A Spiritual Moment for Those Who Stay, Pray, Serve, & Strengthen
When the bombs started flying over the Persian Gulf, I started receiving messages that were hard to fully comprehend.
Gabriel*, one of our A3 faculty members, was in Dubai. What began as a short visit turned into something very different. Flights were cancelled. Airspace was, and still is, unstable. And each night, Iranian missiles were being intercepted overhead. Several of our A3 friends and leaders were there together.
At one point, an explosion shook their hotel on the 39th floor. No shelter. No escape route. Just the unmistakable reality: this region was on edge.
And yet, in the middle of all this, something remarkable was happening. Instead of fleeing, they sensed the Lord saying: “Stay!”
Stay and pray, stay and serve, stay and strengthen the Church.
So they began gathering leaders. Teaching. Mentoring. Preaching. What started as a last-minute online gathering quickly reached over 3,000 believers across the region. Luke* said it best:
“We don’t HAVE to do this…we GET to do this.”
Your gifts to A3 help develop leaders like Luke. And now your gifts will accomplish even more. A generous friend has offered to double certain gifts up to $375,000. More on that later.
I’ve been reflecting on a report I received from Omar*, one of our leaders in North Africa. He shared about believers recently sentenced to prison simply for gathering to worship. Fifteen leaders—husbands and wives—now facing three years behind bars. He lamented:
“Nothing seems to have changed—persecution still proves the presence of evil that seeks to destroy the truth.”
And yet, in the same breath, Omar spoke of hope—of leaders being trained, of lives being transformed, of “streams in the desert.”
This is the paradox of the Middle East right now:
- War…and worship
- Fear…and faith
- Opposition…and unstoppable Gospel movement.
Strategically Coming Alongside Leaders
This is precisely where A3 is called to serve. We are not rushing in with programs. We are relationally and strategically coming alongside leaders.
What we are witnessing in the Middle East is not just geopolitical tension.
It’s a spiritual moment, a window, a “for such a time as this” opportunity where the church is being refined and leaders are being raised who will carry the hope of Christ into the hardest places on earth.
But they cannot do it alone. Would you stand with them?
Join A3 in Standing With These Courageous Leaders
To meet this critical opportunity, I invite you to make a strategic investment in the leaders who are carrying the hope of Christ into the hardest places on earth.
Your gift today will directly resource:
- Expansion into new frontiers: Helping A3 establish a presence and train leaders in Türkiye and another country in the region.
- Deep formation in crisis zones: Funding the gathering of key leaders from three MENA countries for essential discernment and strengthening.
- Outreach to the displaced: Supporting new initiatives among diaspora communities, such as from Horn of Africa, who are seeking hope amidst displacement.
- Pastoral care: Providing the mentoring, discipleship, and safe spaces required for leaders to grow and multiply, even while under intense pressure.
In regions where persecution is real and opposition strong, your partnership allows A3 to respond quickly when God opens doors.
Would you prayerfully consider a gift of $50, $100, or $150 today to equip these leaders for the trials they are experiencing now, as well as the opposition that will inevitably come? Perhaps God has blessed you in such a way that you could give $500 or even $1,000. Whatever you give, know that it will make a difference. And if you have not given since April 2024, your gift will be doubled.
I believe this deeply, and I think you do, too:
When you strengthen a leader, you strengthen a movement.
And when you strengthen a movement, you change a nation.
In moments like this, timing matters, presence matters, and leaders matter.
As missiles fly overhead, the Church is not retreating. It is rising! Streams are flowing in the desert.
| FUNDRAISING PROGRESS: Harm's Way $375,000 Match |
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And by God’s grace, A3 is being invited to walk alongside these leaders right in the middle of it.
Thank you for praying, believing, and for standing with us.
For His glory, and for the nations,
Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
CEO, A3
P.S. — I often say “we change the few who change the many.” Right now, in the Middle East, that is not just a vision—it is unfolding before our eyes. And your gift will strengthen leaders in the midst of conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere. If you have not given since April 2024, your gift will be doubled or quadrupled.
@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
* Names have been changed for their protection.
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