Jeff & Debbie DavisUndergraduate (B.A. '80 & B.A. '82)

So often many of us assume that ministering to other cultures involves leaving the United States, but Jeff (B.A. '80) and Debbie (B.A. ’82) Davis didn’t have to go far to encounter their mission field.

The Davis’ developed a ministry to Muslims in Detroit that includes a style of ministering that is practical and integrated into every aspect of their lives.

“We live where they live,” said Debbie. “We send our kids to the same schools, we reach out through English classes, teen outreach and family counseling and love them.

“Americans see ethnic grocery stores and restaurants and assume immigrants’needs are met, but there are so many very lonely people living in those communities, dealing with homesickness, cultural adaptation issues, even problems they may be ashamed to reveal to their own communities.”

After attending a summer boot camp through Christar, a ministry that teaches how to witness to Muslim and Chinese people, the couple experienced an intense desire to begin a church planting team. They began serving in Detroit where the largest concentration of Arabic Muslims are located outside the Middle East.

“With just a little encouragement and cultural training, it’s amazing how far the average Christian’s warmth and personal testimony could go to meet immense needs,” said Debbie, who also trains and organizes short-term trips to the area. “And then what great ambassadors these new believers can then be to their own nations.”

“And you don’t even have to leave the state of Michigan.”

“People ought to realize how much ministry can [and ought to] happen right here in our own communities,” said Jeff.

Please pray for Jeff and Debbie as they extend their lives to others every day.

Find out more about their ministry by visiting www.christar.org