In one of the most challenging speeches at the Comibam 2025 Missionary Conference, Jordanian pastor Afeef Halasah, executive director of Arabs for Arabs (AFTA), church planters, and leaders in the Middle East and North Africa faced Ibero-American leadership with a clear message.
Based on Genesis 1:26-27, Harasa emphasized that the root of the Christian mission is to endure the image and portrait of God. “I am not Jordanian. I am not just a pastor. I am an image and portrait of the highest. I carry his DNA,” he said. According to Harasa, many followers employ multiple social, religious or professional identities that have made them forget God’s true identity.
Regarding the Middle East, he said: “It’s a strategic region. The church is born there and history ends there.” However, over 95% of the population is Muslim, not only is it ignorant of Jesus, but it is openly opposed to Christianity.
Not only salvation, but the gospel of the kingdom
One of Harasa’s most provocative statements was his criticism of reductionist theology in many evangelical churches. “Jesus did not preach only the gospel of salvation; he preached the gospel of the kingdom.
Harasa also condemned the fact that many churches adopted secular values and lost their transformational power.
“The church has become an NGO. We are not an organization, we are not a church, the legislative body of the kingdom. If the church is not light, the darkness will be terrible,” he warned.
Harasa also criticized the leadership model that promotes corporate structure within the church. “Today, the pastor is called the CEO. Jesus was a servant, not a CEO or executive. The true leadership is servant leadership.”
He urged the pastor to “smell like sheep,” to live with his disciples, teach them by example, and become spiritual parents, not just supervisors. “A good leader produces other leaders, and if his children outweigh him, a good father won’t jealous. On the contrary, he celebrates it.”
A vision that can be reproduced for each generation
Harasa shared her experience planting over 12 churches in the Middle East. He said his goal was not to perpetuate his leadership, but to train disciples who surpass him: “I work to get myself out of work. I train others, and then I go to another church. That’s how the kingdom works.”
He criticized many pastors for just leaving the church when they die or get into scandal. “It’s not success. Success leaves you with a leader who is more capable than you.” He called on his leaders to prepare their disciples to begin their ministry from the heights they reached.
Church as a movement, not an empire
Finally, Harasa abandoned the institutionalized church model that seeks to expand the sectarian brand and called for a return to the biblical pattern of the church as a kingdom movement.
“You were not called to position. You were called to mission, and if your church is not in line with the mission of the Kingdom, you are building a monument to ego, not God,” he said.
With his face moving between applause and attendees, Harasa’s message closed the third whole session of Comibum 2025 with the deep challenge of restoring missions, regaining identity and restoring the role of the Church as ambassador of God’s Kingdom on Earth.
“God puts our image into us, like the manufacturer’s logo on the device, ensuring that we fulfill our functions on earth,” he explained. He asserted that Christians should reflect God’s traits in their lifestyles and that heaven is a true reality with kings, constitutions and scriptures.
Young and poor Arab world
Harasa also provided an overview of the Middle East and North Africa. In 22 Arabic-speaking countries, over 456 million people have people under the age of 25.
It was originally published by Diario Cristiano, the Spanish version of Christian Daily International.
