Source: Operation Mobilization, October 18, 2018
Over the last few years, members of the OM [field leaders saw] a growing need to involve more Arab believers on international teams as local churches began growing and expanding both their vision and their capacity to send missionaries.
Three Syrian Muslim-background believers completed the first training cycle, while seven Egyptian Christian-background believers entered the second round.
The speed at which the local interns can start making an impact is “quite startling,” [OM field leader] Jeremy said. “The guys in the internship school, within a month, had opened the Bible 21 times [on house visits]. As a foreigner, I was just happy to be able to buy fruit after a month [of studying Arabic].”
Hamad and Nidal were two of the first three Arabs to complete the three-month training module. Hamad had been looking for an opportunity to serve God using the gift of evangelism. Nidal wanted to begin ministry in a place where nothing was happening.
The training, they said, was personal and practical. They spent time learning how to facilitate Discover Bible Studies (DBS) on visits. They also practiced it themselves. “We did DBS in the morning together, so first we applied the Bible to our own lives and developed ourselves before we expected other people to accept it,” Hamad explained.
Answered prayers on visits were a stand-out hallmark of Nidal’s time in the training. [In] one family he got to know, no one [was employed] the first time he visited. He prayed for them. The second visit, everyone had jobs. Another time, the family lost their UN paperwork, which allowed them to live in the country as refugees. Nidal prayed again. Four days later, the family phoned him and announced the papers had been found.
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» You might also want to check out a recent podcast episode on Church Planting in Iraq (The Missions Podcast, ABWE International). Well worth the listen.