OUR VISION
CHURCH PLANTING – UPGs – TEAMS
The priceless vision of Scripture—every tribe, tongue, people, and nation gathered around the throne worshiping Jesus (Rev. 5:9)—is why Jesus died (John 3:16), what God promised Abraham (Gen. 12:3), and the commission given to the Church (Matt. 28:19). We see by faith and work day and night through mission to see every people group on earth being represented in heaven (Matt. 24:14).
In the Arab world we see over 300 people groups and 300 million people still unaware and largely unresponsive to this invitation to eternal life with Jesus (though that is changing!). We are dedicated to planting churches (collections of maturing disciples according to Acts 2:41–47) among unreached peoples through teams. Our core values are to abide in Jesus (John 15:5), apostle the gospel (Rom. 15:20), and abandon self for others and the King (Gal. 2:20). We would love to have you join us.
What happens in the Arab world will affect the Islamic world, which will affect the whole world. You are most welcome to join us. Come live and die for the glory of Jesus among the unreached. Why? So the King will come in glory and power, so we can all go home.
ABIDE ABANDON APOSTLE
LAUNCH TEAMS
Live Dead Arab World has three Launch Teams located in major urban centers in the Middle East and North Africa. We mobilize individuals from around the world through the formation of multinational teams. The teams use English as the medium of communication and anyone joining the team must have a functional level of English.
The team leaders at each Launch Team create the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and all team members read it and agree to it before joining the team. The team leaders will concentrate their efforts on mentoring future leaders who in turn mentor the rest of the team. The team leaders have the responsibility and privilege of the spiritual oversight and missiological direction of the team. Each Launch Team is comprised of long-term staff members who assist with the dual goals of planting churches and training others to plant churches, and short-term (2–3 years) team members who are training in language, culture, missiology, and church planting.
CAIRO LAUNCH TEAM
Cairo is called the “City of a Thousand Minarets.” There are actually around 5,000 minarets in the city that send out the prayer call five times each day declaring: “There is no God, but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.” In those words they denounce the deity of Jesus, and so 25,000 times every day, the people of Cairo are told that Jesus is not God. We are excited about living in this bustling megacity, treasuring Jesus among Egyptian Muslims, and working toward the double goal of being a church-planting team for Cairo and a launch team preparing workers to plant churches across the Arab world.
MIDDLE EAST LAUNCH TEAM
The modern Middle East is a living paradox. Biblical history unfolded in this region; yet today few people living here have ever heard the gospel. Ancient ruins compete with modern skyscrapers; yet in places of recent conflict, modern infrastructure has become rubble and ruin. Hospitable, gracious Arabs are caught in headline-grabbing conflicts; still there remain pockets of ongoing peace and stability. We warmly embrace the people and their culture as we work to plant the church locally and train workers to plant churches throughout the region.
NORTH AFRICA LAUNCH TEAM
The remnants of the early church in North Africa lie crumbled in the shadow of the mosque. Where the church bells once rang, the call to prayer now bellows out five times each day. Though the spread of Islam largely eradicated the Church here, there are small undercurrents of followers of Jesus throughout the region. The Arab Spring began in North Africa and has created an atmosphere of discontent that has fostered a search in the heart of Muslims. These people are wonderfully warm, welcoming, and hospitable, yet hopelessly and eternally lost. The harvest truly is ripe in North Africa.
Each Launch Team has two primary goals: (1) to plant churches among Arab Muslims and (2) to train team leaders and team members to plant churches across the Arab world through our church planting teams in major city centers across the Arab world. For more information about our Launch Teams, email mobilization@arabworld.livedead.org.
CHURCH PLANTING TEAMS
A church planting team is a multicultural group of long-term workers living in community and working together to proclaim the gospel and see the church planted among the unreached in the cities and contexts they live in.
Many team members on our church planting teams came through one of our Launch Teams. While there is opportunity to connect with a church planting team without first joining a Launch Team, those opportunities (described in more detail on the pages that follow) are more specialized. We believe the time spent investing in language, cultural fluency, and church planting at one of our Launch Teams will benefit not only the team member but also their longterm church planting team. That’s why we believe that sometimes the best to start is with our Launch Teams. For those considering long-term service in the Arab world, starting at a Launch Team is our normative practice.
LIVE DEAD ARAB WORLD
( ) Number of Current Church Planting Locations
Church Planting Teams
A church planting team (CP) is a group of long-term workers living in community and working together to proclaim the gospel and see the church planted among the local population of the city they live in.
Interested in an internship or short-term trip to the Arab world? Go to livedead.org/go or email mobilization@arabworld.livedead.org
SYRIA (1)
LEBANON (2)
EGYPT (4)
IRAQ (2)
SAUDI ARABIA (2)
KUWAIT (1)
BAHRAIN (2)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (2) QATAR (1)
YEMEN (1)
JORDAN(2)
OMAN(2)
OPPORTUNITIES TO GO
CAREER TRACK
Those who feel a long-term call as a full time missionary to plant churches in the Arab world should expect to do two years dedicated to linguistic and cultural fluency. During your two years with a Launch Team, you will also receive training in spiritual formation, contextual witness, missiology, cross-cultural communication, business as mission, leadership, spiritual warfare, Islamics, and contingency planning, among other important topics. Those two years at a Launch Team are aimed at preparing you for effective long-term church planting service in the Arab world.
BI-VOCATIONAL MISSIONS TRACK
Live Dead Arab World is excited to offer a track to university graduates and people already in the workforce. For those that God has called into full-time missions, the bi-vocational missions track allows you to take a job in the Arab world rather than go via a traditional missions track with financial support raising. We expect each job-taker to connect with one of the church planting teams in the Arab world; the church planting team is there to provide vision, support, encouragement, resources, and accountability to the job-taker. We believe job-takers will gain access to many unique people groups that traditional missionaries cannot.
ONE-YEAR TRACK
This track is primarily for university graduates who would like to serve for one year on a church planting team in the Arab world. They will serve by working in the business, non-profit organization, or ministry of the church planting team. They will study Arabic for a few hours each day, but in reality, their main ministry language will be English. Our prayer is that these young people will integrate into the local community, shine the love of Jesus, share the gospel broadly and boldly, and be a conduit for the Holy Spirit’s power to move. It is also our prayer that many of them would be called into full-time missions for the rest of their lives.
SEMESTER ABROAD
The semester abroad program is designed for those who wish to continue their undergraduate or graduate education while exploring a call to long-term missionary service. Semester abroad students study online through their college or university while fully participating in team life and ministry on the field. This program allows students to gain a realistic picture of life and ministry as they work towards their degree and pray about long-term service.
INTERNSHIP
A 4 to 8-week internship will expose you to the language learning process, to life on a church planting team among the unreached, and to the faith and lifestyle of the local culture. Your time with the team will be spent in prayer walking and relational evangelism; volunteering in the business-as-missions platforms; studying core missiology training; taking entry-level Arabic lessons; learning an overview of Islamic history and culture; spending time in Muslim homes, sharing food and love; spending time in team meetings, praying with workers; taking time with believers, hearing their joys and trials; visiting mosques, markets, and historic places; and proclaiming the gospel to those who have never heard it.
General Budget for Above Opportunities (Approximate): Between $1000 - $1500 per month depending on location and one-time costs that include airfare and visas.
SHORT-TERM TEAMS
Our goal through short-term teams is that the Lord of the harvest will call laborers into the harvest field. There are other benefits as well: experiencing life in the Arab world alongside us, gaining a deeper understanding of missions and the need for work among Arab Muslims, and having your heart, prayers, and finances turned to the glory of God among all nations. We believe short-term teams are a marvelous investment in God’s kingdom as they will give you a heart for the Arab world and help your team members process the call of God. They also give the opportunity to sow gospel seed boldly and widely, and help you discover that God doesn’t need us in the Arab world, rather we need the Arab world.
Short-Term Team Budget (approximate cost for 7-day trip):
$650 plus airfare (*prices subject to change)
If you are interested in any of these opportunities in the Arab world, visit livedead.org/go or email mobilization@arabworld.livedead.org.
