Blog

Throughout my career, sharing the gospel with audiences in the Arab World required extensive infrastructure, including a cutting-edge recording studio, cassette tape production, printing presses, a mailroom, and several high-power radio stations across Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean. This infrastructure relied on support from both the Christian Reformed denomination and several generous congregations.

In 1958, I began my missionary work with The Back to God Hour’s Arabic Broadcast, working alongside Dr. Peter Eldersveld until his passing in 1965, and then with Dr. Joel Nederhood until I retired in 1994. By that time, the widespread availability of the internet had opened opportunities for global outreach, allowing other organizations to reuse Arabic tapes and pamphlets created throughout my career, and enabling me to share the lessons I learned. I share insights in English, posting articles on my website (unashamedofthegospel.org) and on Academia.edu, a platform for sharing academic research. I receive daily reports on the articles read, along with brief information about the readers.

The lessons learned cover a range of topics: scriptural themes that need more emphasis, the use of technology in missions, current events in the Middle East, and linguistics.

A key topic in missions is the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, which I discussed in an article titled “The Centrality of the Cross in the Missiology of Samuel M. Zwemer.” Another important subject is making Protestant systematic theology available in Arabic. I oversaw the translation of Herman Bavinck’s book, Our Reasonable Faith, into Arabic, translated by Professor Henry Zylstra. The four-volume Arabic translation is available online for Arabic-speaking readers.

In a paper titled “Utilizing Technology to Spread God’s Word,” I discussed how technology has not only supported my mission work but also helped fulfill the Great Commission since the first century AD.

The American news media offers a shallow view of current events in the Middle East. To broaden this perspective, I share personal experiences from my upbringing there and news I’ve gathered from Arab and French media and social platforms. Some of my recent articles include: “Reflections on the Arab Israeli Conflict” and “Recent Reports on a Vision for Domestic Regime Change.”

Since communication is a vital part of missions and living in one part of the world while preaching in another was especially challenging, I carefully kept up with the latest Arabic vocabulary and usage. I shared reflections on these insights in an article, “Conversational Arabic: A New Stage in the Language's Evolution.”

As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37-38, “…The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” I feel called to keep helping in the harvest, even long after retiring.