Field Report from our Executive Director Wayne Graham

This Spring I traveled on behalf of JLM, for three weeks in the Middle East. The trip involved visits to Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In Jordan, I met with our JLM partner Samir and his family to learn more about the work we’ve been supporting the past few years. Syrian refugees living in Jordan have continued responding to the Gospel in numbers considered historic. Some experts report that more Muslims have begun following Jesus in the past 15 years than in the past 15 centuries!

What’s also exciting is that Samir believes upward of 2,000 have turned to Jesus in the past few years and are now returning to Syria to start new churches as the situation stabilizes in that war-torn region.

I met two well-educated Jordanian believers who came to Christ after experiencing supernatural dreams and visions from the Lord. The depth of their understanding and heart to share their faith is inspiring and greatly encouraging. Many Muslims across the Middle East are “nominal” at best, with many walking away from their faith. This spiritual vacuum creates new opportunities for the Gospel to continue spreading rapidly.

It’s so encouraging to watch the Church across the Middle East experience dramatic growth after a period when many were declaring it dead. I saw this in Israel among Arab and Jewish citizens and certainly in Turkey. Turkey has historically been considered a “moderate” Muslim nation given their proximity to Europe.

I met these two men from Iran while in Istanbul, Turkey. One has been a Christian for several years and the other is seeking and very close to opening his heart. Pray for Nasir (in the middle).

The final leg of my trip was to the capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku. Baku is located on the Caspian Sea and borders Russia to the north, Iran to the south. It’s considered the most moderate Muslim nation and actually has diplomatic ties with Israel as well as the United States.

I was part of a group of Evangelical leaders invited by the president of Azerbaijan to show us first-hand the rapid changes taking place since they became an independent state from the Soviet Union in August of 1991.

The doors that were open to us were truly historic as we met with the president, senior government leaders as well as leaders from various religious communities represented across the nation. Though the evangelical church does not yet have full freedom, we are hopeful our visit was important in the Gospel spreading to this strategically located country.

For more information on our trip, Click Here to watch a video produced by CBN News.

At Jordan Lewis Missions we are more committed than ever to see the gospel spread among the least reached people in the Middle East. If you have a heart for this part of the world, please pray and send a gift of any size this month to help us fuel the fire of the Gospel across this region.
We will keep you posted, and pray God blesses you and your family richly!
Wayne Graham, Executive Director

P.S. – We are excited about expanding our ministry in the Middle East through a project that involves distribution of an Arabic Childrens Bible. Samir and his team are also in need of more help as the church is growing rapidly and is expanding into Syria. Any amount will go a long way to help us reach the least reached.

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