.
(Photo courtesy of MENA Leadership Center)

Meanwhile, responders report “major damage” in northern Syria. At least 900,000 people need emergency shelter:

Protection is a growing issue, with a large number of unaccompanied children and overcrowded shelters, sexual harassment and inadequate shelter arrangements remains a concern.

Sharaiha says, “Rebuilding will be very tricky for Syria [because of] the war and sanctions; they cannot get many things into the country. Right now, they have grace for three- to six months to get as much in as possible.”

MENA Leadership Center provides training so believers in the region can help earthquake survivors. This weekend, MLC will host a trauma counseling course online.

In two weeks, a refugee care course will be available in English and Arabic. Learn more here. “If you have a ministry working with refugees in the Middle East and you speak other languages, please let us know,” Sharaiha says.

“We would love to have you in this course.”

Most importantly, pray. “I would like you all to pray for what is happening in Syria and Türkiye, that [it] will be used for the glory of God,” Sharaiha requests.

“Please pray that the Church will [use] this opportunity to minister to people. Pray for us as we discern how to move forward. Most of our courses are online; do we need to go and do courses over there? When is the right time? These are some of the things I would encourage you to pray for.”

Header image courtesy of Horizons International.

MENA Leadership Center equips Gospel workers across the Middle East/North Africa region. “Starting in September, we have three new courses,” Vice President Fadi Sharaiha says.

“One is on how to grow the digital church. You have established your digital church; now, how do you grow? What are the best practices; what you need to grow through digital engagement and social media-based evangelism, etc.,” he continues.

“Another course focuses on multiplying organization impact, and the third course is dear to my heart – course design strategies: how to do online teaching and training.”

(Photo courtesy MENA Leadership Center)

Like many business leaders worldwide, Gospel workers discovered the benefits of an online social and work environment during the pandemic.

“They can reach more people; it’s less expensive. They have been training on evangelism, discipleship, and so many things. But now they can do this more professionally,” Sharaiha says.

“We are working with ministries on online training and using the best LMS, which is the Learning Management System. There are so many LMS worldwide, but [we are teaching leaders] how to choose the right one for ministry.”

Why does this matter?

A recent survey found that Christian ministries across the MENA region have significant professional and personal gaps. If believers could access proper training and development, their improvements would lead to a more significant Kingdom impact.

MENA Leadership Center exists to bridge these gaps. Help equip Christian leaders in the MENA here.

“Please pray for us as we navigate those (new) courses and as we do the recruitment that the Lord will help us to choose the right people,” Sharaiha requests.

“We have so many people applying. We want to ensure we are choosing the right people to impact their ministries, thus impacting the Kingdom of God.”

Header and story images courtesy of MENA Leadership Center.

In rural Uganda, “90 percent of the pastors have no theological training. Often, these men are even illiterate in their local languages,” Dave McIntyre of Set Free Ministries says.

“As these pastors have no theological training, it leaves them wide open to all kinds of heresy and abuse.”

In neighboring Rwanda, “mega-churches that preach the prosperity gospel will go out into rural areas, subsidize the building of churches and the training of pastors; basically, to fleece the flock,” McIntyre says.

“These churches have become a real thorn in the side of the Rwandan government.”

As a result, the Rwandan government shut down 3,000 churches in 2018 because the pastors had no theological training and were susceptible to cults. Set Free is partnering with the Rural Pastors Project to prevent this from happening in Uganda.

“The Rural Pastors Project is designed to give these pastors a certificate of theological, pastoral ministry recognized by the government,” McIntyre says.

Leadership development

Gowen Bible Church and the Ugandan nonprofit Finepearls Ministries began the Rural Pastors Project in 2009. Teams of U.S. and Ugandan believers work hand-in-hand to teach rural pastors how to lead and serve like Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of RuralPastorsUganda.org)

Working alongside these teams, Set Free Ministries will soon introduce rural pastors to spiritual freedom ministry. “They (rural pastors) don’t know the victory that we have in Christ; they don’t know the spiritual freedom that’s available to us,” McIntyre says.

“When their children are sick, pastors will take them to a witch doctor; they don’t know any better.”

Learn more about Set Free’s work in East Africa here.

Over the years, the Rural Pastors Project moved from training a handful of leaders to hundreds. Ask the Lord to help rural pastors in Uganda learn more about Him. Pray leaders can successfully balance family and ministry responsibilities.

“Uganda is headed into a very insecure time right now with food prices rising and things like that,” McIntyre says.

“Many of these pastors are in desperate situations where they’re trying to feed the flock and their families.”

Header and story images courtesy of RuralPastorsUganda.org.

MENA Leadership Center held a unique course for Iraqi leaders this spring. “There were 40 leaders across several denominations, everything from Roman Catholic to Missionary Alliance,” CEO Jennifer Murff says.

“They all gathered to learn how to create a digital Church.”

Leaders from each denomination could apply the material differently according to their traditions. A central theme brought participants together.

“These ministry leaders took three days out of their schedules not just to learn how to broadcast an online service,” Murff says, “but how to build an intentional online community that provides worship, ministry, fellowship, and discipleship, so that the church can be effective.”

MENA Leadership Center partners with more than 132 ministries throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
(Photo courtesy of MENA Leadership Center)

Sponsor training for Gospel workers in the Middle East and North Africa through MENA Leadership Center.

What happened in the eight months since MLC held its training course? In one example, “The Alliance churches not only took the content, but they started building their online digital church,” Muff says.

“The Alliance churches meet the practical needs of people on the ground. But even more than that, they’re meeting the spiritual needs through discipleship groups and small groups.”

It’s part of a Holy Spirit movement sweeping Iraq. “We see a lot of fruit come out of Baghdad, almost as if revival’s beginning to happen; churches are growing,” Murff says.

“We’re seeing God take a land that was desolate and put life into it.”

Use prompts listed alongside this article to guide your prayers for Iraq.

“The (Iraqi) Church is so eager to reach their people for Jesus. Pray that God gives the Church creativity and wisdom; they are really in a battleground,” Murff requests.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Glenn Carstens-Peters/Unsplash.

More Gaza Strip headlines here.

Dr. Jennifer Murff heads up the newly-launched MENA Leadership Center, training Gospel workers throughout the Middle East/North Africa region. “The other day, I got on the phone with a leader [from the Gaza who runs] the only Christian school in the Gaza Strip,” she says.

“I asked him, ‘What are the challenges you’re facing? We hear about the Gaza almost on a daily basis on the news, and you’re on the front lines sharing the love of Jesus in a Majority-Muslim land.’ He says, ‘I need you to pray for my children… the 300 children that go to my school’,” Dr. Murff continues.

“‘We’re under immense stress. Bombs are always flying over us. Our kids are struggling so bad.’”

Gospel growth in Gaza

This believer expanded his skillset and built capacity through the MENA Leadership Center. That leads to “staying power” for his ministry in the Gaza Strip. “They are outwardly Christian, evangelistic; they are doing incredible work and they are very bold about their faith,” Dr. Murff says.

“They teach Bible; they teach about the Christian faith, [and] the heritage that has come out of the Holy Land.”

The Gaza Strip is a highly-contested territory with frequent bouts of conflict. This 2018 photo shows Palestinian rioters burning the Kerem Shalom Crossing, used to transfer goods from Israel to the Gaza Strip.
(Photo courtesy of Israel Defense Forces/Flickr)

The Gaza Strip is a highly-contested territory with frequent bouts of conflict. “The borders are closed [and people] can’t get in and out of the country with ease; it’s restricted,” Dr. Murff explains.

Conditions like these leave Palestinian Christians, already an ethnic and religious minority community, feeling even more isolated. The leader we cannot name for security purposes “took a course with us on collaboration” and “it connected [him] with people all throughout the MENA,” Dr. Murff says.

“He thanked us for offering the class because he feels very alone.”

Taking a course through MLC enabled this believer to build a Christian ministry network, and more. He shares the following testimony with Dr. Murff:

“I was able to connect, build partnerships, and collaborate. I would not have been able to do so (previously) because of our closed borders. Another thing that I loved about your class is that my brother in the West Bank is taking the same course, and we get to learn together and grow together.”

Find your place in the story

Sponsorship from believers like you makes enrollment possible for Gospel leaders like this one. Learn more here. “Our role is to equip the fishers of men in the Holy Land and beyond. When you partner with the MENA Leadership Center, you’re directly impacting the ministries on the ground,” Dr. Murff says.

Ask the Lord to protect and sustain His followers in the Gaza Strip. “They are being very faithful stewards of what God has put in front of them,” Dr. Murff says.

“We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip that are being a light in a dark, dark place, and sharing the love of Jesus.”

Header image depicts rising smoke following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip on May 4, 2019. (Photo by Hassan Jedi/Flash90/Flickr)

Asian Access President Joe Handley says missional plans in the MENA region are starting to shift, and the ministry needs your help to enter new territory.

Map of commonly included MENA (Middle East & North Africa) countries.
(Wikimedia Commons)

A missional shift

God’s timing couldn’t be better. Just as Asian Access began preparing for a season of organizational growth, Handley received a call from Phill Butler. “Some of your listeners may know who Phill is. He’s one of the leading experts on collaboration and mission today,” Handley says.

Phill had a problem he hoped Asian Access could solve. “‘We have now entered a phase in the Middle East North Africa region that we are calling ‘the last mile,’” Handley recalls hearing from Phill.

“We have saturated the Gospel into this region; many have clicked on webpages or are watching satellite TV and expressed interest in Christ. But in terms of tangible expressions of fellowship starting or churches started, it’s very difficult to get your arms around that,” he continues.

“The discipleship challenge is huge.”

Enter: Asian Access. Phill said, “‘That ‘last mile’ involves discipleship, leadership, development and church planting… I’ve heard that Asian Access is strong in [these areas]’,” Handley recalls.

Find your place in the story

Asian Access will begin work in the MENA region this year, but it cannot finish the task alone. “We’re looking for help,” Handley says, identifying three opportunities for involvement.

“This region is desperate for your prayers. Finishing the discipleship task [or] the ‘last mile’ for the Great Commission is crucial for the kingdom, so please pray. [Second], we are looking for people to volunteer,” he continues.

“If you are a seasoned leader, we could use your help. We are looking for people that would invest maybe a few hours of their time on Zoom to do training and equipping, or coaching and mentoring.”

Contact Asian Access here. Finally, “people can give. This initiative, we estimate, will cost in the millions of dollars. We’re approaching that step by step, little by little, raising thousands and tens of thousands of dollars at a time,” Handley says.

Be part of finishing The Last Mile in the Middle East and North Africa.

Header image courtesy of…

Heart for Lebanon’s Tom Atema explains how evangelism is key to the organization.

“If Heart for Lebanon is known for anything, it should and must be known for an organization that makes disciples. That’s our mission,” he says.

In light of this, the next step for many of the refugee believers is learning to share their faith.

“We believe very deeply that where we go with these people that are really on fire for Jesus Christ is discipleship. When we see somebody [who] wants to go further in their relationship with Jesus Christ, we invite them into what we call our Level Five Leadership Discipleship,” he says.

(Graphic courtesy Heart for Lebanon via Facebook)

Developing Servant Leaders

This discipleship program has three main pillars or components: biblical foundation, character formation, and life skill development.

“[The] biblical foundation takes people much deeper than in our Bible studies,” Atema says. “It just sticks with basic theology, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the ordinances, for example.”

After 21 lessons on the biblical foundation, students tackle 10 lessons on character formation. These take a deep dive into the character of a leader, subjects such as forgiveness, attitude, and dealing with failure. Finally, students end with 10 lessons in life skill development.

“Life skills is more of how do you build a team, share your faith, go out into the neighborhood, find out what the real needs are, and deal with [them],” Atema explains.

Heart for Lebanon is already seeing success through this discipleship program. Sarah’s* story, in particular, stands out.

“Sarah came to Lebanon a year and a half ago with her family. [They] had absolutely nothing. We started helping them. They were invited and attended a Bible study group, [and] one of the kids ended up in our Hope Education program. The child became a believer in Jesus Christ first, then Sarah,” Atema says.

“Last November, Sarah decided to get baptized. Some extended family members who were living in Lebanon came to faith, plus her husband [and] other daughter came to know Jesus Christ. In February, they decided to go back to their home in Syria because they felt they were needed there and there were opportunities to share Christ. Now they’re back at one of the churches that we know of because of our network of churches inside Syria, and they’re serving in that Church, leading a Bible study, being an encouragement to the people.”

What You Can Do

There are several ways to support Heart for Lebanon and its discipleship ministry. One way is through prayer.

“We’re in desperate need of far more prayer partners than we have,” Atema says.

(Photo courtesy of Patrick Fore via Unsplash)

Visit Heart for Lebanon’s website to read news or sign up for email updates to learn how you can pray for refugees sharing their faith and other current needs. Another way you can support this ministry is through financial gifts here. Finally, Atema explains that it’s important to slow down and rejoice together in what God has done.

“Rejoice with us that people are being discipled, and that some have a heart to go back into Syria and reach their people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

*Name changed for security purposes.

Header image courtesy of Timothy Kassis via Unsplash

More specifically, the government targeted churches that are not part of the Three-Self Patriotic Association. In general, since a 2017 law tightened restrictions on religious gatherings, teachings, and buildings, Christians saw a spike in religious persecution. 

This year, due to the concerted sinicization effort (making all things more ‘Chinese’), the US Commission on International Religious Freedom designated China as one of 16 ‘countries of particular concern’ for religious freedom violations deemed ‘egregious.’

A new ‘normal’ for Christians in China

(Photo courtesy Bibles For China)

Ministries have been adjusting their strategies as they’ve seen the shift. Bibles For China’s Kurt Rovenstine explains they stopped taking teams into China because they saw that the undue attention distracted the church leaders from their mission. “When we pulled back, life was easier for (them). That was really an eye-opening kind of a thing and somewhat convicting to know that we were putting such a strain on the local pastors.”

Instead, Bibles For China focused on the simplicity implied in their name: a passion for Bibles, a heart for China. “We are really interested in developing relationship with leaders. We strongly believe that to continue to do what we do in China is to develop relationships with folks within the registered church that allow us to continue to provide Bibles, in areas where, because of the changes that are taking place, we can no longer go.”

Global Year of the Bible

That’s especially important as the New Year arrives. 2020 is the Global Year of the Bible. How ironic is it that one of the most concentrated focuses on Scriptural engagement comes in a year where physical involvement from the United States has had to drop off in several countries?

Yet it’s important to note that ministry leaders from 200 countries helped launch this first-of-its-kind evangelical initiative.  At a time when over 1,600 languages still have no New and Old Testament translation, this project calls for an end to Bible poverty.

(Photo courtesy Bibles For China)

Bibles For China zeroes in on resourcing the body of Christ in rural China, where access and availability to the Word of God prove to be enormous challenges.   The ministry’s leadership team was pro-active in finding another way to operate within the law, keep the churches out of the spotlight, and still accomplish the mission. “In fact, with those relationships at the provincial level, we’ve had more opportunity, in terms of volume of Bibles, than we had before because of the absence of that foreigner that sometimes is problematic to our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Focus on mission

Even as Bibles For China participates in the Global Year of the Bible, Rovenstine observes, “It was a renewed challenge for us as Bibles for China to make sure that we’re not being selfish with the resources God has given us here as citizens of the United States of America with the abundant blessing that we have.”

The ministry team still works with the Amity Printing Press in Nanjing. However, they’re also exploring new tools, too; everything from larger font Bibles to commentaries, study Bibles, hymnals, Scripture portions, audio Bibles, comics and leadership materials.

2020 will likely be a year of testing and growth for Bibles For China. It’ll be exciting as a Global Year of the Bible. Rovenstine believes it’ll also be an exciting year of prayer for creative wisdom. “If China gives us increased challenges, (and) every indication is that they probably will, I think the prayer for Bibles for China and the believers there is that God continues to hold open doors even when the world tries to close them.”

(Headline photo courtesy Bibles For China)

A Deaf believer named Chris* successfully navigated these challenges to become an ordained minister in North Africa. However, his trials didn’t end; they just took a new form. For example, one seminary classmate told Chris he shouldn’t be a church leader because he’s Deaf.

“Chris, obviously, was taken aback and said, ‘Help me understand… why is that?’ He (the classmate) said, ‘Well, you remember these Old Testament passages where…the high priest can’t have any defects?,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers describes.

“’In the same way, our denomination [believes] ordained ministers in the Church need to not have physical defects. So, they can’t be Deaf’.”

Learn more about DOOR’s work here.

Deaf leadership barriers

This is just one of the many barriers Deaf leaders face around the world. Read another example from the DOOR blog.

“Many times over the years they’ve been told, ‘You can’t lead. You can’t do things.’ But, Deaf people can do anything that hearing people do can do; they have been created in the image of God just like hearing people have,” Myers says.

(Photo courtesy of DOOR International via Facebook)

“The only thing they can’t do is physically hear.”

DOOR’s Deaf leaders helped Chris understand the true meaning of God’s Word. “The point of the priest not having defects is that it was a picture of Jesus coming,” Myers recalls.

“Since Jesus has come and He’s the perfect High Priest, He makes us right with God. Now, any of us have the opportunity to be ministers of the Gospel.”

How DOOR helps Deaf leaders overcome

DOOR believes that the best people to reach Deaf for Christ are Deaf believers. However, Myers observes, Deaf Christians are rare – less than two percent of the global Deaf population knows Jesus. Plus, Deaf-friendly resources and training are nearly non-existent. That’s why DOOR’s Deaf leaders select, train, and equip believers from Deaf communities around the world in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting – what DOOR calls the “2-by-2 program.”

After they complete DOOR’s training, Deaf leaders then reach out to other Deaf people for Christ and plant churches. Learn more here.

(Photo courtesy DOOR International via Facebook)

“What’s unique about the training that DOOR offers is it’s Deaf leaders teaching in-depth approaches and Deaf methodologies to other Deaf people. So, we cut out that middle step of having to take training from a [‘hearing’] context [into] a Deaf context,” Myers explains.

“Many times, people think that because Deaf communities are unreached, [churches need] to empower a ‘hearing’ community that lives right next-door to reach that Deaf community. But, in fact… if you empower Deaf people from places where the Gospel as already penetrated… those Deaf leaders connect with the local Deaf people in a way that a hearing person never could.”

Find your place in the story

Even if you’re not Deaf or don’t know any sign languages, Myers says you can help Deaf reach Deaf for Christ through DOOR.

“We’d love for you to… partner with us in seeing more Deaf leaders empowered to reach their own people, [and] be commissioned as missionaries to reach Deaf communities around the world.”

Support usually falls into one of three categories, he continues: praying, giving, or sharing. You can use the buttons below to share this article on social media. In doing so, you’re helping others learn about the Gospel needs of Deaf worldwide.

*–Name changed for security purposes.

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of Open Doors USA.