Dr. Naim Khoury.

As usual on a Saturday morning we left to Tel Aviv for our Sabbath service. We had a guest coming to speak to us from Beit Lehem ( Bethlehem ) Was he Jewish ? No….
He is as Arabic as a man can possibly be and came to share with us his testimony.

Dr. Naim Khoury was born into a family of Greek Orthodox in the old City of Jerusalem. His father was a priest and so were 11 other members of the family.
41 years ago (1968), he was in a meeting in Jerusalem. He walked out from there a new man because “ the holy Spirit spoke and I gave my life to Jesus”. This was the beginning of a long walk on a narrow path…
It was not well received in his family that he had become a believer. The Greek Orthodox Church is very traditional. It’s a “suit” but not a “heart”. Being the youngest of 10 children it was not easy to convince the rest of the family that he had “something” that was worth seeking. They rejected him, but he continued to pray for them in spite of all the harsh conditions.
After 7 years his mother became a believer. From this point on they were two praying for the others in the family.
The last one to join them was his oldest brother. It took 27 years from the meeting in Jerusalem in 1968 until the entire family of Greek Orthodox had been “born again.”
His oldest brother had lived with his family on the Mount of Olives in a Moslem neighborhood for 7 years. When the neighbors got news about his faith they asked him to move, but he refused. One day when he returned home after dark he was met by three Moslems from his own neighborhood equipped with axes. He had entered the gate to his house when they jumped on him and killed him.
Dr. Naim Khoury started his work in Beit Lehem 31 years ago. He was well aware of the words to Abraham from Genesis 12.3 “ I will bless those who bless you” , and therefore decided to include the blessing of the Jews as Gods chosen people in his ministry.
He was very much criticized from other Arab Christians because of this. Many Arab Christians do not at all read the Old Testament and relate to it as a Jewish book with no relevance to Christians. They seem to have missed the point that this was Jesus’ Bible and that all His teachings was based on it.
Dr. Khoury's congregation was hit by bombs 14 times. Four years ago a Moslem shot in order to kill him and he lives with constant persecution and threats to his life.
In spite of all the difficulties his congregation is growing and so do other ministries connected to it. One of his sons is pasturing a congregation in Jerusalem.
For more information check http://www.theanchorchurch.org/

This is what I call Good News.

Elin Elkouby