Dr. Naim Khoury
My name is Naim Khoury. The youngest of 10 children, I was born and raised in Jerusalem's Old City. My grandfather was a Greek Orthodox priest as were eleven of my uncles. I grew up in a traditional Greek Orthodox home, raised according to the original Christian orthodox tradition.
In 1968 I attended a meeting at a Bible-believing church. This was the first time I heard about God's plan of salvation according to the Bible. I had never before heard the Gospel with such clarity. During the service God's Holy Spirit convicted my heart. When an invitation was given to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, I walked down the isle and asked Him to come into my heart.
In 1968 I attended a meeting at a Bible-believing church. This was the first time I heard about God's plan of salvation according to the Bible. I had never before heard the Gospel with such clarity. During the service God's Holy Spirit convicted my heart. When an invitation was given to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, I walked down the isle and asked Him to come into my heart.
It was not easy when I returned home a different person than when I left earlier that day. My family noticed changes in my life that could only come from God. I began to pray that God would give me His power and His strength to share the Gospel with my family. I could not hold in the joy for very long. I began to take steps of faith, sharing what had happened with my family. Their first reaction was rejection. They rejected my words but could not ignore the peace they saw in me. It was not long until God touched their lives with the Gospel of His Son.
To God be the glory for the great things He has done. He is alive today and forevermore. Along with you, I am standing in His promises to never leave us or forsaken us. These promises are reliable and true. He is watching over us until the day that He unites us with His Son. ~Galatians 2:20
P. Khoury
I am an Arab Israeli living in Bethlehem where my father, Dr. Naim Khoury, established our ministry in 1980. Today we are spreading the gospel throughout the Palestinian Territories and in Jerusalem where I pastor Calvary Baptist Church.
I was born in Jerusalem and grew up a few miles south in the small town of Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth. Growing up in the mission field of my own culture teaches what it means to live by the power of God's Spirit. It also opens my eyes to the struggles of fellow believers, and to the spiritual deprivation of neighbors drowning in toxic wastes of self-pity, fear and hate.
When I was a younger man, the focus of my dream was ministry in Bethlehem. That changed when my Uncle George accepted Christ. He lived on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. After his conversion, he longed to see a congregation
of fellow believers in the city he called home.
"The vision must continue, Jerusalem must be saved," he said over and over again. His passion for Jesus cost him his life. Uncle George was murdered for his faith.
But his vision lives on. It is a seed that was transplanted to my soul. In July of 2004 this seed gave birth to Calvary Baptist Church. Since that day more than 1,500 people have entered our doors. Also since that day our doors have been repeatedly closed because of pressure from extremist forces in the community, the same forces that killed my Uncle George.
Every time our doors have closed, God has made a way to open them again. Our most recent meeting place has been in a Muslim neighborhood. In this location our church has seen growth like never before. And along with it, growing opposition too: discrimination, harassment, loss of income, physical assaults and an always-present threat of death.
Even so with God's help, we do not despair. I am encouraged by handwritten letters from members of our body. "We are with you," they write. "We are ready to die for Jesus' sake."
And so we persevere.
Recently our current landlord served us an eviction notice. He said that pressures from neighbors and unseen extremists reached a point where, for his own safety's sake, he was compelled to evict. We immediately began to search for another place to rend. But sympathetic Muslim realtors advise that a new lease is unlikely. "Your reputation for evangelizing in this community," they say, "makes it impossible for landlords to take the risk of giving you a lease."
The only option left is to purchase a building. As I write these words, there is a place that seems ideal. Its location would permit easy access to people from all backgrounds in Jerusalem, regardless of religion or nationality.
Still, purchase a building in Jerusalem? Impossible. Impossible for us, but not for God. And not for his family of believers standing in unity with us in the city of Jesus’ redemptive death and resurrection. Will you join us in this ministry of God: Arabs for Jesus, from Jerusalem to the world?
Name, Title
My name is Elvira. My husband is Pastor Naim Khoury. Together we serve Jesus Christ throughout the Holy Land.
I surrendered to Jesus as my personal Savior when I was sixteen years old. I attended primary and secondary schools in Jerusalem. After marrying my husband in 1976, we went to the United States where I pursued undergraduate and graduate degrees. The focus of my coursework was counseling and Bible in which I earned both a Bachelor's and Masters degree.
When we returned to the Holy Land, my husband and I began a church in Bethlehem, the city of Christ's birth. We started from scratch, living in a two-room apartment. As God has blessed our ministry, He has also blessed our family. Naim and I are proud parents of four adult children and grandparents too!
Since we started the ministry I have been involved in church visitation, teaching Sunday school, organizing our annual Christmas programs and plays, women's fellowship, teaching, choir singing, piano playing, arts and crafts for the V.B.S., secretarial work and more.
Thank you for standing with us as together we take our stand with Jesus in the Holy Land.
Elvira Khoury
Ziyad Bannoura
My name is Ziyad Bannoura. I was born and raised next to Bethlehem in a village called Beit Sahour, also known as Shepherd's Field. Like Dr. Naim Khoury, my family was Greek Orthodox. When I was 19 years old I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and so was born again.
For several years I worked as a land surveyor and tailor. In 1996 Dr. Khoury invited me to become the ministry's part-time leader of youth outreach. Two years later I began full-time ministry with Holy Land Missions.
Today I not only work with young people, I also lead worship, lead Bible studies in Jericho, teach theological courses, supervise our Scouting program and chair the social extension of the ministry called the Bethlehem Start Charitable Society.
I am married to my wife Rawda, we have two grown children and we are also grandparents!
Thank you for standing with this ministry, reaching out to families like ours throughout the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. God bless you!
