Read more about Christ-honoring transformation https://www.christar.org/cycle-of-transformation and why we share the gospel with least-reached people. https://www.christar.org/why-we-share
[email protected] 517-732-4353
[email protected] 517-526-5614
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Greetings from Detroit! We are happy about the end of Ramadan and the count down to Easter. We always practice Lent, 40 days of focusing on the reason for the resurrection, and since it also overlapped with Ramadan, we were/are able to have spiritual conversations about what it means, prayer and fasting. Pray these conversations go deep into their souls. During Ramadan, one of our students from Iran invited us all to celebrate Iranian New Year. I assumed it would take place at night, since Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset, but she emphatically said, “No, 80% of Iranians don’t care about that!” Which started a tense conversation among some of the other Arab students (Iranians are Persian and most do not speak Arabic) who couldn’t believe that 80% of the Muslim Iranians didn’t care about keeping the fast during Ramadan. The conversation got more tense when the Iranian said “The Ayatolla destroyed our country.” This erupted with many asking her not to say such things, that couldn’t be true, and “please don’t say such things if you respect me.” Things calmed down but this is just an example of the differences of opinion in the Muslim community. This particular woman is actually a secret believer. Pray as she settles in to her new faith and her new country, and that her husband will be able to join her soon, and for us as we walk with her. We hope you are having a chance to reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ and pray for us as we take this most important historical event and boldly share it will all, regardless of the tense conversations it causes. Sam and Colleen Praise: -Sam had a great trip to Jordan and was able to meet everyone he had wanted to. -Praise as Ramadan is finshed and schedules are back to normal. -We were able to meet outside of regular meetings during Ramadan for many special gatherings. Meeting in people’s homes and on field trips we were able to learn about our students more deeply and build stronger relationships. -Our home cell group continues meeting bi-weekly and praying for different countries. -The ESL class is back and all the students returned after Ramadan- this is a great blessing. Pray: -Justice, whatever that looks like, for the Middle East. -Jiran outreach: As Ramadan is finished pray more Arabs would come and hear, especially as there will be more outreaches. -We are beginning to prepare for Manarah, C*’s training program for Muslim Evangelism in May. Pray for students to sign up and for us as we prepare our classes and help with the logistics. -Pray for our Arab service. We have “relatively” low numbers, but those who come are being blessed. Pray we don’t fall into the “numbers” trap and care more about how many come verses those that do and meeting their needs. -Friendship Friday on April 11. It continues to be attended well and people are growing deeper in their friendships. Pray these deeper friendships help to share deeper truths.
Sam: I was raised in a Christian home and I followed my parents when they went to church. When I was a teenager, I attended a Billy Graham’s evangelistic meeting and I made decision to follow Christ. When I was a high school teacher, I felt I need to be equipped to reach out to to high school kids, so I decided to go to seminary. During the mission course, I found there are many unreached people groups in India. At that time, I knew I would like to go to India to share the gospel with them.
Colleen: While working for the Department of Natural Resources in a rustic park, while working, my boss would always share the gospel with me. After a couple years of sharing and praying, I finally really understood what the scriptures he was sharing meant, and on June 10, 1981, I repented and started following Jesus.
My Current Role in Christar
We are ministering in Dearborn, MI, home of the largest Arab Muslim population in the US. We work along with a church in Dearborn teaching ESL during the week, hosting a Friday night outreach, visitation, and participating in another city wide outreach called Jiran, a time of Arab/English singing and Bible storying. We also give on-line training for an organization in HK called Oasis, who train Nepalis in HK for pastoral work.
Alliance Seminary HK: Sam just completed mentoring 2 D.Miss students and they have us both as second readers for their D.Miss program.
Writing is also a continuing ministry. Sam continues writing for Christian Times from HK.
Columbia International University: Sam continues to teach as an on-line professor to students in the mainland.
About Christar
Christar workers PARTICIPATE by planting churches in these LEAST-REACHED communities, where He is yet to be worshiped. The vision of Christar is to cultivate Christ-honoring transformation in communities where He is yet to be worshiped.
Christ-honoring transformation speaks to the process as well as the outcome. In the establishment of indigenous churches, we pursue a Christ-honoring influence on the community at large. As workers who partner with God in His work, we are a part of the transformation process that God is bringing about. God’s promise in Revelation 5:9 is clear. People from every tongue, tribe, people and nation will worship God in eternity.
Our vision is to go to those people who are not accounted for in the eternal roll call of nations!