antiochian apostolic church

Fall 2016 FrAbjar.org

LIFE WITH GOD

For more than ten years

Pastor Abjar has been

working as a missionary

and church planter in the

Texas District. Meeting and

talking to many Arabs

(Muslims and Christians),

he realized

the lack of

material

that

disciples

these

Arabs from

a

specifically

Lutheran

theology in

Arabic.

In 1984

Luther’s

Catechism was translated

in Arabic but it was not

enough just to translate a

document from English in

Arabic, the need was to

write a discipleship

program based on

Luther’s Catechism.

To fulfill this need he has

been working on a

discipleship program

based on Luther

Catechism, the book was

completed in the summer

of 2016.

Pastor Abjar has begun a

series of videos to

accompany the text.

These

video

teachings

will be

broadcast

on various

Christian

Arabic

Satellites

as well as

available

for small

group

studies. As

we continue working on

this program we pray that

it will be used to reach out

throughout the Arab

World.

“The disciples were called Christian first in Antioch”

(Acts 11:26)

ANTIOCHIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

LWML UPDATE

After attending my first

LWML Convention as a

presenter I have been

blessed to return to our

ministry with new hope

for our families. Renewal

is always a blessing and

being able to visit with so

many amazing women

and men we are

approaching the

coming season of

ministry with vigor. We

were blessed to receive

partial funding for our

Mission Grant and have

already been able to

apply it where it was

most needed. Thanks to

your Mites, we have

been able to continue

with the development of

our media ministry and

continue supporting

ministry throughout the

country.

Phylan Bahkou

“We proclaim to you what we

have seen and heard, so that

you also may have fellowship

with us. And our fellowship is

with the Father and with his

Son, Jesus Christ. We write

this to make our joy complete.”

1 John 1:3-4

“ T H E D I S C I P L E S W E R E C A L L E D C H R I S T I A N F I R S T I N A N T I O C H ” ( A C T S

1 1 : 2 6 )

MINISTRY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Rami was born in a Muslim country in

the Middle East, to a Muslim family. He

became a Christian following a near-

death experience and an invitation

from a friend to attend church. At that

service, Rami

was shaken

by the

presence of

God, and his

heart began

to shift.

Rami

returned to

the church despite the possible risks,

and had a vision of a man in white

inviting him onto a boat. Rami

accepted Jesus’ invitation and felt as

though doors were immediately being

opened for him. He continued

attending church in secret and began

meeting with other Christians from

Muslim backgrounds to pray for their

city.

In 2003, Rami met *Mike Smith, a

Christian minister interested in starting a

business. He began to help him, and

formed a partnership with him and his

team which lasted for the next ten

years. In 2013, Smith and his family

found themselves imprisoned in his

country due to their association with the

family members of a local Sharia

leader, who had become Christians.

Rami testified for Smith in court, facing

accusations and intense questioning of

his faith.

Rami was able to get them released

from jail through the specific wisdom of

God, but faced further scrutiny from the

government for his actions. They

attempted to use others against him by

threatening his friends and family, and

threatened Rami himself with beatings

and imprisonment for his alignment with

Christians. With help from his contacts

in the U.S., he was able to get out of his

country.

However, when his family began to

suspect he was a Christian after he left

the country, they threatened to kill him

upon his return if they found out their

suspicions were true.

While Rami has been finding his way in

a new country after he lost everything

in his country, God has also been giving

him a vision for a new kind of ministry…

Pastor Abjar has been working with

Rami for almost 2 years. Rami has been

instrumental in assisting with the media

and outreach ministry of the Antiochian

Apostolic Church both in Hurst and in

Waco. As a member of Pastor Abjar’s

media team Rami will be helping film

and edit the Arabic and English videos

for our ministry as well as “Life with

God”. Rami will join Pastor Abjar in Hurst

on Sundays as well as various ministry

events throughout the state.


1 1 : 2 6 )

In November of 2014 we received a

phone call from Pastor Tony Boos,

Associate Pastor at Faith Lutheran

Church in Troy Michigan. The

conversation began, “How do we

reach out to the 300,000 plus Arabs in

the Detroit area?” On November 30th

of 2014, Pastor Abjar flew from a sunny

Dallas Thanksgiving to snowy Detroit to

lead an Arabic Worship Service at Faith

Lutheran Church. We have been

partnering with Faith to help grow their

ministry. In August of 2016 we did a third

Arabic worship at faith with a newly

formed worship team, “Love and

Peace Worship Team”. Over 100 Arab

Immigrants attended that service. We

continue to work with Faith Lutheran

Church in Detroit to offer at three to

four Arabic services a year until they are

able to find a local pastor and train him

to lead their growing community.

Christ is risen… He is risen indeed!

North Texas is one of the most

attractive area to Immigrants. Recently

the owner of a Middle Eastern grocery

store al-Giza, who himself is a Coptic

Egyptian Immigrant, told me that his

Coptic Orthodox Church in the City of

Bedford, receives between 5-10 new

families moving to Fort Worth and the

Mid-Cities weekly.

Many of those, who are not Coptic,

are moving in DFW area and are

looking for a home church, this is the

scenario of the Antiochian Apostolic

Church. On a weekly bases we meet

new families who have moved into the

area and are looking for a family

Church.

The mission of our church is to reach

out to Arab Immigrants (Christians and

Muslims) all over Dallas and Fort Worth

area. This Easter over 200 immigrants

attended our three worship services

during Holy Week and Easter

celebrations. This year on Maundy

Thursday, with the goal of bringing the

Gospel story alive, Pastor Abjar

celebrated the Lords Supper and gave

communion, continued with washing

the feet for 5 young children and 1

young adult representing different

various Arabic countries


1 1 : 2 6 )

Easter Services at the

Antiochian Apostolic Church

2016

Pastor Abjar presented Engaging Islam in the Apologetical Discourses of Gerasimus. at

the XII International Symposium of Syriac Studies, and the X Congress of Arabic Christian

Studies, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Rome Italy (August 19-24, 2016).

“The disciples were called Christian first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26)

OTHER MINISTRY EVENTS …

Above: Ministry Partner St. Paul Lutheran Church

hosted an Arabic Student Dinner for Pastor Abjar’s

Classes from Baylor University.

Right: End of Year BBQ with Pastor Abjar’s Baylor

Classes.

Below: Display for LWML 2016 State Conference in

Lubbock, TX

Recording

Life with God

Sponsored by

Ministry Partner

Trinity at Badger

Ranch

Waco, TX


LOOKING AHEAD… 10,000 Syrian Refugees Find New Homes in the United States

California and Michigan

are neck-and-neck

among states for receiving

the most Syrian refugees,

followed by Arizona, Texas

and Illinois. Cities with

large numbers include

Chicago (469), Glendale,

Arizona (384), Troy,

Michigan (325) and Dallas

(293).*

Dallas is one of four cities

in America to receive

refugees. In addition to

the Syrian refugees Texas

has received, since 2005,

more than 10.000 Iraqi

refugees. All these

refugees have similar

needs including financial,

emotional, and spiritual

support and most

importantly they need a

family, a church in which

to worship.

95% of Arab Christians are

coming from liturgical

churches, they are raised

in traditional churches

Word and Sacrament is

key. The Antiochian

Apostolic church reaches

out to these Arab

Christians by offering the

Sacrament of Eucharist

and the preaching of the

Gospel on a weekly bases.

The sacrament is offered

with a blend of Eastern

Liturgy and Lutheran

structure and theological

teaching about the

sacraments.

This what makes the

Antiochian Apostolic

Church unique in the

LCMS. In DFW area, there

are seven Arabic

Evangelical and Baptist

churches, they all offer

services weekly partnering

with their respected

synods. However many

families drive 30 plus miles,

passing by these non-

sacramental churches, to

attend service on weekly

basis with us.

In the Texas district there

are other mission outreach

organizations under the

LCMS who are reaching

out to refugees. However

the Antiochian Apostolic

Church is the only mission-

church that offers Word

and Sacraments

according to our Lutheran

Theology in Arabic in the

synod.

* Thursday Sept 1, Associate

Press, Daily News.com

Upcoming Events

Ninth Annual Conference of the

Association for the Study of Middle

East and Africa, Washington D.C.

October 27-29

Arabic Worship Sundays at 9:30

Peace Lutheran Church Hurst, TX

Please join us as we pray for opportunities

to witness and worship.


IN THE NEWS…


WHERE TO FIND US…

YouTube:

frabjar72

Facebook:

Antiochian Apostolic Church

Website:

Fatherabjar.Org

Email:

[email protected]

Many Thanks to our Ministry Partners

Peace Lutheran Church; Hurst, TX has provided a

home for us to worship and fellowship since 2010.

Grace Lutheran Church; Midland, TX

Peace Lutheran Church; Hewitt, TX

Saint Mark Lutheran Church; Waco, TX

Saint Paul Lutheran; Bellmead, TX

Christ Lutheran Church; Hillsboro, TX

Trinity at Badger Ranch; Woodway, TX

Trinity Lutheran Church; Riesel, TX

Immanuel Lutheran Church; Clifton, TX

Faith Lutheran Church; Troy, Michigan

Fr. Abjar Bahkou

Fr. Abjar Bahkou

6613 Tejas Drive

Waco, TX 76712

mailto:[email protected]

antiochian apostolic church

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