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Tyre Church Booming with Converts and Seekers Needs Your Support

yamout-clinic-2“Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut” Revelations 3: 8
Yamout Arab Garbyamout-Clinic

Hundreds of hundreds of Syrian refugees are coming “to hear the Word of God, to be fed, to be treated by medical teams, and to be loved ,” Lebanese missionary Mohammad Yamout recently told a standing-room-only audience at Salam Christian Fellowship in Lombard.

Mr. Yamout, raised as a Muslim and converted to Christianity several years ago, described past events at his mission station in Tyre as a “tide moved by God and a door for preaching the Gospel that could not be shut. ” Mentioning the tragedies and massacres in Syria and Iraq , he made it clear that ” God is bringing good out of evil ” and that scores of Muslims in those countries have found comfort and peace by proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Mr. Yamout and his family have been persecuted for their mission work. He explained it as “part of the spiritual warfare that Christians suffer when they preach the Gospel to Muslims.” He credited God for giving him and his family the necessary love and patience to endure this persecution.

The missionary encouraged Americans to get involved in his mission in South Lebanon . He related that a Christian brother , former U.S. Marine Chris Todd and his family, are now in Tyre helping him while he travels now and then to the United States to raise funds for his mission. Mr. Yamout was recently joined by an 18-year- old American missionary from California, whom he said was one of those new generation of young people helping mission projects protect innocent people in the Middle East from the violence of ISIS . “She [ the missionary ] is a lady totally sold out To Jesus without any reservations . She packed her bag with a fistful of dollars in her purse and answered the Lord’s Call for Laborers in the Plenteous Harvest of the Middle East .”
Yamout went on to say that if Christians cannot come to Lebanon to help his mission, they can get involved in many other ways, such as sponsoring a child through the Salam Christian Fellowship or by contacting the Beirut Lutheran Hour Ministry office .

In addition of being displaced and homeless, Syrian refugees have been recently banned by the Lebanese education system from attending public schools , Mr. Yamout claimed. This ban led him to enroll more than 70 children at Catholic schools, which, he said , charge a $1,000 dollars per student tuition. He is planning to start a preschool for hundreds of refugee and neglected Syrian children .

With a goal of planting churches for Muslims in the Middle East, Mr. Yamout founded his mission headquarters in 2008 , later adding a sister center in Amman, Lebanon.

Born in 1966, in Beirut, Lebanon, Mr. Yammout converted to Christianity at the age of 14 , coming from the largest Sunni Muslim family in Beirut. The Yammout family has been providing Imams and muazzens (those who call for Islamic prayers in mosques) for a century, and his late great uncle, Sheikh Shafiq Yammout, was the head of Sharia courts there.

Lebanon used to be the only state in the Middle East that had a Christian majority, Mr. Yamout told his audience . Christians in Lebanon have dwindled from more than 50% of the population early in the 20th century to the current 13% . The rest of the residents is mainly Shia and Sunni Muslims. Political power is divided among the Lebanese along sectarian lines; however, the president of the country is required to be a Catholic Maronite; the prime minister a Sunni Muslim; the house speaker a Shiite Muslim; and 50% of the parliament must , by the national constitution, be elected from the Christian population.
Even though the country’s Lebanese population is only 4 million, Lebanon has received more than 2 million Syrian refugees since the civil war broke out in Syria. The country now has 750,000 Palestinian refugees, many are those who were displaced after the establishment of Israel in 1947.
Asked more about the tragic situation in the Middle East, Mr. Yammout explained that the fighting in Syria and Iraq is a 1,400-year-old feud between Sunni and Shia Islamists . He said that the U.S. intervention against the Islamic State is considered by Sunni majority as taking sides with the Shiite minority, which is represented by Iran, the Syrian regime, and Hizbollah in Lebanon. Mr. Yammout explained that Sunni majority countries are supporting the fight against the Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq. He further explained that since the Iranian Islamic Revolution took place in 1979, Shiites “have dug themselves into a hole, antagonizing Sunnis, and that they cannot kill their way out of this crisis. ” The Shiites cannot rule the Sunnis by force, and a just political solution to the grievances of both parties is needed in
the region, he asserted.

Edited by Bob Schwarz

Hesham Shehab

Hicham [pronounced HESHAAM] grew up in a world of bitter animosity between Muslims and Christians, which he experienced personally in a physical attack when only about 7. By age 13 he was recruited by an extremist Muslim group and later fought against Christians in the 1975 war in Lebanon. He was preparing to become a Muslim Preacher (Imam) when a car accident laid him up for a year. In 1980, in his first semester in college, his brother was killed by Christian militia. Hicham's response was to study by day, and by night take out his revenge in attacks on Christians. However, hearing the Sermon on the Mount, in a course of cultural studies (in college), brought him to faith. Later, Hicham earned an M.A. in the history of the Arabs and did Ph.D studies in the history of Islam. Hicham finished his pastoral education at Concordia, Fort Wayne, IN, and is currently in the Ph. D program there. Presently, Hicham, and ordained LCMS minister, pastors Salam Christian Fellowship and works as a missionary to the Muslims with the Lutheran Church in Illinois.

Comments (9)

  1. Pls send me your contact details, thank you.

    Frank Raj
    frankraj08@gmail.com

  2. This is my 3rd try of getting a link for my donations to your church, Ialso was moved so much in your testimony that I rededicated my life. I have not given my 100 and ten per cent for the last few years. A muslim family just bought the home next to mine, I was shocked to see decorations for Jesus around their home. I have visted and welcomed them 3 different times but now I will not let up until I am able to speak to the wife who I never see, after 4 months I have only seen her 3 times but the kids and her husband have veryopen, always with a smile.
    But I want to support you, who God worked through you to bring me back tomy knees. After I lost my husband and grandson the last 2 Christmas’s Ilet grief overtake my life, even knowing I will see them again. I also need organizations to help in Allepo,My small monthly check won’t save but together God will take that money and turn itinto what is needed.
    I will wait to hear from you. Then funds will again be sent. I do pray you received the last 2 charges that I directed to you.

  3. I wish to volunteer and help your establishment in any way your management deem fit. Please !! for your information. . I can speak some simple Arabic as I had been working in Saudi Arabia in the early 80s for 5 years. Myself is a Christian protestant and a Chinese Malaysian. I also speak Chinese mandarin, English some Urdu or Hindu, my humble ages is 60. My health and mind are in excellent state. I sincerely think that I will be a great help in your Church’s activities and more. May The Lord Jesus Christ Inspire your establishment to accept me.. Amen!

  4. I have been praying for Muslims in the Middle East …..my daughter in law is Catholic Lebonese hence my interest..
    Could you send me updates on your work
    I now have faces and a church in front of me while praying for souls ……Lord Jesus is the answer! You are representing those us who can’t go! God bless!,
    “Greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world”

  5. I have been praying for Muslims in the Middle East …..my daughter in law is Catholic Lebonese hence my interest..
    Could you send me updates on your work
    I now have faces and a church in front of me while praying for Muslims in the Middle East …….Lord Jesus is the answer! You are representing those us who can’t go! God bless!,
    “Greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world”

  6. Is there a PayPal account to give to?

  7. How can I help you? I want to help. I feel led to help.

  8. Perhaps the most important words known to the English language
    Christians is: John 8:32
    The Truth will Set You Free
    31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free ‘?”…

    1. I want to help contact me

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