Ministry undaunted despite murder

(Photo courtesy Pioneers)

International (AWM) ― A Pioneer working in the Middle East and North Africa says the community of Gospel workers is mourning the loss of one more.

Though the Pioneer team did not work directly with the man we'll call "Mark," he was a colleague sent by an African partner mission in sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the Arab World, these workers are among the strongest discipleship partners, providing both cultural understanding and significant contribution to ministry.

Mark was part of a team of two families serving in a Muslim region. The team began getting death threats, so the families were evacuated. But Mark stayed for one last meeting with believers before joining them.

The night after the meeting, while at home preparing his dinner, Mark was shot. He was discovered the next morning in his home, but he had lost too much blood to survive. At his passing, Mark leaves a young wife and two infant twin daughters.

Romans 8 declares, "For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

Mark's mission team feared the possibility of legal action from Mark's father, who was not a believer and who vocally opposed his son's service among Muslims. But at Mark's funeral, Mark's father was among fifteen people who gave their lives to Christ.

The mission Mark began will continue: his wife plans to minister in the same region where her husband was killed.

The ministry in the Arab World is held together by missionary colleagues and national believers like Mark. These are people who stand firm in the conviction that they are fulfilling God's call upon their lives and who are not quick to abandon their posts.

Pioneers has an opportunity to extend eternal hope to Arab world Muslims through the 2012 "Winds of Change" 

Campaign. The goal of this initiative is to supplement Arab World Media's current pan-Arab broadcasts with messages that appeal specifically to different demographics in 10 strategic countries. This will also include the distribution of Bibles and film packets. It will support the work already being done by men like Mark. 

There are details at our Featured Links Section.