Hikmat & Krista - Resurrection Church Beirut (RCB)
“Declare His Glory” is the vision at Resurrection Church for 2025.
The Lord is still moving and continuing His work despite the difficult phase the people of Lebanon passed through in the past several months (and for the past 5 years in general). Since the election of a new president (which we did not have for 2 years) and a new prime minister, there is a new emerging hope for our country. The war is over, a peace plan has taken place, yet destruction is massive, especially in the south of Lebanon and many parts of western Beirut.
Apart from the holistic ministry RCB provides to its people and everyone seeking it, we are thankful and see it as a great opportunity to minister to people of influence and leadership position. God has honored Hikmat’s prayer for not only serving the poor, marginalized, and the weak but also to speak into the lives of people in power. The thirst is everywhere! People feel empty and want to seek peace and joy in their lives. For the past couple of years, Hikmat started Bible studies with leaders from the government, army, and business positions. They are people from different religious backgrounds and highly respect religious leaders. The Lord is working, and we start seeing fruits! The regular meetings have helped to form closer relationships, and they are very open to the Gospel message. We pray that the leaders of Lebanon will learn to lead our country with great dignity, honesty, and trust!
For more than 16 years we have taken up the leadership of Resurrection Church and are so grateful to have witnessed thousands join the church, now with 13 campuses spread across Lebanon having 44 spiritual communities (around 100-150 people in each). The church grew significantly because of decentralization. In January 2025, we rented a hotel in order to celebrate the church’s 60th anniversary. It was a blessed time with each church member gathering in one place to worship. There were 3500 chairs reserved in the hall. To our surprise, more than 4500 people turned up! Many had to leave and watch the service online due to overcrowding, but what a joy it is to see the growing body of Christ come together in worship and praise!
Our eldest son, Markus, has graduated from Biola University in California and has returned to Beirut. He has a great passion and vision to serve in Lebanon and make a difference. He earned a degree in film and a minor in theology and loves telling the story through the camera. He has done several short films, interned with The Chosen while in the US, and is now leading the communications and media departments at RCB. Here is a short video about the church when Markus took part in the Gather25 conference early this month:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nOqTfeF0S8
Our girls, Betine (19) and Daniella (16), are involved in church ministry in various ways and love the community life. Betine is in her first year at art university in Beirut studying product design while Daniella is completing her 2nd year in high school.
Our church is located on the Presidential Road, a strategic location between the Christian area and the Hezb0llah headquarters. The need to expand our church building is imminent with the rapid growth of the church. Our church hall no longer fits everyone wanting to attend the church on Sundays. We invite you to pray for a purchase of the land right opposite our church, which we believe will help us expand the Kingdom. There is nothing too big for our Lord, and we have seen His miracles take place one after another.
Finally, we want to thank you all for your prayers and care! We know how closely many of you follow our news regularly and reach out to us with prayer, support, and love messages. We truly admire the faithfulness of prayer meetings held at St. Johns each month to pray for Lebanon. We believe in the power of prayer, and we have experienced God’s miraculous ways in so many situations.