The Story Behind Zahle Ministry

In 2017, Rev. Imad Aubrey (Ibri) returned to Lebanon on a routine summer visit to preach to some local churches. One day, after preaching, a Syrian refugee came up to him and shared his testimony. He had been a member of the Islamic State with blood in his hands. Yet in tears, like the penitent thief, he told Imad how Christ’s meekness and love conquered his evil and sinful heart. Imad broke into tears of happiness and hope when he heard the story and saw the man’s passion for Christ. “The world stopped for a moment. God’s power, love, and grace amazes me,” Imad recalled. This story, however, was a confirmation of God’s call for him to return and serve among the people in his hometown. Imad was encouraged by stories from Horizons International about over five hundred Muslim refugees coming to Christ each year.

The confirmation of God’s call came after some churches and friends shared with him how they strongly believed that he should return to Lebanon and serve the Lord. They also sent letters to the senior pastor and session at Town North Presbyterian Church, where Imad had served as a pastor of outreach for more than five years. The letter begged the church to send Imad to Lebanon, to meet the great needs there.

After he prayerfully considered the needs in that region, the gifts God equipped him with, and his training under the hands of godly men like Sinclair Ferguson, along with the long-lasting passion of his heart to serve the region, Imad sensed God’s call for him to return to Lebanon and serve. The story of the ISIS convert further confirmed the call. After several years of prayer, the Session of Town North Presbyterian Church and the North Texas Presbytery of the PCA voted unanimously for Imad to be their missionary for Lebanon and the surrounding region. They decided to partner with Horizons International and signed a contract to commission Imad to be a PCA missionary pastor to Lebanon and the region through Horizons International.

Pastor Aubrey planned to preach, teach, and conduct Bible studies with the vision of mobilizing local churches as well as planting new churches among new converts and unchurched. As his ministry began in the fall while his son was still in school, Imad planned to travel back and forth dividing his time between Lebanon and Dallas before he and his family relocated to Lebanon. But then came the unexpected—the pandemic.

Spring of 2020, during the pandemic lockdown, brought by far the most challenging period of his time overseas. Imad was constantly on his toes adjusting to the frequent changes. He discovered the need to start an online service where the number of viewers went from 200 to 1800, fluctuating.

At that time, Lebanon was facing its worst economic crisis in decades, the threat of hunger was looming and the number of poor facing destitution continued to rise. The Beirut Port explosion, turned the city into a disaster-stricken city, killing almost 200 people, injuring over 5000 individuals and leaving up to 300,000 homeless. Lebanon was collapsing. Hospitals, already overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, treated many of the injured on sidewalks and roads, and at times were forced to turn them away. There was an acute shortage of everything. The explosion made the situation more complex in a country that is already challenged to absorb two million of war refugees that exceed by far its socio-economic capacities. The explosion also destroyed the city’s grain reserve tower, which play a central role in the country’s importing and storing of food.

Imad shares, “It’s been a challenging season to me and my team but the least we could say is that up until this point our God has been miraculously at times providing all kinds of help when most needed and we have a firm belief that what God started He continues and we know that no matter how bad the situation get our God always has a way.”

Zahle Ministry is committed to the gospel. In everything we do, we seek to bring gospel reconciliation to the people helping them to see how the risen Christ uses us as his hands, feet, and voice to bring salvation and hope through mercy ministry and evangelism leading them to worship our Triune God. As God provides resources, the main goal is to plant more churches.