

I was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1966 into a large Catholic family.
I studied theatre at the University of Baghdad and have always been interested
in art. France’s reputation as a capital of art was one reason it
attracted me.
I was able to move to France in 1993. During my time thier I met some Christians,
and began to do Bible study with a pastor. Eventually I understood that I
could have a relationship with God because of the life sacrifice that Jesus
had made on the cross in my place. I became Christians and got involved with
a small church in our neighborhood.
A year later I met my wife, who had come to work as a missionary in our church.
She and I were married in Paris in June, 1998.


I was raised in the United States. Although my family attended church occasionally,
I did not know Christ. In my early teen years, my family had begun attending
a nearby church. Through the youth ministry, I first heard that God loved
me and wanted a relationship with me. I had always thought I was already
a Christian, because I was a “fairly good person”, or tried
to be. I learned that my good works could not save me, but only placing
my faith in Christ, who died in my place on the cross. I put my faith in
Jesus Christ when I was 15.
In college, I went on a summer mission trip. I was amazed at how few Europeans
are evangelical Christians, despite their religious history. After that
summer I sensed God calling me to serve as a missionary. Several years later,
I arrived in France with Greater Europe Mission to work in a women’s
ministry near Paris.
During my fifth year in France, I worked in a small church plant in a northeastern
suburb of Paris. In this church I met Sami, and two years later we were
married in Paris. After a year of marriage, we returned to the U.S. so that
Sami could become a U.S. citizen, in view of our returning together for
ministry in France. We lived in Colorado for 6 years. During that time,
Sami worked as a graphic designer, and I worked in a training role at the
international headquarters of Greater Europe Mission. We kept praying about
returning to France. Between June 2005 and September 2006 we had the opportunity
to return to France to explore ministry opportunities and see where God
was leading us. We knew that He was leading us back to Paris, France, to
plant a culturally-relevant urban church there.