Equipping a new generation of Bible teachers

MARCH 2019

In This IssueThe Arabic Contemporary Bible Commentary is launched in Cairo — page 2-3

Washing Syrian refugees’ feet in a Lebanon church — page 4

Focus On The Middle East Edition

Psalm 122:6 tells us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”. Langham Scholar and

author Dr Yohanna Katanacho lives and works in Israel.

The Holy Land has long endured unrest, discord, and violence – even when Jesus walked the earth. After the horrors of WWII, the State of Israel was formed in 1948. Subsequent wars between Israel and neighbouring Arab nations has led to Israeli occupation of territories in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights. Tensions remain high between the Jewish majority and Palestinian minority. Among Israel’s 8.9 million people, 75% is Jewish, 18% Muslim, and 2% Christian.

A Palestinian Christian, Yohanna grew up in Jerusalem, and has ministered in Bethlehem and Nazareth for much of his life. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (US) in 2007, and currently serves as Academic Dean and Professor of Biblical Studies at Nazareth Evangelical College.

In Yohanna’s latest Langham Literature book Praying Through the Psalms, he contemplates each Psalm for a Middle Eastern context, expressing a theology of tears and hope amid oppression and violence.

The Middle East is the transcontinental region centred on Western Asia, Turkey and Egypt. It includes 16 countries, Saudi Arabia being geographically the largest, while Bahrain is the smallest. Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azeris constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population, with Arabs being by far the most numerous. Indigenous minorities of the Middle East include Jews, Baloch, Assyrians, Arameans, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Lurs, Mandaeans and Samaritans. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Arabic is the most widely spoken language.

Acknowledgement — Wikipedia

Yohanna asks us to pray:

• For the students and graduates of Nazareth Evangelical College, that they will continue to advocate love amid hatred and peace amid war.

• For the spread of justice and equality for all the citizens of Israel.

• Praise God with Yohanna for the Langham Literature publications in 2018: Praying through the Psalms and the Arabic Contemporary Commentary. He was one of the Commentary’s main editors for the Old Testament and contributed commentaries on the books of Proverbs, Lamentations, and Ezra.

Pray for the work of God in modern Israel

PO Box 530 Springwood NSW 2777 | Phone 02 4751 9036 | Email australia@langham.org | Web langham.org

Yohanna’s wife Dina serves as the Director of the Arab Israeli Bible Society and reaches out to women in her context. Yohanna and Dina have three sons: Immanuel, Jonathan, and Chris.

The Arabic Contemporary Bible Commentary is Launched!

As Herod plotted to destroy the newborn King of the Jews by killing the baby boys born in Bethlehem, Joseph, his wife Mary, and the infant Jesus found

safety as refugees, in Egypt. Egyptian Christians still celebrate the flight into Egypt today, and the Coptic tradition holds that the gospel was first brought to Egypt by Mark, in the first century, and remains an unbroken heritage despite centuries of persecution and marginalization. The Christian community in Egypt, about 9 million strong across various denominations, is the largest in the Middle East.

Egypt, then, was the perfect location for the launch of the new Arabic Contemporary Bible Commentary, written in Arabic, by 48 Middle Eastern writers of different backgrounds. The team included theologians and researchers from all parts of the Arab world, with all its backgrounds, sects, and churches; reformed, Orthodox, and Catholic churches.

As the first commentary of its type in at least 1000 years, this was no small endeavour! Its production took over 10 years and was marked by difficulties and hurdles, not least of which was the revolutionary uprisings in the region.

The editorial committee members who worked closely to bring this important project to the Arab world are:• Rev. Andrea Zaki Stephanous, PhD — CEOSS President and

President of the Protestant Churches of Egypt• Rev. Riad Kassis, PhD — Director, Langham Scholars Ministry,

Langham Partnership• Rev. Atef M. Gendy, PhD — President of the Evangelical

Theological Seminary in Cairo• Rev. Johnny B. Awwad, PhD — Associate Professor of New

Testament, Near East School of Theology• Dr Emad Ramzi Philobbos, PhD — Professor Emeritus of

Geology, Assuit University• Rev. Yohanna Katanacho, PhD — Academic Dean of

Bethlehem Bible College and Galilee Bible College

• Dr Nicolas Abou Murad — Professor of Old Testament Studies, Balamand University; visiting fellow at Sorbonne University

As well as scholarly commentary on each book of the Bible, the Commentary contains articles that provide a Christian response to contemporary issues facing the ordinary Arab citizen, including scientific, economic, political and religious issues. It was published by Dar El Thaqafa, one of the oldest Christian publishing houses in Egypt.

Rev. Dr Riad Kassis rejoices that “This is the first time Christian scholars — Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox — have come together to produce a commentary that addresses the needs and challenges of the region. It’s a landmark in the history of the church”… “For Arab Christians to work together on [this] Commentary is a way of demonstrating unity. This becomes crucial in a context where violent acts of division on religious grounds destroy the social mosaic of the region.”

Australians have a unique connection to this historic commentary, as the final stages of printing and production were funded through $40,000 contributed by Langham Partnership Australia supporters. It was with great joy and thankfulness that the LPA governing Committee sent Committee Chairman Trevor Cork, International Council representative Jill McGilvray and CEO Gillean Smiley to Cairo for the October 2018 launch of the Commentary.

We are holding launch events for the Commentary in Sydney and Melbourne

Sydney: 7 pm Sunday 17 March, Merrylands East Presbyterian Church

Corner Kimberley and Excelsior Streets Merrylands

Melbourne: 1.30 pm Sunday 21 April (Easter Sunday)

Belgrave Heights Convention Centre

RSVP: to australia@langham.org or phone 02 4751 9036

Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki hosted the Launch

Before the launch: Pieter Kwant (Director of Langham Literature) gives a

delighted Rev. Dr Riad Kassis (Director of Langham Scholars and one of the

Editors) the first copy of the new Commentary

Left to right: Dr Atef Gendy, Trevor Cork (LPA), Mary Evans (Chair of LP International Council), Dr Andrea Zaki (obscured), Pieter Kwant (Director,

Langham Literature), Dr Chris Wright (LPI Ministries) Front: Dr Riad Kassis, (Director, Langham Scholars and first Middle Eastern Langham Scholar).

The event to launch the Commentary was held at the headquarters of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) and was hosted by Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki: CEOSS President, the Chief Editor of the Commentary and President of the Protestant Churches of Egypt. Dr Zaki is one of four Egyptian Langham Scholars; the fifth is currently studying at Moore College in Sydney. Thanking his Australian brothers and sisters for enabling the completion of this highly anticipated and welcomed resource, Dr Zaki used the occasion of the ongoing celebrations to exhort his fellow Christian leaders in Egypt to…

While Dr Zaki is the senior Protestant Christian in Egypt, the other three (graduated) Egyptian Langham Scholars continue to lead and teach in the Evangelical Theological Seminary. (George Bishai, our current Scholar in Sydney, will teach at the Alexandria School of Theology on his graduation.) It was encouraging and inspiring to hear these leading academics affirm that their students must not graduate with “strong heads but weak hands and feet”. Each professor in the ETSC is required to explain how the curriculum they are teaching will equip the students to be servants for the Church and servants for the people.

The Church in the Middle East, seeing unprecedented conversion from Islam, is not only training new leadership well, through the leadership of Langham Scholars, but is contributing to the global Church as well as its own people, through this latest Bible Commentary. All glory and thanks be to God!

“Hold fast to the Word of God. Langham Partnership helps the Church in Egypt to hold fast to the Word, and to us this means Life”.

The launch was overflowing with rejoicing Christians, but was also attended by a number of Muslim leaders demonstrating their support for “Arab scholarship and cultural contributions”, with the Muslim former Minister of Culture, His Excellency Mr Helmy Elnamnam welcoming the Egyptian contribution to this landmark publication.

While this was an occasion for celebration and thanksgiving, spanning several days, the challenges facing the Church in the Middle East were not forgotten, with the four Egyptian Langham scholars (introduced as “the four living pyramids of the Egyptian Church”) sharing privately some of their observations about their own context. Persecution and discrimination, though endemic, was not on their list! Illiteracy remains a massive problem with 50-60% of people not able to read God’s Word, let alone those who can read it but do not understand it. One impact of the high degree of illiteracy is that people are not equipped with the skills to challenge and question the basis for their faith resulting in one of two extremes across all religions in this strongly religious country: a calcified fundamentalism, or a rising wave of atheism. Unexpectedly, another perceived problem is the high number of PhD degrees found among protestant clergy — but degrees that were handed out from Western institutions without the academic requirements or depth of scholarship necessary in higher degrees. “In one of our denominations, 100% of the pastors have a PhD, but very few have real understanding. I am humbled by what Langham has invested to make sure the leaders of the Church in Egypt do not have a second-class education”.

“John Stott believed that properly equipped people could contribute to not just the local, but to the global Church. Today we celebrate the fruit of his vision, as this Contemporary Arabic Commentary will be an Arab contribution to the global Church”,

said Dr Atef Gendy, the second Middle Eastern Langham Scholar, who now leads the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), the largest and oldest protestant seminary in the Middle East.

His Excellency Mr Helmy Elnamnam receiving

a Commentary as a gift from Rev. Zaki and LPA

Chairman Trevor Cork

The Arabic Contemporary Bible Commentary is Launched!

As Herod plotted to destroy the newborn King of the Jews by killing the baby boys born in Bethlehem, Joseph, his wife Mary, and the infant Jesus found

safety as refugees, in Egypt. Egyptian Christians still celebrate the flight into Egypt today, and the Coptic tradition holds that the gospel was first brought to Egypt by Mark, in the first century, and remains an unbroken heritage despite centuries of persecution and marginalization. The Christian community in Egypt, about 9 million strong across various denominations, is the largest in the Middle East.

Egypt, then, was the perfect location for the launch of the new Arabic Contemporary Bible Commentary, written in Arabic, by 48 Middle Eastern writers of different backgrounds. The team included theologians and researchers from all parts of the Arab world, with all its backgrounds, sects, and churches; reformed, Orthodox, and Catholic churches.

As the first commentary of its type in at least 1000 years, this was no small endeavour! Its production took over 10 years and was marked by difficulties and hurdles, not least of which was the revolutionary uprisings in the region.

The editorial committee members who worked closely to bring this important project to the Arab world are:• Rev. Andrea Zaki Stephanous, PhD — CEOSS President and

President of the Protestant Churches of Egypt• Rev. Riad Kassis, PhD — Director, Langham Scholars Ministry,

Langham Partnership• Rev. Atef M. Gendy, PhD — President of the Evangelical

Theological Seminary in Cairo• Rev. Johnny B. Awwad, PhD — Associate Professor of New

Testament, Near East School of Theology• Dr Emad Ramzi Philobbos, PhD — Professor Emeritus of

Geology, Assuit University• Rev. Yohanna Katanacho, PhD — Academic Dean of

Bethlehem Bible College and Galilee Bible College

• Dr Nicolas Abou Murad — Professor of Old Testament Studies, Balamand University; visiting fellow at Sorbonne University

As well as scholarly commentary on each book of the Bible, the Commentary contains articles that provide a Christian response to contemporary issues facing the ordinary Arab citizen, including scientific, economic, political and religious issues. It was published by Dar El Thaqafa, one of the oldest Christian publishing houses in Egypt.

Rev. Dr Riad Kassis rejoices that “This is the first time Christian scholars — Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox — have come together to produce a commentary that addresses the needs and challenges of the region. It’s a landmark in the history of the church”… “For Arab Christians to work together on [this] Commentary is a way of demonstrating unity. This becomes crucial in a context where violent acts of division on religious grounds destroy the social mosaic of the region.”

Australians have a unique connection to this historic commentary, as the final stages of printing and production were funded through $40,000 contributed by Langham Partnership Australia supporters. It was with great joy and thankfulness that the LPA governing Committee sent Committee Chairman Trevor Cork, International Council representative Jill McGilvray and CEO Gillean Smiley to Cairo for the October 2018 launch of the Commentary.

We are holding launch events for the Commentary in Sydney and Melbourne

Sydney: 7 pm Sunday 17 March, Merrylands East Presbyterian Church

Corner Kimberley and Excelsior Streets Merrylands

Melbourne: 1.30 pm Sunday 21 April (Easter Sunday)

Belgrave Heights Convention Centre

RSVP: to australia@langham.org or phone 02 4751 9036

Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki hosted the Launch

Before the launch: Pieter Kwant (Director of Langham Literature) gives a

delighted Rev. Dr Riad Kassis (Director of Langham Scholars and one of the

Editors) the first copy of the new Commentary

Left to right: Dr Atef Gendy, Trevor Cork (LPA), Mary Evans (Chair of LP International Council), Dr Andrea Zaki (obscured), Pieter Kwant (Director,

Langham Literature), Dr Chris Wright (LPI Ministries) Front: Dr Riad Kassis, (Director, Langham Scholars and first Middle Eastern Langham Scholar).

The event to launch the Commentary was held at the headquarters of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) and was hosted by Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki: CEOSS President, the Chief Editor of the Commentary and President of the Protestant Churches of Egypt. Dr Zaki is one of four Egyptian Langham Scholars; the fifth is currently studying at Moore College in Sydney. Thanking his Australian brothers and sisters for enabling the completion of this highly anticipated and welcomed resource, Dr Zaki used the occasion of the ongoing celebrations to exhort his fellow Christian leaders in Egypt to…

While Dr Zaki is the senior Protestant Christian in Egypt, the other three (graduated) Egyptian Langham Scholars continue to lead and teach in the Evangelical Theological Seminary. (George Bishai, our current Scholar in Sydney, will teach at the Alexandria School of Theology on his graduation.) It was encouraging and inspiring to hear these leading academics affirm that their students must not graduate with “strong heads but weak hands and feet”. Each professor in the ETSC is required to explain how the curriculum they are teaching will equip the students to be servants for the Church and servants for the people.

The Church in the Middle East, seeing unprecedented conversion from Islam, is not only training new leadership well, through the leadership of Langham Scholars, but is contributing to the global Church as well as its own people, through this latest Bible Commentary. All glory and thanks be to God!

“Hold fast to the Word of God. Langham Partnership helps the Church in Egypt to hold fast to the Word, and to us this means Life”.

The launch was overflowing with rejoicing Christians, but was also attended by a number of Muslim leaders demonstrating their support for “Arab scholarship and cultural contributions”, with the Muslim former Minister of Culture, His Excellency Mr Helmy Elnamnam welcoming the Egyptian contribution to this landmark publication.

While this was an occasion for celebration and thanksgiving, spanning several days, the challenges facing the Church in the Middle East were not forgotten, with the four Egyptian Langham scholars (introduced as “the four living pyramids of the Egyptian Church”) sharing privately some of their observations about their own context. Persecution and discrimination, though endemic, was not on their list! Illiteracy remains a massive problem with 50-60% of people not able to read God’s Word, let alone those who can read it but do not understand it. One impact of the high degree of illiteracy is that people are not equipped with the skills to challenge and question the basis for their faith resulting in one of two extremes across all religions in this strongly religious country: a calcified fundamentalism, or a rising wave of atheism. Unexpectedly, another perceived problem is the high number of PhD degrees found among protestant clergy — but degrees that were handed out from Western institutions without the academic requirements or depth of scholarship necessary in higher degrees. “In one of our denominations, 100% of the pastors have a PhD, but very few have real understanding. I am humbled by what Langham has invested to make sure the leaders of the Church in Egypt do not have a second-class education”.

“John Stott believed that properly equipped people could contribute to not just the local, but to the global Church. Today we celebrate the fruit of his vision, as this Contemporary Arabic Commentary will be an Arab contribution to the global Church”,

said Dr Atef Gendy, the second Middle Eastern Langham Scholar, who now leads the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), the largest and oldest protestant seminary in the Middle East.

His Excellency Mr Helmy Elnamnam receiving

a Commentary as a gift from Rev. Zaki and LPA

Chairman Trevor Cork

Transformed: Washing Syrian refugees’ feet in a Lebanon ChurchIn his book Following Jesus in Turbulent

Times (published under Langham Global Library), graduated Langham

Scholar Hikmat Kashouh shares how his church in Lebanon follows Jesus by serving Syrian refugees. His book will inspire believers around the world to love, serve and disciple displaced people from Muslim backgrounds.

Hikmat himself was born in 1975, at the start of the 16-year Lebanese civil war. During the years of Syrian occupation, Hikmat’s people were killed, women were raped, national resources were plundered, and their dignity was stolen. His father died as a result of the war.

And yet now it is the Syrian people who are in need of help. Hikmat spoke to Langham Partnership UKI about the extraordinary work Resurrection Church Beirut has done amongst refugees. He explained that the influx of 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon, which has a population of four million, was “tough on the whole country”.

‘Totally in despair’“As a Church we had Syrians come to us and they were totally hopeless. They had lost their homes, lost their land, lost their properties. The people are traumatised, they’ve seen their loved ones being killed, hurt, tortured, sexually abused, and they have come broken, totally in despair. They have no food, they have no place to stay, no clothes except the ones they are wearing, they don’t have mattresses, they don’t have pillows, they have no place to sleep. We had to join hands with a number of churches to be able to serve them.”

Opportunity to transformThe particular challenges Hikmat and his church faces in serving these refugees are “huge”:

“They are spiritually hurt, they are angry with God, they are emotionally broken, traumatised by what they’ve seen. They carry the history with them and some of them are sick physically in addition to spiritually and emotionally.

“So the challenge is how as a church you can serve holistically those who are in great need, in an efficient and sustainable way. We saw this challenge as an opportunity to grow to serve to be like our master, to love, an opportunity to transform others.”

God at workHikmat said Church members initially complained when the refugees started attending:

“There’s a long history and memories come back to mind. People said ‘I don’t want my kids to play with these kids’, or ‘I don’t want to go to the toilets where they go’. They were a little bit suspicious, some of them were concerned.

“And I understand why: some of them are mothers, they care for their children. It took them some time to see the big picture. But through teaching, through listening, we helped some of our members to understand that now it’s God at work. We needed to help one another to be able to work efficiently and effectively and serve those God is bringing into our lives.

“It was a huge transformation in their lives, when they saw us as leaders bowing down and washing the feet of those who were once our enemies.

Journey with Christ“Doing these acts of love and servanthood made a huge difference in

the heart of our congregation and community.”

Hikmat offered advice on how to reach Muslims with the good news of Jesus:

“Become vulnerable. It’s always costly to love, so when you act with love there is something you might lose, and it’s sometimes challenging. Some people hate what we’re doing; I’ve even been threatened. But love is greater than life. It’s a decision, it’s a journey with Christ who is teaching us to love unconditionally and it’s really by doing it, not just saying it.”

Please pray for these Langham Preaching events:

Cut off this slip and use it to pray for Langham’s m

inistry.

March 10-16 SE Asia, Colombia, SpainMarch 17-23 Solomon Is, SwitzerlandMarch 24-30 Liberia, Sierra Leone, SpainMar 31-Apr 6 Sierra Leone, Liberia (2)April 7-13 Kenya, Liberia, South Asia April 14-20 Argentina, South AsiaApril 21-27 Spain, South Asia, East Asia

Apr 28-May 4 Austria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Switzerland

May 5 -11 Honduras, LiberiaMay 12-18 Liberia, Georgia, UgandaMay 19-25 Burundi, South Africa, RwandaMay 26-June 1 Sierra LeoneJune 2-8 DR Congo, South AsiaJune 9-15 DR Congo, LiberiaJune 23-29 Tanzania, Sierra LeoneJune 30-July 6 SE Asia, LiberiaJuly 7-13 Liberia, ThailandJuly 21- 27 Sierra Leone, EcuadorJuly 28-Aug 3 Haiti, ThailandAugust 4-10 HaitiAugust 11-17 Liberia (2)August 25-31 Sierra LeoneSeptember 1-7 Liberia, Romania, PeruSeptember 8-14 Colombia, Croatia

Preaching Calendar Prayer Points• Please pray for Langham Scholars studying in

Australia: Egyptian Scholar George Bishai, studying for his PhD at Moore College in Sydney. There has been a delay in Tha Lian Ci from Myanmar commencing at Ridley College Melbourne; please pray for him.

• Pray for Rev. Stephen Williams, Coordinator and supporter of the Preaching programs in the South Pacific (Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and pray for the work to begin in Tonga).

• Pray for those working on publishing the Latin America Bible Commentary and for effective distribution of it across the South American continent this year.

• As the Church in the Majority World is growing rapidly in so many places, Langham Partnership is striving to help the Church grow in maturity as well as size. The international Strategic Plan is aimed at helping us increase the equipping of indigenous theological leaders (Scholars program), increase the training of indigenous grass-roots preachers (Preaching program) and increase the creation and distribution of quality, relevant evangelical literature (Literature program). This can’t happen without the generous support of western Christians. Please pray that people will be moved to give to enable the work to grow.

• Pray for Langham Partnership’s leaders at all levels, that our lives and work will be characterised by humility, love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.

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For information on leaving a gift in your will, contact the office on 02 4751 9036.

The best way to give is via direct deposit into our bank account, as we don’t pay any bank fees for these transactions. Please include your surname on the message with your gift, so that we can identify and receipt it appropriately.Our Account Details Are: Langham Partnership Australia (Westpac Springwood NSW) BSB: 032 837 Account Number: 144 002 If you would like to start giving regularly (or want to change your mode of regular giving) please email australia@langham.org or call Jenny in the office on 02 4751 9036.

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Unconditional loveHikmat realised that it was only when the Syrians came to his Church that the members could live out ‘unconditional love’, which they knew about in their heads. “It’s costly, so we had to learn how to love them although they’re different. Sharing Christ without love doesn’t help. The best way to reach out to Muslims is by really being loving, and at the same time bold, faithful, say the truth as it is, with no compromise, after you have built a relationship of love and care. I get asked by Westerners ‘How can we serve our Muslim families around us?’ I ask them: ‘Have you ever visited their homes?’ and the answer everywhere is ‘No, they have never invited us!’

Privilege to host“When in the Muslim/Arab world, you invite yourself to other people’s homes. When you enter their home, you are giving them the privilege to become the host in a foreign land. They can sit in the high place and be the leader.

“You are there willing to sit anywhere they ask you to, to listen, to learn their culture. This is so honouring and gives you the opportunity to share, to love and to witness.”

Once the war in Syria ends, Hikmat’s prayer is that the Syrian and Iraqi people who are now Christians and are being discipled will return home. He says, “Maybe they will start churches, plant churches, grow and make disciples. Maybe they will grow the work of the kingdom in their home villages and cities”.

Where countries are considered sensitive, the region is mentioned rather than the country. These are the events we know are scheduled at time of printing. If you want to pray for Langham’s Preaching program and have an email address, please contact us to request the Preaching Prayershot weekly email.

Langham Preaching in the Middle East North Africa region:

Although well-established in other parts of Africa, the Preaching work in the MENA region is struggling. There are no upcoming seminars in the calendar at the moment. Pray for Paul Windsor as he plans to visit later this year to meet with a Pastor who is emerging as the key person for the future work there.

Transformed: Washing Syrian refugees’ feet in a Lebanon ChurchIn his book Following Jesus in Turbulent

Times (published under Langham Global Library), graduated Langham

Scholar Hikmat Kashouh shares how his church in Lebanon follows Jesus by serving Syrian refugees. His book will inspire believers around the world to love, serve and disciple displaced people from Muslim backgrounds.

Hikmat himself was born in 1975, at the start of the 16-year Lebanese civil war. During the years of Syrian occupation, Hikmat’s people were killed, women were raped, national resources were plundered, and their dignity was stolen. His father died as a result of the war.

And yet now it is the Syrian people who are in need of help. Hikmat spoke to Langham Partnership UKI about the extraordinary work Resurrection Church Beirut has done amongst refugees. He explained that the influx of 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon, which has a population of four million, was “tough on the whole country”.

‘Totally in despair’“As a Church we had Syrians come to us and they were totally hopeless. They had lost their homes, lost their land, lost their properties. The people are traumatised, they’ve seen their loved ones being killed, hurt, tortured, sexually abused, and they have come broken, totally in despair. They have no food, they have no place to stay, no clothes except the ones they are wearing, they don’t have mattresses, they don’t have pillows, they have no place to sleep. We had to join hands with a number of churches to be able to serve them.”

Opportunity to transformThe particular challenges Hikmat and his church faces in serving these refugees are “huge”:

“They are spiritually hurt, they are angry with God, they are emotionally broken, traumatised by what they’ve seen. They carry the history with them and some of them are sick physically in addition to spiritually and emotionally.

“So the challenge is how as a church you can serve holistically those who are in great need, in an efficient and sustainable way. We saw this challenge as an opportunity to grow to serve to be like our master, to love, an opportunity to transform others.”

God at workHikmat said Church members initially complained when the refugees started attending:

“There’s a long history and memories come back to mind. People said ‘I don’t want my kids to play with these kids’, or ‘I don’t want to go to the toilets where they go’. They were a little bit suspicious, some of them were concerned.

“And I understand why: some of them are mothers, they care for their children. It took them some time to see the big picture. But through teaching, through listening, we helped some of our members to understand that now it’s God at work. We needed to help one another to be able to work efficiently and effectively and serve those God is bringing into our lives.

“It was a huge transformation in their lives, when they saw us as leaders bowing down and washing the feet of those who were once our enemies.

Journey with Christ“Doing these acts of love and servanthood made a huge difference in

the heart of our congregation and community.”

Hikmat offered advice on how to reach Muslims with the good news of Jesus:

“Become vulnerable. It’s always costly to love, so when you act with love there is something you might lose, and it’s sometimes challenging. Some people hate what we’re doing; I’ve even been threatened. But love is greater than life. It’s a decision, it’s a journey with Christ who is teaching us to love unconditionally and it’s really by doing it, not just saying it.”

Please pray for these Langham Preaching events:

Cut off this slip and use it to pray for Langham’s m

inistry.

March 10-16 SE Asia, Colombia, SpainMarch 17-23 Solomon Is, SwitzerlandMarch 24-30 Liberia, Sierra Leone, SpainMar 31-Apr 6 Sierra Leone, Liberia (2)April 7-13 Kenya, Liberia, South Asia April 14-20 Argentina, South AsiaApril 21-27 Spain, South Asia, East Asia

Apr 28-May 4 Austria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Switzerland

May 5 -11 Honduras, LiberiaMay 12-18 Liberia, Georgia, UgandaMay 19-25 Burundi, South Africa, RwandaMay 26-June 1 Sierra LeoneJune 2-8 DR Congo, South AsiaJune 9-15 DR Congo, LiberiaJune 23-29 Tanzania, Sierra LeoneJune 30-July 6 SE Asia, LiberiaJuly 7-13 Liberia, ThailandJuly 21- 27 Sierra Leone, EcuadorJuly 28-Aug 3 Haiti, ThailandAugust 4-10 HaitiAugust 11-17 Liberia (2)August 25-31 Sierra LeoneSeptember 1-7 Liberia, Romania, PeruSeptember 8-14 Colombia, Croatia

Preaching Calendar Prayer Points• Please pray for Langham Scholars studying in

Australia: Egyptian Scholar George Bishai, studying for his PhD at Moore College in Sydney. There has been a delay in Tha Lian Ci from Myanmar commencing at Ridley College Melbourne; please pray for him.

• Pray for Rev. Stephen Williams, Coordinator and supporter of the Preaching programs in the South Pacific (Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and pray for the work to begin in Tonga).

• Pray for those working on publishing the Latin America Bible Commentary and for effective distribution of it across the South American continent this year.

• As the Church in the Majority World is growing rapidly in so many places, Langham Partnership is striving to help the Church grow in maturity as well as size. The international Strategic Plan is aimed at helping us increase the equipping of indigenous theological leaders (Scholars program), increase the training of indigenous grass-roots preachers (Preaching program) and increase the creation and distribution of quality, relevant evangelical literature (Literature program). This can’t happen without the generous support of western Christians. Please pray that people will be moved to give to enable the work to grow.

• Pray for Langham Partnership’s leaders at all levels, that our lives and work will be characterised by humility, love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.

$

$

$

$

$

My GiftI want to —

Give $ regularly — monthly / quarterly / annually (circle whichever applies).

Give a one off gift of $ Please make cheques payable to Langham Partnership (Aust) or complete card details over the page.

Please use my donation:

Where Most Needed

Langham Scholars

Langham Literature

Langham Preaching

My Total Donation Yes, I would like to receive Daily Thoughts along with the monthly eNews.

My AddressMr/Mrs/Miss/Dr/Rev. Family Name

First Name

Address

Postcode

Email

Phone

Response Form Giving to Langham Partnership

For information on leaving a gift in your will, contact the office on 02 4751 9036.

The best way to give is via direct deposit into our bank account, as we don’t pay any bank fees for these transactions. Please include your surname on the message with your gift, so that we can identify and receipt it appropriately.Our Account Details Are: Langham Partnership Australia (Westpac Springwood NSW) BSB: 032 837 Account Number: 144 002 If you would like to start giving regularly (or want to change your mode of regular giving) please email australia@langham.org or call Jenny in the office on 02 4751 9036.

Thank you for your support!Credit Card DonationsCard Type: Visacard / Mastercard / Amex Card Number:

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Unconditional loveHikmat realised that it was only when the Syrians came to his Church that the members could live out ‘unconditional love’, which they knew about in their heads. “It’s costly, so we had to learn how to love them although they’re different. Sharing Christ without love doesn’t help. The best way to reach out to Muslims is by really being loving, and at the same time bold, faithful, say the truth as it is, with no compromise, after you have built a relationship of love and care. I get asked by Westerners ‘How can we serve our Muslim families around us?’ I ask them: ‘Have you ever visited their homes?’ and the answer everywhere is ‘No, they have never invited us!’

Privilege to host“When in the Muslim/Arab world, you invite yourself to other people’s homes. When you enter their home, you are giving them the privilege to become the host in a foreign land. They can sit in the high place and be the leader.

“You are there willing to sit anywhere they ask you to, to listen, to learn their culture. This is so honouring and gives you the opportunity to share, to love and to witness.”

Once the war in Syria ends, Hikmat’s prayer is that the Syrian and Iraqi people who are now Christians and are being discipled will return home. He says, “Maybe they will start churches, plant churches, grow and make disciples. Maybe they will grow the work of the kingdom in their home villages and cities”.

Where countries are considered sensitive, the region is mentioned rather than the country. These are the events we know are scheduled at time of printing. If you want to pray for Langham’s Preaching program and have an email address, please contact us to request the Preaching Prayershot weekly email.

Langham Preaching in the Middle East North Africa region:

Although well-established in other parts of Africa, the Preaching work in the MENA region is struggling. There are no upcoming seminars in the calendar at the moment. Pray for Paul Windsor as he plans to visit later this year to meet with a Pastor who is emerging as the key person for the future work there.