About The Todds
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to take the Gospel of Christ to some of the most unreached areas in the world. We have a vision to plant Churches and home Bible study groups in strongly Muslim Arab areas and raise up missionaries, Elders, and Pastors who will carry the Gospel to the rest of the Arabic-speaking world.
OUR CHURCH PLANTING WORK:
Our first Church plant was in Beirut, Lebanon in 2013 among a group of Syrian refugees who are still meeting at a local ministry center. This is where we discovered an awakening hunger among Muslims to hear more about Jesus and his Gospel.
Later in 2013 we moved to Tyre, Lebanon to work in the planting of a Church in the suburb of Hosh. Our work there was also among refugees from the war in Syria, as well as Palestinian refugees, Bedouin, and local Shia Muslims. This Church grew to a weekly attendance of 500, most of whom are refugees.
Our current Church planting work in Tyre is a network of 20 home Bible study meetings (and growing!) among Muslims which are led by a team of six Muslim Background believers working in cooperation with us. Four of these leaders also work as teachers in our ministry programs. We have five levels of curriculum for the meetings, starting with a basic Discovery Bible Study, a curriculum for new believers, and a teaching series on the Lord’s prayer. In 2022 we baptized 13 new believers from a Muslim background.
OUR CURRENT MINISTRIES:
The aim of our refugee camp ministry is to provide basic education in Arabic literacy, mathematics, and Bible to refugee children living in the camps. We teach Arabic literacy, women’s health and childcare, and Bible in the women’s program. Without these basic skills they will be trapped in poverty even after the war ends. We believe that God will glorify his son Jesus Christ through this work, which is always our first and ultimate goal.
Deir Qanoun -This program was started in September 2017 at a nearby location. Our ministry workers have spent years in the area, and established good relations prior to starting the school project. Attendance is consistent, with 25 youth attending regularly. Our women’s ministry there has recently been rejuvenated and about 20 women attend.
Al-Basil camp -This program started in December 2017, but workers were evicted from the camp three times during the first month. In February 2018, a refugee tent was purchased by Words of Isa ministry to give the school program a secure place in the camp. Tyre Presbyterian Church workers had been in the camp working in previous years sporadically, and had limited relationships in the camp. Residents have been suspicious of the program, especially any part related to Bible or ethics. Some parents discourage their children from attending. Attendance is volatile. About thirty children are registered, but daily attendance may swing from only a few to twenty or more. The women are more consistent in attendance, with 15-18 normally present at each meeting.
An extension of our women’s health and child care ministry is providing aid to expectant mothers. Hospitals in Lebanon will not admit mothers for birth unless a deposit is paid, and will hold the baby after releasing the mother until the full bill is paid. The mothers are sent home without their baby, going door to door to beg for money to buy their release. We help mothers in our program with this so that they can be admitted and be discharged without worrying whether they can take their baby home with them. Each baby that we free from a hospital and return to their family is a story of redemption. We love redemption.
Egypt - We now have two dedicated Church planters working in Egypt. One partner has opened two thriving congregations in the Assiut region of Upper Egypt. The other partner works in evangelism among Muslims in an undisclosed region.
OUR LEADERS:
All of our local leaders are Arab believers. God has sent us six talented ministers who love and instruct the people in Arabic. Five of the six are Syrian refugees from a Muslim background, and the sixth an Egyptian.
