The Lebanese Baptists are leading in many ways among several Arab speaking nations of the Middle East as far as preaching of the gospel is concerned.

There are now 27 Baptist congregations in Lebanon with a total of about 2000 baptized members. Rev. Dr. Ghassan Khalaf is currently the President of the Lebanese Baptist Convention. Nabil Costa serves as Executive Director of the Lebanese Baptist Society whose vision is to see a growing body of committed and highly trained Arab leaders, mobilized to serve God, and to positively impact the Middle East and North Africa. Rev. Chaouki Boulos coordinates the church growth ministry – and this includes several new churches.

These influential leaders agree that now is an urgent and decisive time for Arab countries. With this aim Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut has been renovated and remodeled (dedication ceremony took place in Sept. 2004, during EBF General Council meeting). ABTS is the only Baptist theological school in the Middle East training people in the church to work as active community leaders. More than 50 students from several Arab speaking countries are studying there.

Many Baptist churches have been praying for a major revival in this part of the world, i.e. the growth of the church in Lebanon and neighboring countries where the Arabic language is spoken (Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia and Sudan). There is good prospect with new generation of leaders getting involved in this important ministry.

We can learn a lot from the below quoted reports of these active community and church leaders (italics).

September 2004

Lebanon

One home group is now a small church of seventeen regular members, and about 35 attendees on Sunday morning. It is located in a Lebanese village, about 20km away from Beirut. This church started its ministry in September 2003 with Sunday morning services and a Bible study group on Friday evenings. There are also three classes for children, and one for young adults. The youth meet on Saturdays, and the women on Tuesday mornings. Our community worker and his team would like to reach more of the people in spite of the resistance they face from existing religious leaders in the area.

Another group was started in March of 2002. This is a particularly dynamic ministry reaching many people from different religious backgrounds. There are no other Baptist churches in this part of the city.

The group is growing and ready to move into a larger hall. They are in the process of looking for appropriate facility.

Jordan

Currently there are 17 local Baptist churches with total membership of 1000. Dr. Nabeeh Abbassi is the President of Jordanian BU. He asserts that the Baptist movement is growing with new churches established. An indigenous worker, a graduate of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary in Amman, is working in a community predominantly inhabited by non-Christians. He says that knowledge of the context and the culture is crucial in his work. Encouraging report is that the church growth process has doubled in size during the last two years.

Syria

There are only 4 Baptist congregations with total membership of 150 in Syria. The recent growth of the Baptist movement in Syria started in February of 2004. The work is carried out mainly among certain communities (2 workers working at this point). Their work involves visiting these communities, befriending them, and encouraging them with news about the Lord and His saving power. Many people from different villages listen attentively to the Word of the Lord and are responsive.

Egypt

The recent growth of the Baptist movement in Egypt goes back to July 2004. An Egyptian graduate from the ABTS in Beirut started this work. He is sharing the message of Salvation with people from his neighborhood.

February 2005

Lebanon

Home meetings continue to be held every Monday night. The average attendance is between 15 and 30 people. Some of them come only once, others are present several times, and a few are really faithful. Majority are from different national and religious backgrounds (Lebanese, Syrians, and Iraqis etc). This ministry focuses on reaching people for Christ and discipling those who accept the Lord as their Savior.

We are presently seeking a new place to hold the Bible Study. Meeting place is quite small for this ministry & can hold a maximum of 25 people. Our prayer at this time is that the Lord would prepare us a suitable place for meetings.

Egypt

I have been involved in the church growth ministry for the last 7 months. This work has 4 different aspects. First of all, preparing believers to work with me and adopt the vision. Secondly, it is starting meetings in homes. Thirdly, preparing Bible studies, discipling, and reaching out. Fourthly, it is building friendships.

The Lord blessed me by giving me people who share the vision for church growth. They are helping me organize a number of house meetings. These meetings take place every day except Friday:

• Monday night is a discipleship meeting
• Tuesday night is meeting for spiritual babies
• Wednesday night is the Bible Study meeting for leaders
• Thursday night is meeting for selected 4 families who learn the ministry of follow-up
• Saturday is the youth meeting
• Sunday is the prayer and intercessory meeting for Christian work

Syria

Our ministry has been growing. Since I studied agriculture, I provide technical support to the community. This gives me a chance to build some friendships and thus talk to them about the Lord.

During the Christmas season, we gave presents to the children. We taught them to sing some Christmas songs. The party made the children and their parents happy. This gave us a chance to talk about the Lord and one man invited the Lord into his heart. The number of children was approximately 30.

We also visited another area. We visited a house and there were 13 men present. We shared with them about the Lord. On another occasion one other person again accepted the Lord.