Arabic Bibles and Gospel Films Distributed
By Chung and Farah Woo, and Carolyn Lugbill
In July, for the third year in a row, The Joshua Fund helped sponsor “Back to Jerusalem,” a conference and outreach designed by Arab-Israeli Christians to help their fellow Arab believers learn how to share their faith. What a joy it was to go and be part of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ back to where it all began.
More than 300 believers participated in outreaches to Arab communities in Jerusalem, various other parts of Israel, and the West Bank. Carolyn and her 14-year-old son had the opportunity to serve on a team in Jerusalem with three other Americans and four South Africans. Chung and Farah, both medical doctors, participated in medical outreaches, taking their two sons to help in all kinds of ways, including prayer.
We distributed packets of material that included copies of the Jesus film on DVD, the New Testament in Arabic, an evangelistic novel in Arabic called “The Witness” written by Josh McDowell, and a youth sports booklet, also in Arabic. Some Muslims were reluctant to take the packets. Others were very eager. One taxi driver even made a U-turn in a busy street to collect a packet.
“This trip allowed me to see a completely different side of Israel by viewing it through an Arab-Israeli’s perspective. I am now better equipped to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the reconciliation of both Jews and Arabs.” – Carolyn Lugbill
We visited a local park and did face painting, blew up balloons, and sang songs to draw a crowd. What a joy to see these children having fun while their moms had conversations about the Lord with local Arabic speaking believers.
The medical clinics we helped with were for needy Arabs in Bethlehem, Tel Aviv, and Ramallah. In Bethlehem, we saw about 60 patients. The Tel Aviv team gave packages of food and clothing during their clinic. Two Arab-Israeli doctors and a pharmacist joined us as well. In Ramallah, we saw 30 patients total. We had the chance to pray with many of the patients and give them Arabic Bibles and other Christian materials.
All told, the local Arab believers and the international participants distributed some 23,000 gospel packets, sowing many seeds. Please pray that a great harvest be reaped for our Lord Jesus Christ and that the Arab believers will develop a greater passion for sharing their faith and making disciples.
