Growing up in North Africa, Omar and Amira were raised in the same church and were both discipled by The Navigators, giving their lives to Christ when they were 14. Observing Navigators around them — including Omar’s uncle — they learned from a young age how to practice a God-centered life and how to live out everyday ministry.

Omar and Amira got married in 2005, and they continued to share the gospel by volunteering and training with The Navigators in nearby countries. Developing a heart for the nations, they went on short-term mission trips, and felt the Lord calling them to people from a particular Middle Eastern country.

“Our long-term plan was to live and do ministry there, but it didn’t work out because of the war taking place there,” Omar says. “But the Lord opened an opportunity for us to immigrate to the U.S. in 2011, and we started to do independent ministry among refugees from that country.”

In 2015, Omar and Amira got connected with The Navigator city leader in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they had moved. At the time, around 10,000 refugees from that country had entered the city, and The Navigators were praying for someone to lead a refugee ministry.

“I shared with him my heart for them,” Omar says. “I was surprised how the Lord had led us to be here, specifically for the people to come. I joined The Navigators Nations Within ministry in 2016, and we’ve been working with refugees from that country since then.”

The Power of Relationships and Prayer

Omar and Amira’s ministry in Raleigh is centered around two key ingredients: relationships and prayer.

At the beginning of their ministry, Omar and Amira started a prayer group in their apartment every Wednesday night, where they would come together with believing neighbors and pray for opportunities in their community. Week after week, the Lord sent them new people to connect with — most of which had backgrounds from a different world religion — and they would share the gospel and invite them into their home for prayer and a meal.

As their community grew, Omar and Amira began investing in their new connections through Life-to-Life^® discipleship and meeting practical needs — taking them to doctor’s appointments or grocery stores, teaching English, and helping them apply for jobs. “That was our focus: how to help them and become their friends,” Omar says.

Over time, they saw the Lord work powerfully in the lives of their friends. From casting out demonic presences through prayer to simply being an example of how to joyfully and lovingly live a life for Christ, they witnessed as, one by one, families started to know and accept Christ for the first time.

“Things started to happen in their lives, and we felt that the Lord had something greater planned than we ever thought through our simple weekly prayer meeting,” Omar says.

Aisha’s Story

For a woman named Aisha*, Omar and Amira’s ministry was truly life saving.

A couple from another Middle Eastern country, Aisha and her husband, Hassan*, had met Omar and Amira a decade earlier when they had first moved to the U.S. After two years of not being in contact, Hassan reached out to Omar one day, desperate. “He told me that his wife was under attack,” Omar remembers.

Aisha had been plagued by demonic attacks, and after being hospitalized twice with no physical conditions confirmed by doctors, she had hit a point where she was no longer able to eat or drink for 10 days. Scared his wife was near death, Hassan asked if Omar would be able to pray over her.

Omar and Amira came over to their place and shared the gospel with them for three hours, and then invited Aisha and Hassan to come to their church to be prayed over. A couple nights later at church, they worshipped and shared the gospel again. Omar invited Aisha and Hassan to pray to receive Christ. They prayed together, sitting and crying, as they committed their lives to the Lord. Then, Amira prayed over Aisha for healing and for her to be free from the demonic presence that had been burdening her.

“We asked her how she felt, and she said she felt joy and peace and was so happy for what she received from the Lord,” Omar says. “We asked if she was able to drink, and she finished two bottles of water. The next day, she woke up feeling comforted and peaceful, and she had her first meal in 10 days.”

With her spirit lifted, Aisha shared with her family about how the Lord saved her. After months of losing hope and preparing for death, they felt free! In their joy, Aisha and Hassan prepared a feast, praising the Lord and giving Him glory. Since then, Omar and Amira have continued to disciple them, encouraging them to read the Bible on their own and continue growing in their faith.

“For the first time, Aisha understood that God was her father and that He was for her, not against her,” Omar explains. “Where before, she was terrified and scared, she knew she couldn’t go back to the life she had been living before. The old creation was no longer dragging her back.”

Crossing Barriers for Christ

Through Omar and Amira’s ministry, the nations are being reached powerfully here in the U.S. They’ve seen families praise the Lord for the first time, and have witnessed the Lord build a community centered on the hope of Christ and loving each other as He first loved us. The impact has been generational and transformative: one relationship and prayer at a time.

“When we pray, we allow the presence of God to come to people, and they will experience His presence and the freedom He provides,” Omar says. “We don’t have to go through apologetics. It’s prayers that have crossed barriers because we have given them an encounter with God himself.”

*Names changed for privacy

Discipleship Tip:

One way that Omar and Amira built community and shared the gospel is by meeting the needs of those around them. Look around you — are there any practical needs that you can meet? Think about people in your community that might need resources or help, and consider how you can step in to serve, using that as a building block for relationship to flourish.

At least, this is the case for Navigator Bill Voisin and his wife, LesLee. After two decades of being missionaries in Latin America, the Voisins are now reaching a new international community — in Houston, Texas. Working with The Navigators through The La Vida Network and Nations Within ministries, Bill and LesLee are using ESL (English as a Second Language) classes to meet needs and shine the light of Jesus to a global audience.

Life as Missionaries in Venezuela

Growing up, Bill split his time between Mexico and Texas, attending two years of high school in Mexico. Because of his bicultural and bilingual upbringing, he developed a heart for Latin America and a desire to return one day.

Moving back to Texas for college, Bill was introduced to The Navigators as a freshman — kicking off a decades-long journey with Navigators ministries. After he graduated, Bill started to work for the Navigators Collegiate ministry in Texas, and during his summers, he would help with summer programs in Mexico.

When Bill and LesLee got married, there was a new Navigators ministry in Venezuela being started. Because of Bill’s Latin American background, they were chosen to be part of the launching team. In 1975, they packed their bags and trusted the Lord as they entered into full-time missions.

“I had originally planned to go back to Mexico and work in agriculture — what I got my degree in,” Bill says. “But God changed my course. We went back to Latin America to plant a different kind of seed.”

In Venezuela, Bill and LesLee started working with university students in Caracas. Many of their students came to know Christ, and as they graduated and moved to the other side of the country to work in the oil industry, the Voisins realized that they wanted to follow them to continue doing Life-to-Life^® discipleship with the relationships they cultivated. Heading to Maracaibo, they got involved with a local college ministry and continued to help their young disciples grow.

“Many of them got married, and the only examples they had were their fathers who came home drunk and beat up on their family,” Bill recalls. “So we helped them walk through different phases of their lives, guiding them through life and discipleship and biblical principles.”

Bill and LesLee spent over 20 years in Venezuela before the government announced that foreign missionaries were being expelled from the country. Unable to return to their home, the Voisins had to step into a new chapter of their international ministry: teaching ESL in Houston.

“God was gracious,” Bill says. “We have over 55,000 Venezuelans living here in the Houston area, and right now, some of our key connections are Venezuelans. God brought the mission field to us.”

Using ESL to Create Cross-Cultural Bridges

In Houston, the Voisins have made it their mission to reach the nations through their diverse neighborhood community.

Houston is known for being one of the most multicultural cities in the United States, with the tagline: “Visit Houston and you’ll see the world.” 44 percent of Houston’s population is Hispanic, and almost 30 percent is foreign born — making the city a prime location for forging intercultural relationships.

Upon arriving in Texas, Bill and LesLee kicked off their new ESL outreach ministry. Though their focus is the Hispanic community, they’ve also been able to reach ethnic groups and immigrants from across the globe.

“ESL opens the door to reaching distinct populations regardless of religious backgrounds,” Bill says. “Currently, I am involved with members of several other major world religions, and even secular folks from Russia.”

Leading groups twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a team of six volunteers from their local church, Bill and LesLee use teaching ESL as a pathway to sharing the gospel and building holistic relationships. Bill uses a program — material published by NavPress called English in Action — that goes through the Bible, while his wife leads a group of international women to read through portions of the Bible.

“We go through the Bible, and we teach them the story of God,” Bill says. “Many of them have become Christians and are now attending local churches.”

Beyond teaching English, the Voisins have been able to show God’s character and love by meeting the present needs of their community and building friendships. From helping with legal problems to assisting couples with finding jobs or inviting families over for dinner, their ministry is personal and relational as they are actively involved in each other’s lives.

“We want to find out where they have a need and show them how God can meet that,” Bill explains. “Many people don’t understand the gospel immediately, but they do understand someone helping them. So we minister through real life situations, and that opens the door to present the gospel.”

A Global Impact

For Bill and LesLee, reaching their neighbors in Houston is reaching the world. As they watch their friends’ lives being transformed for Christ, they’ve seen the impact of spiritual multiplication as these new disciples spread light to their networks, sharing the gospel with their families and homes around the globe.

“God has brought the mission field to us — it’s on our back door,” Bill says. “You could work with any people group here; there’s all kinds of opportunities to reach out. So we’re going to the nations right here in our home.”

Discipleship Tip:

Whether you feel called to go overseas or be present in your home community, you can reach the nations wherever you are. Consider your neighbors and the city you live in — are there unreached people groups in your backyard? Pray about how you can expand your circles and get involved in your community, inviting others to know Christ, make HIm known, and help others do the same^®.

Raised in the Middle East, Ali grew up in a family with no access to Christianity. Though he had heard of Jesus as a prophet who is a healer and a miracle worker, Bibles were strictly forbidden, especially after a military movement swept into the country. However, Ali was curious about Christianity, having called upon Jesus for healing in the past, and he had a deep desire in his heart to know more about Him. 

At the time, the military movement had cut off TV and radio programs, so there was no way to hear from the outside world. One day, though, Ali climbed to the top of a mountain so that he could seek a signal for his radio. He was having trouble finding a station, when all of a sudden, he picked one up — a Christian radio show playing worship music and sharing Bible stories.

“God directed me to one channel that I connected with — it was a Christian channel, and as I listened, it was interesting and beautiful,” Ali recalls. “All I loved was the music and the story, but it was so clear that God provided this opportunity for me when I was desperately looking for something.”

Ali went searching for a Bible, but he couldn’t find one in his country. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to learn more in his home country, he decided to look elsewhere. He left his home in 2005, and it took him five years of traveling and walking from country to country to discover a small Christian community, where he finally gave his life to Christ. “I found the Bible and started studying and learning, and I discovered things that I always felt like I wanted, needed,” Ali says. “I fell in love with Jesus.”

While he was away from his home country, Ali applied for refugee asylum, and he eventually made his way to the United States in 2009. After moving to Colorado Springs in 2017, he met The Navigators at a Nations Within collaborative ministry event in the city.

After a year of spending time with the Navigators, Ali said, “I want to be a Navigator.”  At first, Navigators staff tried to talk him out of it, since he’d have to fundraise. But he replied, “I can trust God, who got me out of the Middle East. I can trust Him again to do this job.”

Ali joined The Navigators Nations Within staff in 2020 to start a ministry reaching other refugees in Seattle with his wife, Sierra. While there, Ali connected with another Christian refugee from his homeland named Latif, who soon after also joined the staff of Nations Within to reach the refugee community in Memphis. 

The fruit of both of their ministries has been abundant and multiplying disciples, reaching far beyond Seattle and Memphis to bring Jesus to those who have little to no access — men and women back in the Middle East.

Uplifting Middle Eastern Communities in the United States

In Ali and Latif’s different ministries, there is a specific way they build community and reach people for Jesus — meeting needs, hearing stories, and healing past hurts.

“You are working with people who have been used, tortured, manipulated, or hurt physically, mentally, or spiritually,” Ali says. “Some have never experienced love or compassion from others, even their parents, because of where they grew up. They may have different perspectives that require you to love them, serve them, be patient, and see where God is leading.”

In Seattle, Ali serves Middle Eastern refugees and families by helping them find jobs, communities, housing, schools, and more. By meeting physical needs, he creates a starting point for relationships and trust to grow, eventually leading others to Christ. 

Just one of the many stories of this occurring was several months ago, when a couple from the Middle East came into Washington with no place to stay. Ali connected with them and found a family from his church to take the couple into their home. Eventually, they learned the couple’s story — they had run from their home country and desperately needed community. Ali and the church continued to share the gospel and love the couple by serving and providing for them, and after a few months, the Lord opened their hearts. The husband and wife accepted Christ and were baptized!

“You are working with a minority group coming from harsh places here in the United States,” Ali says. “But by continuing to help them, talk, and work with them, they will reach a point where they get healed. They will receive love and become more and more comfortable. They will love you, hold you, count on you. And God can do some significant things through them.”

Similarly, Latif creates a safe space for Middle Eastern refugees in Memphis to connect and create community. Whether it’s Saturday night soccer games or inviting women into his family’s home for tea, Latif will welcome others in and create relationships where he can share the gospel. 

“We love them and serve them, and now we have a very good friendship with them,” Latif says. “It’s not easy, but we see the word of God work in our ministry. We started with three people here in our church, but now we have about 40 Middle Eastern believers meeting every Sunday.”

How God is Moving Across the World

The beauty of Ali and Latif’s ministry is that they have extended their work to not only reach those in the United States, but their families and communities back in their home country. 

Ali currently splits his time by creating schools and work for Middle Eastern women who are not allowed to be educated or have public jobs. Currently, he and his team have provided education for over 1,000 girls and job opportunities for 300 women, employing them to make beautiful lamb’s wool rugs that are hand-dyed with berries. 

Latif is also reaching people across the Middle East through media channels, much like the radio station that Ali found when he was young. Twice a week for an hour, he broadcasts the gospel, and they often get calls and messages from people around the world with questions or who are praising God. This has led to over 20 virtual Bible studies, led by Latif and his team, that are currently happening in home churches in the Middle East. 

“We are building a community of believers inside the Middle East, providing an opportunity to answer their questions, share the gospel with them, and send them whatever they need,” Ali says. “For me, 20 years ago, I was desperately looking for a Bible or a Christian to tell me who Jesus is. We want that to be available for other people, too, whether in the Middle East or the United States.”

A Light in Dark Places

The work that Ali and Latif are doing with the Middle Eastern community has inspired others to step up and do similar ministries across the country, from Louisville, Kentucky to Dallas, Texas. The work has grown to four locations and almost 10 staff working with those from the Middle East, and they have seen over 200 people come to Christ that Nations Within can count, both in the States and across the world. 

For Ali, the spread of the gospel makes sense. After all, light shines brightest in the darkest of places. 

“It’s been a very unfortunate time inside of the Middle East — people are grieving, and it is dark there,” he says. “But because it is dark, people are desperate for light. Christ’s light is shining brighter and brighter, and when they see it, they have questions and want to be around it.” 
If you feel called to support Ali and Latif’s ministry, you can both come alongside them in prayer and become a partner monetarily by offering a gift to our Nations Within ministry.

Discipleship Tip:

Ali and Latif excel at building trust in relationships, listening to people’s stories and meeting their tangible needs. Think about how you can build trust with non-believers in your circles. Are you listening well to where they are coming from, learning about their past experiences and what they might need? Getting to know people well — and letting them know you — can be the best first step to sharing the gospel and introducing them to Jesus.

Yusuf* is a pastor living with his family in a country in Southeast Asia. Though it is not illegal to be a Christian in his homeland, he is forbidden from openly evangelizing, and Christianity is certainly not valued or affirmed in the culture.

Despite the opposition of his surroundings, Yusuf was seeking new ways to teach and disciple young believers in his community. Many of the young adults around him were feeling discouraged and worn down, wondering what’s the point of being a Christian when everyone else is involved in a different religion. He wanted to spur on the next generation, building them up to live out their faith even when it is challenging.

One day, Yusuf got on the internet and put in a Google search for “discipleship.” A resource from The Navigators popped up in the results, and he discovered The Navigators Digital Discipleship Journey® (DDJ) course, a series of eight to 13 emails designed to inspire and equip believers to grow spiritually and help others do the same. Yusuf signed up for the DDJ, completed the course over a number of weeks, and then requested to connect with a Navigator at the end of the journey.

A Digital Connection for Discipleship

This connected Yusuf with Navigator John Hess, the director of Nations Within (a Navigators ministry that focuses on people within the United States whose primary, national identity is distinct from majority culture), whom Yusuf began connecting with over video. After a couple virtual meetings, John and his wife Liz decided to visit Yusuf’s family in person in Southeast Asia for five days. The timing couldn’t have been better, as they were returning from The Navigators International Staff Conference overseas, where they met other disciplemakers from Yusuf’s part of the world. During his visit, John learned more about Yusuf’s family, culture, and passion to know Christ and make Him known.

“Yusuf moved out of his neighborhood to live in a community that is more hostile to Christianity, which is very unheard of for Christians there,” John explains. “So they’re learning how to live in that community and love them well. It’s the cost of true discipleship.”

Reaching the Ends of the Earth

John has continued to follow up with Yusuf in the months since his visit, and he’s been encouraged to see how — through one simple Google search — the Lord has instilled a heart of discipleship for new places and people.

“When The Navigators launched the Digital Discipleship Journey email course, I don’t know if we had the ends of the earth in mind,” John says. “But He put it on a believer’s heart to research us, and we are in a place where the ends of the earth are coming true. Not because we are perfectly getting into these lost places, but because God is already working there.”

*Names changed for privacy

The glow of thousands of faces lights up the room, a powerful testament to the spread of the gospel from generation to generation. 

This was one of the many special moments from The Navigators 2023 National Staff Gathering.

Last month, over 1,300 Navigator staff came together in Irving, Texas. The theme of the weekend was Heartbeat: A Vital Movement of the Gospel, focusing on 2 Timothy 2:1-2: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (NIV).

The gathering held five plenary sessions, which were designed to inspire, uplift, and challenge staff attendees to continue the work to which they’ve been called. Staff heard insights on the Lord’s vision for grace, necessary aspects of prayer, and how He works through each and every one of us to reach the nations and spread His mission.  

Staff members also enjoyed times of fun and laughter, along with encouraging ministry stories from new and old friends, breakouts to equip and multiply disciplemakers, precious times of prayer and worship, and motivational messages from fellow Navigators and international leaders. 

For many, the National Staff Gathering was a reminder of why they became Navigators — to be a part of a vital movement of the gospel by connecting, resourcing, and developing everyday disciplemakers. 

Though this conference looked back over the past four years since our last National Staff Gathering, we also took time to look forward to the work that is ahead of us as a ministry. You can partner with us as we continue this work for years to come! 

Pray that the Lord works through The Navigators to reach the unreached and create new disciplemakers. Come alongside us to spread the gospel and disciple those in your circles, from family members to coworkers to neighbors and beyond.

Whether you serve on staff or through your everyday life, we are excited to see how the Lord moves through this next season of ministry!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV).

Discipleship Tip:  

Pull out your phone and find a photo of someone you’re discipling or have discipled. Pray for that person and reach out to offer them encouragement.

When we read the gospels and observe Jesus’ life and ministry we most often notice what he did for the crowds.

He taught them, fed them, healed them, and even John noted that if every work Jesus did while on this earth was written down, the world could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25). There’s no question that Jesus had and still has a heart for the world! 

Because of that, it comes as a surprise to many that amidst all that Jesus did for the masses He spent approximately 85% of His time with just 12 men.

It wasn’t because of a lack of care for the masses that Jesus focused on the few…but rather quite the opposite!

Jesus focused on the few for the sake of the many! His method for reaching the world was through building deeply into a select few and teaching them to do the same.

Jesus loved everyone, helped many, but invested in just a few. If we hope to take the gospel to the ends of the earth His method must also become our method.

“Ask God to give you one.” The same challenge that Dawson Trotman gave to Les Spencer in 1933 that started The Navigators can be our starting point today.

As he was falling to the ground it felt like time slowed down. He heard the voice of God, “I’ve brought you out from a war-torn country and an abusive father and put amazing people in your life. You are not pursuing me like I have pursued you.”

His friends took him to the emergency room where he had an x-ray to see the extent of his injury. While Abdul was waiting to see the doctor, he and his friends were laughing in the waiting room. The doctor came to talk to Abdul with the x-ray in her hand and waved it in his face and said, “Do you know how lucky you are to be alive? If he had hit you two centimeters higher he would have pushed into your brain and you would be dead.”

After this radical experience, Abdul decided he wanted to know more about God. Abdul says, “I had been so stubborn, I wanted to have my Christian life and my party and gang life. But after I almost died, I wanted to learn more about God and to hear His voice. Also, even though my party friends took me to the hospital, during my long recovery from my broken jaw, they didn’t come around more. But my Christian mentors and friends did come to me and encourage me.” 

Abdul had first met Christians when he was 9 years old, in 2009, when he and his mom and siblings came as refugees to the United States from a war-torn country in the Middle East. The other refugees they met in Syracuse, New York told them that there was a church that would give them furniture and blankets for their apartment. Since they didn’t have anything, they decided to go to the church for a few things.

Abdul described how it felt there, “Once we went into the church, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and calm. Coming from a war zone and growing up with abuse and neglect, I had never felt that kind of peace before. Everyone was so happy to see us and made us feel welcome. Originally, we just wanted to go to the church to get their help, but they were so kind, we kept going back. There was one older couple who would come visit us regularly and it felt like they became part of our family. They didn’t push their faith on us, but after several years I asked them why they were helping us and why they seemed peaceful and happy. They told me about Jesus. I had already decided that I wanted to have whatever they had in their life, and I realized that what I was missing was Jesus.”

Eventually Abdul and his mom and siblings moved to Detroit. There he met John Kirby (Navigators Nations Within) through a local soccer league. “Most of the other players practiced the religion I had known growing up, but I told John that I was a Christian. We became friends and I went to his church and started learning more about Jesus. But I still wasn’t wholehearted in my commitment, and I spent time with my partying friends, which got me into trouble. Yet John and other Christian mentors were there for me.

“As I was recovering from my broken jaw, I decided to follow God with my whole life, I attended a discipleship and evangelism training program another mentor had suggested. Now that I am back from that training, I am living in a house which is a home for refugees, some of whom practice other religions. Now I have a purpose in my life, to model Christ in the same way my mentors did for me when I was younger. I want to point people toward Jesus as the only hope for life.” 

_{*Name changed.}

About 20 years ago I met Armando and Liset Diaz (Navigators Nations Within and Director of Navigators LaVida Network). I was married at that time and I remember having conversations with Armando about spiritual topics. I always told him that I was a good person and did not feel a need for God in my life. Then I went through two broken relationships and was left without a connection to my daughter, whom I love so much. I felt like my world fell apart.

As my friendship with Armando grew, I was open to receive what God had to tell me. We started to meet for Life-to-Life^® disci­pleship. I started reading the Bible, praying, and attending church. My life began to be healed and transformed. God opened the door for me to travel from my home in Havana, Cuba, to Mexico for an exhibition of my paintings. A few weeks later, I traveled to Texas and asked for political asylum. Armando and I continued having long distance discipleship conversations through those years.

I learned how to be a man of God and, when I was ready, I met a wonderful and godly woman. Juanel and I started dating and got married a year later. It was hard in the beginning because we were from different cultures and had to make adjustments, but Armando was again a great help during this process. I was able to learn how to be a loving husband and servant leader to my wife.

I am so thankful that I met Jesus and that I have such a wonderful friend in Armando who not only led me to the Lord, but also took time to disciple, mentor, and coach me through all of these years!

Pray that God will continue to use Navigators around the world to offer the hope of Jesus!

In March 2020, when COVID-19 hit the United States, it spread rapidly across the Navajo and Hopi Nations in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The Navajo Nation makes up 2 percent of Arizona’s population, but 26 percent of the coronavirus cases in Arizona were among the Navajo Nation, which had the highest per-capita infection rate in the United States. Due to the lack of testing, the infection rate was probably higher.

Why so many cases? Family clan systems and cultural norms create communities of interdependence fueled by the unemployment rate (55.9 percent) and the proportion of the population living under the poverty level (45 percent). Multiple generations and even multiple families live in one household, so it is hard to isolate those who are sick. Consequently, COVID-19 spread among families. In addition, 40 percent of the population still lives without running water and electricity.

The elderly are vulnerable and marginalized. Most communities on the reservation have senior centers that provide hot meals on a daily basis, as well as comfort and support. Normally, elders are picked up at their homes and brought to the center to be cared for. Unfortunately, due to physical distancing guidelines, they are no longer going to the centers. One center serves 10 communities with over 90 elders within a 50-mile radius. The need is great!

This need provided an opportunity to help the elderly through engaging young emerging Native leaders. Through prayer, conviction, and much planning, we sprang into ac­tion. We established the COVID-19 Navajo and Hopi Elder Support Project. Our team identified faithful Native leaders who intimately knew the needs of their communities. Quickly Redemption Church, our home church in Flagstaff and Central Church of Phoenix partnered with us. Indian Bible College of Flagstaff provided the facility to base our operations. We established monetary donation sites and procured other resources.

Our objective was to provide the Navajo and Hopi elders in the most remote locations with food, water, cleaning supplies, and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Deliveries were made every two weeks for a 16-week period. Together, we provided over 3,000 boxes of food, water, and other items to 11 remote communities for elders in need. This was made possible by ministry partners and over 100 faithful volunteers! Everyone had a deep sense of God’s Spirit, provision, and leading. The project also provided an amazing opportunity to empower, engage, and develop whole life dis­cipleship among the emerging Native leaders who surrounded us. These leaders desperately wanted to help their communities and we were able to provide that opportunity.

A Hopi volunteer said, “I was so happy to see you all yesterday. I felt the love this organization has brought to our village. Thank you so much!”

Rebecca Begay, one of the Native leaders said, “It was amazing to pray for so many needs and to watch God meet those needs. My faith has grown, and I saw Jesus in what we were doing. We learned so much about how to lead in a crisis and it feels like there is nothing we can’t do.”

Pray for our next steps as we continue to engage with the Navajo and Hopi Nations, mentor and disciple emerging Native leaders, and deepen relationships.

Sign up for Native Nations Network ministry updates at tinyurl.com/MuttonStew.

“We see this as a glorious moment,” Samy says. “Fear, uncertainty, and sickness do not discriminate between citizens and immigrants, young and old, rich and poor. Everyone is equal. This is the time to tell people about our hope and peace and rest in our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. As 1 Peter 3:15 says, ‘But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’“

The Awads believe God can turn a curse into a blessing, and that He will transform the hearts of the nations as billions face the unknown.

“Eman is investing in a 19-year-old college student,” Samy says. “This young woman had a lot of questions and confusion about God and her identity in Christ. After eight months of weekly meetings with Eman, God has restored her completely, freed her from her struggles and doubts, and has restored her relationship with her family. She has decided to follow God and study the Bible.”

One couple Samy and Eman had been reaching out to had struggled for a long time in their marriage and were headed to divorce.

“After the pandemic hit, we prayed with the man and they started to mend their relationship,” Samy says. “I recently reconnected with my friend about this miracle in his marriage. He likened the transformation to when Jesus ordered the sea to be silent. God touched their hearts. Now he is trying to bring the light of Christ to his wife and prays continuously for her. I trust God to restore their lives and give grace for the glory of our King Jesus.”

While the pandemic drives most of us physically apart, God has used it to spiritually regather many.

“Another of our friends who had been involved with our ministry in the past but had stopped for a while reached out to me when the pandemic started,” Samy says. “He called me and we prayed over the phone. He decided to join us online again.”

Samy recently began texting Psalm 91 to people in their neighborhood. Many were touched by God’s Word in an uncertain time. Eman sent the Jesus Film (the Gospel of Luke) to five women, praying that God would open eyes and hearts.

Though all their meetings are now being run over social media platforms, these meetings are continuing on schedule every week. God has been faithful to continue His ministry.

“We miss the face-to-face interaction, but we are thankful for technology,” Samy says. “We’ve found God in the midst of this. We’ve had local and international Bible studies and facilitated prayer and discipleship online. People are more available now, and God is doing a great work among families. Our online international discipleship meetings are working wonderfully well and seem to be even more effective than before the pandemic. We can see lives transformed through the gospel of Jesus in young and old generations!” 

Praise the Lord for what God is doing in the lives that Samy and Eman are investing in through online discipleship. Be praying for how you can be used to bring light and hope to those God has placed in your life. God will bless it! No virus can stop His power to do good!