Amer and Vicki Safadi weren’t sure at first that Cincinnati was where God wanted them to plant a church. They’d been there before, just after leaving the Middle East, and it hadn’t been easy.

But then they met Travis Smalley, lead pastor of Lakota Hills Baptist Church, who said his church wanted to come alongside them. And then when the Safadis moved there from Milwaukee, God immediately began putting Arabic-speaking neighbors in their path in providential ways. Within three months of planting a church, they had 55 Arabic-speaking people from eight countries, and new people continue to come through its doors each week.

The livestream ministry they started during the COVID-19 pandemic now reaches Arabic Christians and non-believers around the world.

Prayer requests

• For the Safadis to have favor with the Arabic-speaking people they meet and for God to orchestrate those meetings.
• For the Arabic church in Cincinnati to continue to grow in reaching its city and beyond.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – This year’s Week of Prayer for North American Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is March 6-13, with a theme of United, which is also the theme for this year’s Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. The offering provides more than half of NAMB’s annual budget and 100% of the funds go to mission work on the field. Gifts to the Annie offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at anniearmstrong.com where there are also resources to help promote the offering. This year’s goal is $70 million.)