In 1984, an Arabic Ministry began meeting in individual homes.
It was led by Rev. Bill and Nancy Hern, retired Foreign Missionaries in the Middle East. What began in homes soon became part of a larger mission story involving Trinity Baptist Church, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Raleigh Baptist Association.
In October 1986, through the Herns and this joint partnership, Rev. Charles Farag and his wife, Susan, were called to lead the church. This was one of the new church works initiated by the Raleigh Baptist Association in 1983 under the leadership of Rev. Dennis Gabriel, director of missions and ministries.
Rev. Farag began outreach in a very personal and practical way. He wrote to everyone with an Arabic name in the Raleigh phone book.
That detail is worth pausing over. Before social media targeting, online registration forms, or email lists, there was a phone book and a pastor trying to reach people in the community with care and intention.
In 1986, Rev. Farag also enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he later received a Master of Divinity degree in December 1989.
The Arabic Ministry’s story reminds us that mission often begins with noticing people who might otherwise be overlooked. It begins with language, culture, relationship, and welcome. It begins with asking who is in the community and how the church might serve them faithfully.
For Trinity, this ministry became part of a longer story of partnership. It connected the church with Arabic-speaking neighbors in Raleigh and Wake County and helped create space for worship, community, and gospel witness among people whose language and culture were central to their experience of faith.
The work that began in homes in 1984 would continue to grow in the years ahead. What started as an Arabic Ministry would later move toward becoming a church.
That next chapter would become Raleigh Arabic Baptist Church.
Read More in 70 Years at Trinity
This story was drawn from 70 Years at Trinity: February 5, 1956 – May 3, 2026, prepared in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Trinity Baptist Church.
For more about the beginning of the Arabic Ministry, Rev. Bill and Nancy Hern, and Rev. Charles and Susan Farag, see pages 36–37 of the anniversary book.
