by Terry Barone

LA MIRADA - For two pastors from France, the recent California Southern Baptist Convention Middle-Eastern Baptist Conference was an inspiration and a revelation about the possibilities of what could take place among Arab-speaking Christians in their own country.

Ali Arhab and Mekki Drihem, ministers with a Baptist congregation in Mons en Baroeul, France, attended the conference to learn how to be more effective in their ministry in the Western European country.

The two were invited to attend the meeting when CSBC Executive Director Fermin A. Whittaker discovered the need to bolster ministries to reach Middle-Easterners in France after visiting with the director of the Federation of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Western Europe.

Both pastors, of Algerian descent, said they weren't sure what to expect from such a conference, but attended "with an open mind and asking the Lord to make us available to do whatever He asked," according to Arhab, whose primary task in the French congregation is evangelism.

Arhab said the conference "turned out to be something unique. This is for me a reality, a vision, of the real reconciliation or model of how Christ binds hearts and brings people together regardless of religion and politics.

"To see the Body of Christ united and worshiping the Lord and having a zeal for evangelism and discipleship was amazing," Arhab said.

The conference, in its 27th year, assembles evangelical Christians from Arab-speaking and Middle-Eastern countries for a week of training for pastors as well as inspiration, evangelism and discipleship for church leaders and laypersons.

Arhab thinks this type of meeting "has the potential to stir up a movement to reach Arab-speaking people from all over the world." He would like to see the same thing happen in France, but said French Baptists don't have the "resources" and churches in that nation "barely survive."

"We truly believe that there is the possibility of a revival in Northern Africa and the Middle-East and that it would spill over to Europe and spark a revival in Western Europe," Arhab said.

Drihem said the conference was especially enriching for him because he had "the opportunity to meet with other pastors with Arab backgrounds" and network with them.

He added he was surprised by the "huge number of Christians from Arab countries" who gathered in one place for discipleship and to worship the Lord.

Mons en Baroeul is near the Belgian border, where the two serve a congregation with about 100 members, but minister to them in small home groups. The two North Africans minister near another pastor who was unable to attend the conference. All are involved in a television ministry providing evangelistic programs to North African countries.

Arhab said the group uses indigenous languages to "narrow-cast
instead of broadcast" to be more effective in their delivery of the gospel.
He noted the Middle-Eastern conference exceeded his expectations.

"I like evangelism and I like to achieve things for the Lord, so to see people committing their lives to Christ is a very positive influence. This provides me some very rich ideas for ministry."

Arhab added he liked the idea of a group of people working together to make the conference successful. "It is not one man (Khalil "Charlie" Hanna) who has been working at this for 27 years. I see several people doing their own ministry to make it work well," Arhab said.

Both pastors admit it is "difficult at best to see something like this in our own country" not only because of resources, but also because of "facilities and France being a secular culture."

Arhab noted CSBC "has an advantage" over the French because California Southern Baptists "understand the cultural dynamic. The French wouldn't like this type of meeting," he said, "because they would look at it as segregation."

Arhab also noted it would be difficult to cross denominational lines in his country.

Whittaker told the French pastors that all Christians need to be "Kingdom-growers and come to grips with how to impact the culture regardless of denominational lines.

"The bottom line is that people are saved."