By Tom Atema
I met Aleb just before I taught a lesson to our Missional Leadership Development class. He is passionate, focused, and a diligent student of the Bible with a hunger to learn and apply what he is learning. He has come a long way in one short year through the Missional Leadership Development program.
Aleb grew up as a Bedouin orphan sitting and roaming with his Bedouin community. As a teenage Bedouin man, he entered adulthood and married early. Today he has a beautiful family of faith. His desire is to raise his children after God’s own heart and help them develop to be all God created them to be.
Life as a Bedouin is not easy. Their traditions, customs, and authority structure need to be respected and honored, but there are definitely tensions that Aleb is walking out daily as a child of The King.
Lebanon has, and still is experiencing many crises. However, Lebanon is still considered a haven for religious freedom in the Middle East.
For Aleb and 72 others in our Missional Leadership Development Program, discipleship is something they take very seriously, as do we at Heart for Lebanon.
You have heard from us and many others that record numbers of people are coming to faith in the Middle East. To be honest I have never seen anything like this in Lebanon. Its breathtaking; seeing God working in this manner.
The harvest that is taking place today is the result of years, if not decades, of planting “seeds” by others and our team. In fact, today we are impacting 7 unreached people groups in the south of Lebanon. Five of these groups are no longer unreached as we have at least one transformational life living in each 5 of these groups.
In our Missional Leadership Development program we have 7 groups of people who are represented just in the south. Each one of these groups is also involved in our Hope Evangelical Church – Ghazieh.
- Arab Syrian / Muslim Sunni
- Kurdish Syrian/ Kurmanji
- Lebanese catholic
- Lebanese Maronite
- Kurdish from Talaran/ Syrian
- Syrian orthodox
- Lebanese Shiite Muslim
In the years ahead, can you imagine what these men and women will accomplish for the Kingdom, not only in the epi-center of the world but around the world?
But here is the question I really want us to think about: What would happen if we did not disciple them? If we were not intentional in taking some focused time to encourage them and allow them to use their gifts and talents?
Simply put we will have wasted our time and resources because the next generation will not care or know about Jesus. This movement will die with us if we do not disciple them, and that is unacceptable and unbiblical.
It’s one reason we are so thankful that a fund was created to help these men and women be grounded Biblically! It helps support them as they serve Him in the future, being people of tremendous character and having the leadership skills to keep this movement going until our Lord returns. This way future generations like Aleb’s children and grandchildren will see and hear about Jesus.
Thank you so very much for praying and helping us disciple men and women of every tribe in Lebanon through our Missional Leadership Development Program!
This is an exciting time, and my desire is that you do not miss the opportunity open right now. Let’s have a conversation about this this week! Just text or email me and we will walk this discipleship journey together.
Very thankful for you.
Together We Are Better!
Tom Atema
Heart for Lebanon, Co-Founder
Champion of the Cedar Legacy Campaign
P.O. Box 1294
Black Mountain, NC 28711 USA
Text: 828-712-7968
