By Peter Wooding, European Bureau Chief for ASSIST News Service
ATLANTA, USA/HEMEL HEMPSTED, UK (ANS – January 30, 2018) — Now launching into its 30th year of ministry, Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef is celebrating the many thousands of lives that have been transformed over the past three decades.
Leading The Way’s Founder and President Dr. Michael Youssef, says he could never have imagined the impact of his decision to flee his home country of Egypt in 1969:
“I was only a young man with an emboldened dream to serve the Lord, but I knew God was leading me,” he said. “He gave me the courage and tenacity to escape a brutal dictatorship and leave my family behind, with merely 100 dollars in my pocket.”
That decision eventually led Dr. Youssef to launch a small Atlanta-based radio ministry from his church in the States in 1988. Today, his biblical teaching programs are reaching millions of people across six continents through 24/7 radio and television broadcasts, available in 25 languages.
Leading The Way has also helped thousands of the most marginalized Christians, providing more than £2 million UK ($2.83 million USD) in support through its Help The Persecuted ministry. In addition, more than 116,000 solar-powered Navigator audio Bibles have been distributed worldwide, reaching remote regions with the Gospel.
Dr. Youssef says the greatest reward from the past three decades of ministry has been the changed lives of so many individuals. “From unreached people groups, to former terrorists, the Leading The Way team has heard from so many whose lives have been radically transformed by the ministry of the Gospel,” he said.
These are just a few examples of those individual testimonies:
Former drug addict Bruce Pearson from Bradford, England, who said: “This voice came up from Dr. Michael Youssef on the radio and he starts talking about the uncompromising truth. I then committed my life to Christ and was radically transformed — from addiction to freedom. Today, I’m not only ministering on the same streets where I once lived; I’m also proclaiming the Gospel through my own radio show and I even get to introduce Dr Youssef’s teaching program straight after mine.”
Former Muslim from Morocco, who wrote: “I was a radical Muslim and I believed in jihad and killing anyone who does not follow the laws of Islam. After watching your channel, I wanted to tell you that I have decided to follow Jesus.”
A dual-language listener in Turkey, who stated: “At first, I listened to your radio program to learn English, but later your programs started to touch my heart. Now I have accepted Christ in my life.”
Dr. Youssef concluded by saying: “This is just a glimpse into what God has done, and we believe the best years of ministry are still to come.”
About Leading The Way:
Now celebrating 30 years of ministry, Leading The Way‘s television and radio programs are broadcast in 25 languages to audiences across six continents. Leading The Way also produces DVDs, CDs, books, a monthly devotional magazine, and daily e-devotionals to spread the light of Christ. This Atlanta-based ministry utilizes field ministry teams to evangelize seekers, disciple new believers, and help the persecuted in places where it is dangerous to follow Christ. Dr Youssef’s unique perspective has given him a platform to speak boldly into today’s issues and provide Biblical solutions to the challenges Christians are facing today.
About Dr. Michael Youssef:
Michael Youssef, PhD, is the Founder and President of Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Dr. Youssef was born in Egypt and lived in Lebanon and Australia before moving to the United States. In 1984, he fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming an American citizen. He holds degrees from Moore College in Sydney, Australia, and from Fuller Theological Seminary in California. In 1984, he earned a PhD in social anthropology from Emory University.
He has authored more than 30 books, including popular titles The Hidden Enemy and The Barbarians Are Here. He and his wife reside in Atlanta and have four grown children and ten grandchildren.
Editor’s Note:
For media enquiries in the UK and Europe: Contact Peter Wooding by phone at +44 (0) 7500 903067 or by e-mail at woodingpeter@hotmail.com
For media enquiries in the USA: Contact Mike Tilley by phone at 404-809-4094 or by e-mail at mtilley@ltw.org
Photo captions: 1) Dr. Michael Youssef in his radio studio. 2) Leading The Way’s first dual-language program was with Dr. Michael Youssef and his English teacher Baki Sadaka. 3) Michael Youssef speaking at a large event in London, England. 4) Dr. Youssef speaking in Cairo. 5) Peter Wooding filming his father, Dan Wooding, as he interviews Dr. Youssef at an NRB Convention.
About the writer: Peter Wooding, the younger son of Dan and Norma Wooding, is an award-winning radio, TV, and print journalist. Having previously spent 10 years as news editor with UCB Radio in the UK, he has travelled extensively reporting from countries including Greece, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, South Sudan, the Philippines, Uganda, South Korea, Zambia, Gambia, Mozambique, Croatia, Israel and India. In December 2017, Peter made a moving trip to Lagos, Nigeria, to report on Reinhard Bonnke’s Farewell Crusade, and while he was there, Peter was able to visit the very place where his Nigeria-born father, Dan, and his parents, Alfred and Anne Wooding, sailed from Lagos to Liverpool in 1942. Peter also reports regularly for ASSIST News Service, Samaritan’s Purse, and Leading The Way, and is also the London Bureau Chief for the Global News Alliance. He and his wife Sharon live in North Wales, UK, with their three daughters, Sarah, Anna Beth and Abigail. To contact Peter, please e-mail him at woodingpeter@hotmail.com, or phone him at: +44 7500 903067.
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