Though HeartCry's involvement in the Middle East is in its "infant" stages compared to the other areas in which we work, our goals include both sending more indigenous men out to plant biblical churches, as well as partnering with ones already laboring on the field. Currently, we are supporting 5 men in the countries of Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt. The "Coordinator Blog" will contain updates from these brothers on a routine basis. Pray for us and the missionaries as we pray and seek to see more laborers in the harvest.

"The Middle East is a subcontinent with no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. It has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa." (wikipedia.com)

In Romans 15:18-19, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed, by power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the mnistry of the Gospel of Christ." One reason that Paul could say that he had fulfilled his ministry of the Gospel is because he had an idea of the geographical boundaries of the audience to whom God had called him to preach. Thus, the question is raised: What are the geographical boundaries of the Middle East? Today, there are almost as many varying definitions of what is and what is not the Middle East as there are countries that make up the region. The traditional definition of the Middle East has limited it to the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, and Libya. However, at the G8 Summit of 2004, the United States defined the "Greater Middle East" as the above countries, plus the Saharan countries of North Africa (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti) and Afghanistan and Pakistan. For missions purposes, the G8 definition is the most practical, as it unites a region of countries that predominantly share at least two of the three following traits: a common language (Arabic), a common religion (Islam), and a common culture.

Furthermore, the three quarters of a billion people that live in this region almost exclusively claim Islam as both their religion and way of life. From a missions standpoint, this seems like a daunting obstacle, especially in light of the recent rise in Islamic extremism. However, in spite of the difficulties that the Middle East presents for missions, Christians should view this challege in light of the Apostle Paul's strenuous calling to "preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named" (Romans 15:20). Our great goal is to bring glory to God as "those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand" (Romans 15:21). This will only be accomplished "through the folly of what we preach" (1 Corinthians 1:21) and the power of God to supernaturally change hearts and lives to see Jesus as the one and only Savior of the world.