Middle East Initiatives

Novo has been deeply invested in ministry in the Middle East for years. Our global partner in the region, NEO Leaders, was founded in 2005, where the ministry began with two national leaders and a heart to serve their home, Lebanon. It has now grown to include teams in 31 countries, with 215 national leaders and 7,500 volunteer disciple-makers. They work with refugees, people with disabilities, youth, abused women, Bedouins, and more diverse people groups bringing aid, trauma care, cultural transformation, and most of all: the good news. In fact, there are over 900,000 people in Discovery Bible Study groups throughout the region!

The philosophy of ministry pursued by NEO Leaders is known as Disciple Making Movements (DMM). The primary tool of DMM is the “Discovery Bible Study” or DBS group. A DBS group is an opportunity for people to discover first-hand what the Bible says about God, about people, and what it means to follow Jesus. DBS groups are “discovery focused” (initially no teachers, experts, or preachers), can be done verbally, and depend on two indispensable and powerful components working in tandem: the Bible and the manifest presence of God’s Spirit. Eventually, DBS groups evolve into sustainable communities of obedient followers of Jesus.

The team has found that it all begins with "life on life" ministry. However, they are constantly looking for opportunities to care in tangible and practical ways. Caring first opens doors to spiritual conversations and helps to identify “persons of peace” (Luke 9-10, Mark 6, Matt 10), which are people whom God has uniquely prepared for the spread of the gospel.

In the 31 countries our teams serve in the Middle East and Europe, seven are experiencing major war and others are on the verge of one. With crisis and war comes internal disruption. Our experience is that when crisis and persecution exist, ministry grows. Staff on the ground work to address physical needs, providing food and aid. And it's not just physical needs being met, but also when the deeper questions surface in moments of crisis. As they care for those affected, they offer profound hope to those who are searching, seeking, and hurting when they’ve seen the foundations of their security crumble. The kind of hope that is not just comforting, but transformational—the gospel at work.