Undaunted: A JETS Graduate’s Ministry Against the Odds

Adam* started a church in 2006 with just four children in attendance. A student at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary (JETS), a school equipping believers to minister in the Arab world, he sensed God calling him to start a new gathering of believers.

He walked the streets of his village, praying for guidance and for the people who lived there. Then, stepping out in faith, Adam converted the basement of his home into a Sunday school.

That wasn’t the only step of faith Adam would take as a JETS student. In the midst of his studies, he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer—for the second time. The disease he’d already fought once returned with a vengeance.

Undaunted, Adam continued to study. Although doctors told him he had just a month to live, he took his final exams from his hospital bed. Adam was as determined as ever to earn his degree and continue ministering in his community.

Thankfully, Adam’s doctors were wrong. He earned his bachelor’s degree from JETS in 2008, and his master’s degree in 2011.

Soon, his basement was too crowded for the growing fellowship. So he constructed a church building in his garden to hold services for the believers the Lord continued to bring. Today, a large congregation comprised mostly of Muslim-background believers worships together.

God is still blessing Adam’s ministry as he uses the skills he learned at JETS! Today, this thriving church includes many refugees, an outgrowth of the vision God gave Adam and his wife, Leila, in 2012. Leila shares, “Many [refugees] had walked across the border with only the possessions that they could carry. … We felt God was calling us to minister to displaced people.” They began to visit the homes of refugees and hold English classes for displaced people in their community.

God is drawing many of these refugees to faith in His son! A good number have responded to Adam and Leila’s outreach by accepting the gospel. “We’re delighted that many now attend our church,” shares Leila. They rejoice that several members of their church have caught their vision for serving refugees and have joined them in reaching out.

“God has truly blessed us,” Adam shares when asked about his ministry. He also quotes his favorite verse, Psalm 34:10: “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Approximately 300 JETS graduates are serving God throughout the Arab world and in Arabic-speaking communities in the West. They minister as church planters, pastors, teachers, writers, evangelists, worship leaders and women’s ministry leaders. God has used them to bring many to faith in Christ and to plant churches in challenging places.

Participate by Praying:

• Ask God to continue to use JETS to equip believers to plant and strengthen churches in the Arab world.
• Pray for JETS graduates like Adam, asking God to use them to make Him known in least-reached communities.
• Praise God for the many people who have placed their faith in Christ through the ministry of JETS graduates.
• Ask God to provide the funds needed for scholarships for JETS students, who aren’t allowed by law to work off campus.