A Storm In The Desert—Podcast by 9Marks

"Can you believe it, Leeann?" "No, I can't believe it."

Dave and Gloria always dreamed of Dubai. Josh and Jenny dreamed of Jackson, Mississippi. Now they're both doing ministry in the Middle East. A storm in the desert is brewing.

After John and Keri showed up in Dubai, Babu and Ranjini were unsure and suspicious, Chris was lost and looking for answers, and Zhenia just didn't want to be brainwashed. But the Lord got to work, and the faithful, ordinary ministry of the Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai changed their lives. This is the story of Babu and Ranjini, Chris and Zhenia.

In 1995, when John jogged past a church on Capitol Hill, he was looking for a status boost. What he found was the gospel and then a wife. In 2001, when Mack and Leeann landed in Dubai, they looked for a church. What they found was a well-meaning mess. So they called for help. This is the story of John and Keri.

The first act in our story covers a lot of ground—from an icy crevice on a Swiss mountain to a below-freezing night capped off by the fiery Billy Graham. It involves a surprising conversion that eventually leads to a transatlantic flight on an empty plane. This is the story of Mack and Leeann.

In 1972, at the base of a Swiss mountain, God saved a man named Mack Stiles. Two decades later, John Folmar “accepted Jesus as his personal Savior”; he doesn’t know even where he first heard that phrase.

What happens in the next quarter-century is a testament to God’s commitment to use faithful, ordinary ministry to effect fruitful, extraordinary change. A Storm in the Desert tells this story.