POBLO-Chicago

Last September LCC received a request from Hicham Chehab, POBLO Missionary, for Arabic/English Bibles to be given to students as part of his outreach. Because of your generous donations he was able to purchase 300+ Bibles (pictured at right). Yesterday LCC received the following e-mail from Hicham, showing the fruit of these labors and your donations. We ask you to pray for God's continued blessing on this ministry and the lives that He is touching through it.

Dear Brothers and Sisters at LCC,

Praise be to God. We had the first Arabic worship service at Peace Lutheran Church in Lombard, Illinois at noon, on Saturday March 1, 2008. Refugees and immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, and Palestine attended this Lutheran Arabic Church (LCMS) , the  first  of its kind in Chicagoland. We had 45 people, ranging in age between 2 and 65. The Old Testament and New Testament reading were done in both Arabic and Persian by members of the congregation.  POBLO Missionary Hicham Chehab preached in Arabic. Hymns were sung in Arabic. In addition, some spiritual songs were done in English in order to reach the younger generations. We called it Salam (peace in both Arabic and Persian) Church, because only the Prince of Peace can bring reconciliation to the hearts of Middle Eastern peoples.
After the service we had lunch. A Middle Eastern feast.
Thanks for your hard work in this partnership in mission work.
 Glory and praise be to God.

In God's Peace
Hicham

PEOPLE OF THE BOOK LUTHERAN OUTREACH - CHICAGO

Hicham Chehab, Missionary 

405 S. Rush Street
Roselle, IL 60172
Office:  630-259-8417
Email: Hicham.chehab@gmail.com

Through the work of Hicham Chehab, in partnership with the Northern Illinois District LCMS and in cooperation with Trinity Lutheran Church, Roselle, Illinois, the International Ministry of PEOPLE OF THE BOOK LUTHERAN OUTREACH (POBLO) is going forward in the Chicagoland area.

In December, 2006, Hicham was established as the new POBLO-Chicago on-site missionary.  Hicham immediately began work with a number of international families, meeting one-on-one with them.  An ESL class was started with 12  students.  An Arabic language Bible study also began.  Through referrals, Hicham has been busy helping with immigration services, with human care needs and interacting with international contacts through one-on-one visitation.

A Muslim family of parents and their three children were baptized into the Christian faith.  "This is not an easy process," Hicham explains, "I've had people ask me why we want to help them.  I explain that everyone is a child of God and we want an opportunity to share the love of Christ with them."

Hicham is putting together a curriculum for teaching Arabic as a second language.  A lot of Arab and Muslim second-generation immigrants are losing their Arabic, and starting a class of Arabic for Immigrants will attract them to the church.  Hicham is planning to teach adults himself, while his wife, Mona, will teach children.

God continues to provide opportunities for ministry in the Chicago area.  The need for immigration and refugee services grows; food, housing, job placement and clothing requests increase.  More importantly, the work of sharing the love of Jesus Christ to people who have not heard the saving message is paramount in the work of POBLO-Chicago.

FOR NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS  click here 

Read Hicham's moving Personal Testimony - click here. 

An audio version of Hicham's testimony can be found at the Issues, Etc. Archive for Monday, June 11, 2007.  The 28 minute interview with Hicham begins in Part B at min. 28:25 and continues into Part C until min. 3:40.    Click here to listen.

Read about POBLO International at: www.POBLO.org