The Privilege Of Serving In The Middle East with Gigi Awabdeh

We talk with Gigi Awabdeh from SLED about restoring dignity in the MENA region by serving people who are overlooked, hidden, and often labeled as a shame. We share how humanitarian aid, long-term relationships, and Discovery Bible Study create real openings for the gospel among special needs families, refugees, and survivors of war. 
• SLED (Serve Lead Empower Develop) and a dignity-driven mission rooted in Christ 
• Humanitarian aid as a trusted way into hard places 
• Special needs as the most marginalized group in parts of the Middle East 
• Home visits and caring for families’ basic needs 
• Discovery Bible Study as a simple tool anyone can use 
• The burden carried by mothers and the isolation of families 
• Retreats and gatherings that bring people out of hiding 
• Partnership with local churches and the Austin Ridge Embrace ministry curriculum 
• Stories of transformation including a woman saved from suicide 
• Work among refugees and displaced communities across Iraq Lebanon Syria Yemen and beyond 
• Dreams and visions that lead people to ask about Jesus 

https://sledinternational.org/

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Transcript

A Vision For Every Tribe

SPEAKER_03 0:05

In Revelation 7, John shares his vision of heaven with members of every tribe, ton people and land standing in the throne room before the land. Yet today, there are still over 7,000 unreal people in the room. My family and friends have until we listen to us to the end of the early share this stories of us to the minimum.

Meet SLED And Its Mission

SPEAKER_04 0:41

Over the past several seasons of the Unreached Podcast, we have come across men and women who are carving out unique and creative pathways to fulfill the Great Commission. They are authors, innovators. We like to call them Trailblazers. And this is one of their stories. So today, enjoy this episode of Unreached Trailblazers. Hello, friends, welcome to another episode of the Unreached Podcast. I'm Clint Hudson, your host, and today we are journeying to the Mina region together. We are going to discover a people group that is not only unreached, but ultimately uncared for within their own community. And we're going to do that with a new friend that I have, Gigi Awebdi. Gigi is the executive director of an organization called SLED, who does some incredible things within the communities that they get to serve in multiple different countries. And Gigi is going to walk us through what it's like to be in this region and the incredible work that they're doing. So, Gigi, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Thank you. Thank you, Clint.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

So glad to have you here. Tell us a little bit about SLED, first of all. What does it is is it is it an acronym? What's it stand for?

SPEAKER_00 1:53

It's an acronym for serve, lead, empower, develop.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

And basically what we do is we desire to see a word with dignity and development for the most hurt and vulnerable people. So our desire is to bring dignity to those whom dignity is lost. And that's through Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

That's amazing. Okay, so that's that sounds really specific. So dignity is lost. So these are people who have lost their dignity because of circumstances or because of what? Like who are these types of people?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

There are so many reasons that they lost their dignity. First, their relationship with Christ is broken. And second, you know, in the Middle East, there was always that turmoil of things that are happening. You sleep on one thing, you wake up on other. So there's war at many countries, there are financial challenges, and at the same time, there are scrutiny to some Christians who are living in dark places or dark countries in the Middle East.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

Let's talk about getting access into those dark places, in those dark countries. This is something that we've talked about on the podcast a lot before. There are different ways where missions can get into those environments. You can do it through business, you can do it through humanitarian efforts. There's a lot of different ways. How are you guys getting into those dark places?

Aid That Builds Trust

SPEAKER_00 3:19

SLED started in 2022 after an initiative where we were called to be uh helping and supporting the Kurds or Yazidi people in Iraq. And we could not do as a Christian organization. So our president decided why not to open a humanitarian organization where we use that organization as an access ministry to help us build trust and relationship among the unserved. So we start our work by showing the love of Christ in action by distributing humanitarian aid. It could be uh food parcels, hygiene kits, blankets, uh uh educational support for some of the students. And then after that, we build a relationship with uh the unserved or those whom dignity was lost. And we support them with their basic needs, we build a strong relationship with them, and after that, we try to talk about God. Some of them we would talk about God, the creator. And with other people group, we could say that Jesus loved you, he died on the cross for you, and he wants to build a relationship with you. So we use the humanitarian work to open doors for us and build relationships and share the gospel.

SPEAKER_04 4:49

So you guys are earning the right to be able to communicate the love of Christ.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

In some places, yes.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Wow. Yeah. That's amazing. I it makes me think of the verse from 1 Peter. 1 Peter 3 15 that says, Always be prepared to give an answer when someone asks you the reason for the hope that you have. You come in, you build relationships, you provide care, you provide for a specific need for this people group, and that gains you gain access to them, you gain trust with them, and then you get an opportunity to name the hope that you have.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Exactly. There are thousands of organizations, maybe that they are richer than our organization, and they do more work than we do. But our work is different, you know. When we distribute a food parcel for that person, we let them feel that they are loved. And that love that we show, put a question in their minds, and they start to ask, why are you giving us this food parcel in such a loving way? Why are you different from other organizations? That would open the door for us to share the love of Christ.

Special Needs Families In Hiding

SPEAKER_04 5:57

That's awesome. Let's let's zoom in on the map here a little bit, some some dots on the map. Let's talk about some really specific people groups. So I want to start with one that's near and dear to my heart. This is special needs people groups. This is not a people group that a lot of times people will think about when they're talking about different unreached or underserved or uncared for people groups. So you guys do a ton of work with special needs. I actually saw on your website that you've served over 16,000 different special needs individuals and families. Talk about what that looks like. Help our listeners understand what special needs, what it's like to have special needs in the MENA region and also what you guys are doing to serve the special needs.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

In the MENA region, uh special needs are uh the most marginalized people group. Because at some places they do believe that special need is not a medical condition, it's a curse that is inherited from one generation to another. It is a sin that your parents have carried from one generation to another. So they will be neglected, they will be uh rejected, and at the same time they will be called like cruel names. Sometimes they will be locked in rooms so that no one could see them because it's a shame on our country. And uh when they they know that a family has a special need, the community themselves leave them because they think that this is also contagious. So the special needs are the most unserved people in the Middle East, especially in the country that we have our biggest project in Egypt. The special needs are really marginalized. They do not receive support from the government. The family, the close family will reject them, them, the community would reject them, and they will be the unseen and no one would hear about them. So what we are doing with the special needs, we are trying to love on them and show the real uh image of God through those people. We try to love them, to show them that they are valued, they are worth, and they are created in the image of God.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

Wow. And and I'm sure a lot of that work extends to their families because you said that it's a it's a shame. It's a it's it's a shame that's inherited from generation to generation. What is what does it look like to be able to to care for them and show them the love of God with not only special needs but family? How are you guys doing that specifically?

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Uh we have uh around 4,000 volunteers in Egypt. Wow. That they do home visits. So every 15 days, the family with the special needs will receive a home visit from a volunteer. That volunteer would come into the home, and it's a very modest home. They will help the family see their basic needs. At the same time, we do discovery Bible study with the family. We call in the special need to join the family, and we do the discovery Bible study, and so we speak about the love of Christ uh with the family and the special need. So, in this way, we show the love of Christ in action and in our words.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

That's awesome. Uh so for our listeners, this is probably maybe the tenth time that you've heard something about discovery Bible study that's happening around the world. It's an incredible tool. Uh, even in one of our recent episodes with uh with Jeff Peterson, the founder of Waha, they're talking, they've created an app that is based on Discovery Bible study so that people can be able to use that in multiple different languages. What does it look like? What's a discovery Bible study look like in the home? So you have a volunteer, they already have contact with this family, they know uh who's in the family, who lives in the home, what the special need is. They go in, they do some specific care for that family, then they sit down and they say, Hey, I'm gonna open up the word of God and we're gonna study this together. What's that look like?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Yeah, it's a very simple tool where they study uh the Bible too together. You don't have to have a theology degree to study the Bible, you just read the Bible together and ask questions. What did you uh uh what did you get about this story? And at the end, how would you apply that story or the passage that you have read on in your own life? What action are you going to take throughout the week from what you have learned? So it's a very simple tour where you discuss the passage and try as much as possible to stay in the that passage and at the same time try to get an application out of it. What Jesus is going to teach you out of this passage. We do not go deep with the special needs, we try as much as possible to simplify the way they understand.

SPEAKER_04 10:57

Right. So the way that they understand, but also their their family. So their families are being drastically impacted. What does it look like for a special needs family? You said that they're ostracized by the community. W what does that what does that mean? Are are they their parents are cut off, their mothers are cut off, are the fathers involved in these situations? What do give me kind of the profile of what a special needs family looks like in that area?

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Yeah. Basically, the load will be on the mother because she will be the first person to be blamed for having a special need child.

SPEAKER_04 11:29

You said it was is a a curse. It's a curse.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Wow. So that woman brought the curse to the family. At many times, her husband will reject her. Her direct family, her mom and dad, and even her in-laws will reject her because she brought the shame. So they will leave her alone with the special need child. No one would support her. And beside that, the community, the neighbors that they live in, if they have children, they will not their children play with the special need. And there's a scarcity issue that they are scared that that special need state will be contagious and their children will get the same disease.

SPEAKER_04 12:29

And so to have a volunteer like break the barrier of coming into your home has to feel like you said it earlier, like restoring dignity. That's gotta be a huge part of this.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

This is the dignity that I was talking about. When a volunteer visits that special need, it brings joy to the family that they are not a curse. Someone is visiting you. Like it it sometimes years would pass and no one would visit that family. We do family retreats where we gather the family and the special needs, we take them out on a sp in uh to uh a three days retreat. And during that retreat, we try as much as possible to have the family unknown and the special needs unknown where we discuss topics of their interest. And we have been doing that for three years, just to let you know that only mums would come, never uh a dad appeared. Because you know, like as a male, his dignity is in his children, and to have that curse in their family, they deny their children as if they do not exist.

SPEAKER_04 13:40

And and just to give a ballpark of like how many you see, you know, sit on the website, 16,000 families that are served. When you guys do these gatherings, I've seen pictures of these gatherings, and we're we're talking like 3,000 people that'll come together. Like, tell me about like what that looks like when you have a gathering of the special needs and their families there in that in that region.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Um, usually the special need do not go out of the home. When a volunteer would come in, take a special need, put them in a car, and take them to the gathering place. Sometimes they would tell us that this is the first time since they were born that they went out of their homes. So they are locked in rooms. And when we take them out, we are working on their emotional well-being as well. And the families, they will get the time to rest the mother especially will get the time to rest uh to rest a bit. So we take them uh from home, we do the fun activity with them, and then we bring them back uh back home. We do that basically three to four times with our special needs.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Now we serve around 17,500 special needs. We need to update the number on our website.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

And we have around 4,000 volunteers.

SPEAKER_04 15:01

How are special needs families identified? Are you just hearing that there's somebody that lives in this community, or are they like raising their hand and saying, hey, I'm I'm here, I want to be a part of this program?

SPEAKER_00 15:11

One of the things that we do, we always try to have volunteers from the same village. And those volunteers would know the family, you know, since they live in rural areas and a poor areas, everyone knows everyone in the village.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Right.

Home Visits And Simple Bible Study

SPEAKER_00 15:25

So they knew the volunteers, they know that in this house there's a special need. And at many times, like we try uh to visit uh uh the homes, they refuse to allow us because they don't want us to see what's inside the home. They are scared that that volunteer as a stranger would come to their home and would say that they have a special need. But you know, our volunteers are brave men and women of God who are the hands and feet of Jesus. They insist and they try more than once to get into the home. And once they get into the home, the families will start calling them again. Please come, don't leave us alone. You're the only support that we have. And one other thing that we are discovering now is that even the Muslim communities are calling us to come in their homes and speak about Christ. They are eager to hear about Jesus. So our volunteers would ask them if they would like us to come in, and they would come in, and at many times we do discover Bible studies with Muslims as well.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

That's amazing. Uh we keep hearing stories on the podcasts about how closed countries that are ultimately closed by their government are not closed by their people. And so people in closed countries or people in dark places are desperate to hear the good news of Jesus. And we just have to be really intentional and creative with ways that we go and we communicate that. That's exactly what you guys are doing through SLED, which is so cool. I want to talk a little bit about church partnership because I think some of our listeners, they're listening to this and they're like, okay, that's a million miles away. That's awesome that Gigi's doing that. You know, what can I do to get involved? And we'll talk some more about like some of the needs that you have here in a little while. But specifically with Austin Ridge Bible Church, there's an embrace ministry, which is a special needs ministry in Austin, Texas. You guys have partnered with Austin Ridge to do some really, really cool things. Can you walk us through what that partnership looks like and how that's been impactful, not only in Austin, but also in Egypt as well?

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Uh, it's a great partnership. And I always think about this partnership as a family. One thing that I liked about this partnership, regardless of the resources and uh regardless of all the support that we get from uh the church, we feel that we are not not left alone. We are not in walking that road alone. We have partners who pray for us, who cares for our special needs, and at the same time support us in different ways. I will share one of the examples that they support us with creating a curriculum for the special needs. We are grateful for the Embrace team and the leadership of Embrace by creating a special need curriculum that we can use. It is adaptive for the special need. It is biblical based, and at the same time, uh with images or pictures that help the special needs see if they uh cannot uh uh read the passage, so they would look at the picture. So, with the support of Embrace Team, they created this curriculum for us that we are using, and many special needs accepted Christ because now they understand the passages, they understand the stories, they uh they wanted to know more about Christ.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

That's amazing. Okay, let's let's zoom in a little bit more. Tell us a story, a specific story of a special needs family having their needs met, coming to understand Christ. What's one of the stories that were you're like makes you smile every time you think about it?

SPEAKER_00 19:16

One of the stories that I really like, and I think how powerfully God works, uh one of the girls tried to commit suicide three times. She was left alone, no one cares for her, no one asks how she is. And she always hears hymns from her neighbors' home. And she wanted to know why people at that building, uh, and you know, in rural villages, the the homes are so close to each other, they are building and they live in apartments, not in homes. So she could hear the uh the hymns, she could hear laughing in the rooms. She had the curiosity to know why people at that apartment are happy, and I try I'm trying to kill myself why I'm not happy. So she went down and uh she waited till our volunteer got down from that apartment, and she asked him, What's happening at that home? I want to be happy, I I uh I am ready now to kill myself. Can you help me? And that volunteer just got the opportunity to speak about the worship that we do and how Jesus changed the life of uh that particular apartment, and she said, I want to know more about Jesus. And after several uh visits to her home, she accepted Christ and her family did. And now this girl is one of our worship leaders, so yeah. Wow, so she worshipped with us, and those who visit us in Egypt they see her and they know her by name.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

That is such a cool story. I I love the the visual of worship floating through a window and being overheard by someone. This is how our gods work. That's so cool, Gigi. What a cool story. Okay, let's let's zoom out a little bit from the special needs community specifically there. That's one of many people groups that you guys work with. What's another people group that you guys are serving? Walk us through what their struggle is and how you're impacting them.

Church Partners And A New Curriculum

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Uh we work with um refugees, we work with displaced people, we work with uh locals as well, and we try as much as possible to part partner with the local church because we cannot do that alone. We cannot read. To 17,500 special needs without the support of the church. So we always work hand in hand with the local church.

SPEAKER_04 22:10

What's the local church look like in most of these environments?

SPEAKER_00 22:13

The church is ready to support. There are a big number of churches, especially evangelical churches, that are ready to support the marginalized or the unserved. But the challenge is that the lack of resources would not allow them to do it. But when we come alongside us at many times, because of the good relationship that we have, they open their doors for us to use their premises. They also, at many times, are just volunteers for us. So the relationship between our organization and the local church is really strong.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Yeah, that's awesome. So you the local church is supplying you guys with uh access to volunteers and to support in the community. You guys are providing the local church with an entrance to different environments and different people groups that they wouldn't necessarily be able to connect with already because you guys are a trusted resource. That's a great partnership. Yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

We work with uh the Kurds in northern Iraq. They live in camps. We have a community center there in northern Iraq, in one of the camps. And what we do is we try as much as possible to empower their women. Those many of these women that we work with were ISIS survivors. So we support them emotionally, we help them uh spiritually, and at the same time we help them learn a skill. These women uh lost everything, lost their dignity, lost their work, lost their life, lost their homes, their loved ones. So we try as much as possible to help them restore their life again by uh helping them in uh learning a basic skills where they open a small business. Some of these women now uh they have their business, and at the same time, they are sharing what they have learned with others, and they are sharing the love of Christ with others.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

That's awesome. What what does one of the small businesses look like?

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Uh it's a very like small basic business. One lady just uh bought plastic we uh plastic chairs and she's renting those chairs for funerals and weddings.

SPEAKER_04 24:32

Oh, that's that's brilliant. For gatherings that need to have she's like, I'm your chairperson.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

I got I got your chairs on lock, come to me, everybody that needs chairs. That's brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Another lady is sewing gowns, you know, the woman there dress in gowns, so she's sewing gowns and selling the gowns for the uh community at uh the camp. Another one, she's doing crochet and selling uh uh coasters and small uh napkins.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Wow, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

It's it's a very small business, but they can earn money now and they are resilient to face the challenges that they face.

SPEAKER_04 25:10

What does the impact of the gospel look like in that specific people group? So you said they're uh they're in a camp. This is a a is this a Christian people group?

SPEAKER_00 25:19

They are they are Kurds.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

Okay, Kurt.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

They are Yazidi, had to flee their uh villages because of ISIS attacks.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

So during the attacks, ISIS uh killed the men and they took women as sex slaves. So these some of these women came back to their uh uh community, they live in camps. So we work in the camps, we share the love of Christ in action, and at the same time, when uh the the person asks us, we speak about God the creator. We cannot say Jesus to them because they don't know who is Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

They know God, we speak about God the Creator and how God can change their lives. And at the same time, these women face the most challenges that your brain could ever imagine. Absolutely. But when made when they meet Jesus, things change. Their life will be transformed. And one thing that I really liked about this people group is that Jesus appears to them through visions and dreams.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

Talk about that. This is like one of the coolest, consistent stories that we hear on the podcast. We hear stories about dreams about the man in white. We've had stories about people dreaming about a book that started with a bee and they didn't know what it was, and that but they needed to go read this book. We've heard stories of uh during the earthquakes in Turkey, people being under rubble for three to four days at a time, and the man in white brings them milk and brings them water so that they could be sustained. We've heard so many cool, incredible supernatural stories. So, like, walk us through what that looks like with this people group.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

I want to share a story about uh a teacher that teaches at our community center in that camp. Um, this lady during her time while they fled their uh village to arrive to the camp, Jesus appeared to her three times. She didn't know that this is Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

She knows who it was.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

She doesn't nothing. Like the first time he appeared to her wearing white, this is what she said. I saw a man. I do, I didn't see his face. I just saw a man with a white gown. The first time, while we were moving in the mountains without water, without food, I heard the voice and I saw his face telling me, Don't be scared, I'm with you. That was the first time. They arrived the midway till they reached the camp, and she had the second dream as well. The same, I will not leave you, don't be scared. When she arrived at the camp, she entered the main gate of the camp. Also, uh, they slept there during that night, and she had the same dream. She met the lady uh that serves at our community center, and she was talking about her dreams. Like, I didn't sleep well today, I had a very bad dream. She told her, Um, do you believe in dreams? And that lady said, Yeah, I do believe in dreams. Sometimes I dream. She told her, I have been dreaming the same dream for three times. Can you tell me about it? And our lady started speaking about God and she accepted Christ. And the story didn't end here. That lady also was um forced by her mom to get married, and she was rejecting that. She wanted a man that is Christian, that knows Christ, who believes the same as she believes now. And she prayed for the Lord for a husband. And after um a year had passed, she received a call from a Yazidi gentleman that she knew before who escaped to Germany. And that gentleman called her and he said, I am looking for uh a wife. Uh, what about like talking and see if we can uh get married? She said, um I cannot do that. She was scared that he's a Yazidi like her and he's not Christian. She said, I just want to share with you why I don't want you. Uh because I'm a Christian now, but I don't want you to share that with anyone. That's a secret between me and you. Because if my family knew that I'm a Christian, they will kill me. He he asked her, What do you mean by Christian? She said, I'm believing in Jesus Christ. He told her, Do you know what? I'm a believer too, and I want to marry you. And they got married and now she's pregnant.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

That's an incredible story. I love hearing stories of God at work through his people, but it's just so incredible to hear stories where God is at work in a people group that are in a person's life that's just so almost impossible to be able to connect with and reach. They don't have scriptures, they don't have access to the gospel, they don't have missionaries that are necessarily in their life or caring for them, and God's like, okay, not a problem. Like, I'd I'll give them a dream, I'll connect them with somebody who can show them the way. That's amazing. What a great story.

unknown 30:56

Yeah.

Refugees Yazidi Survivors And Camps

SPEAKER_00 30:57

The same stories that we hear with Yemeni people that we work with. Also, some would be in prison and Jesus would appear to them. One of the ladies that uh that serves with us as the woman ministry leader in uh in Yemen, like she received uh a Bible in the prison in in Yemen. So God talks to his people in different ways, and when God wants a person to know him, there are zillions of ways for Jesus to appear to people.

SPEAKER_04 31:31

That's so cool. And I love that you guys are strategically positioning yourself as an organization with your volunteers to be ready to have conversations about Jesus when people have those visions, when they have those dreams, or when they've heard about it in a DBS in their home for the very first time. Yeah. That's amazing. Gigi, you guys are all over the map. Yeah, like it's incredible that the work that you guys are doing and how many like doors that God has opened for you guys. What what about another one?

SPEAKER_00 32:03

We are privileged to be placed in the Middle East. Let me put it that way.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

And at many I love that you said that, by the way. I I think so many Christians could say, I'm privileged to be in the United States where I get an opportunity to express my faith freely. I think it's really important that you the designation that you gave that was we are privileged to be in the Middle East where it's difficult and there are people that that need the gospel. Yeah. That's awesome. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

And I'm privileged also because I can see the Lord's hand moving. You know? Yeah. Like when when we go to, for example, let me share with you one other story during the war that took place in Lebanon. The majority of the people who were in South Lebanon were displaced in Beirut. Beirut as the capital. We had the opportunity as an organization, and these people were non-Christians. And when we say non-Christians, that means Muslims. So we had the opportunity to share the gospel with them through the small love gift that we presented. They were displaced with no food, no shelter, nothing. God gave us an open door to share his love with those people who were displaced, who lost everything. So this is an opportunity. As much as possible, we try to grab every opportunity to share about Christ. We want the word of God to be proclaimed. We want the people who need Jesus the most to know Jesus. So during the war, we served among the Lebanese who were displaced. Now we also support their displaced in Syria through the war that is still going on. Also, we work with these people. And at the same time, we worked with Syrian refugees who came to Lebanon during the war that took place in Syria. We also work with Yemeni, with Irani people, and we also work with now the Palestinians on the Rafah border, which is the border between Palestine and Egypt. In Egypt, we also work with Islam children. And these children were from very poor background, and their families were all either drug addicts or drug dealers. So we meet with these children, around 200 children. We meet them every week. We do uh Bible clubs for them. Uh we share uh stories from the Bible, we do some games and fun activities with them. We also work with uh Sudani peoples, Sudani refugees uh in Egypt, and we work with Sudanis in uh in Sudan. So whenever there's an opportunity for us, and as said earlier, the Middle East is always on a turmoil and there are challenges. Whenever we see an opportunity, we try as much as possible to step in, to respond, and at the same time share the love of Christ.

SPEAKER_04 35:22

That's amazing. What can we do? What can we do to support you in the work that you're doing? How can we come alongside of you to make sure that uh you have the resources that you need, you have the support and prayer that you need, you have uh the manpower resources that you need, what can we do?

SPEAKER_00 35:40

The demand is really high because in each country in the Middle East they have their challenges. If there's no war, there's financial challenges. If there are no financial challenges, there are the special needs, the need of the wheelchairs and all basic needs. One thing that we really need is that prayers play a major role in our life. So please pray for us, for the Lord to open more doors and for our volunteers to be more bold in sharing the love of Christ. At the same time, we could pray for protection over our people there, because we are serving in non-Christian countries, and at many times we are interfering in Satan's business. So uh some of our volunteers now are uh in prison, some of them are uh moving from one place to another just to hide themselves from the scrutiny from the family and the government. And other resources could be definitely financial resources because, as I said, the demand is really high. So um resources sometimes play a major role in hindering us from sharing the love of Christ. So, yep, pray for us. Uh pray for protection over the organization itself. Now we have an opportunity, we don't know when these stores will be closed.

SPEAKER_04 37:11

And and as far as the resources, how can we support financially? What does that look like? Is there a great website that you can give us to go to? What are the best ways to support?

SPEAKER_00 37:22

Yeah, the best way is through our website, which is www.sled sledinternational.org. When you log in, there's uh there's a section where it says give, and then you follow the instructions.

SPEAKER_04 37:35

Awesome. So sledinternational.org is where you can give. That's also a place where you can see maybe some of the places where you guys are active at work and you get guys give update. Uh Gigi, I'm blown away by some of the stuff you guys are doing. I I'm so thankful for you coming and telling your stories. Thank you. And uh I'm really grateful for the ways that God's called you and your team to serve uh in a place and in a people group that so many people don't even know exist and are invisible. Um, and so thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for that.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Thank you. Thank you for being part of uh of this, and thank you for helping us fulfill the great commission.

How To Pray Give And Respond

SPEAKER_04 38:14

That's awesome. Gigi, we always ask our guest to pray for our listeners uh at the end of the podcast. Would you be willing to pray in your native language first and then pray in English? Sure. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Lord, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to be speaking about how uh your hand is moving in the Middle East. I would like to kindly ask you to bless all those who are on this podcast and to bring healing to all the people who are hurting, whom they are not in the Middle East and they have their own challenges. Bring healing, Lord, and let them feel that you are beside them. In Jesus' name I pray.

SPEAKER_04 39:40

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

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