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.
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).
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.
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.