I was born and raised in a loving faithful Christian home
in the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. Jordan is an Islamic
country, where Christians are a minority of the population,
I attended Christian schools back home which allowed my
faith to grow and to have Jesus living in the center of my
heart.
In 1989 my husband, Albert Duoibes, and I moved to the
United States. We are blessed with five children, Ned (19),
Katia (17), Kristina and Donna (15) and Noor is (14) years
old, we also have two dogs and a cat; and, as any other
family, we are super busy navigating life with school and
sports activities. God is always faithful, and attending Calvary
Church for 11 years had been a huge blessing in my family
life.
My native language is Arabic,
but I learned English as a
first language in school and
some French as well. Looking
back, I now see that God had
been preparing a time and a
place for me to use my native
language to bring Him honor and glory, and to proclaim His
truth and His living words. When I was asked to translate the
Sunday sermons, I knew that God had a path already paved
for me to use my Arabic speaking language! Translating the
sermon is fun and I look forward to it.
In addition to translating the sermons, I volunteer at Calvary
in the Refugee Ministry. God has been moving in incredible
ways and opening up more opportunities for me to serve and
to form a friendship bond with these refugee immigrants.
Mathew 25:35-40 commands us to welcome strangers with
Jesus words “. . . to the extent that you did it to one of these
bothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.”
The Bible commands us to speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves and we are to love our new refugee
neighbors and show them mercy and grace.
Please pray for our refugee immigrants to see and feel Our
Father’s presence in their lives and for God’s truth to pierce
their hearts and for their eyes to open to see God almighty.
Lana Duoibes
Lana translating the service.
It’s God’s saturating grace that describes my life. At a young
age, I accepted the payment He paid for me through Christ’s
death on the cross. I knew I wanted to serve Him with my
whole life. In my early teen years, His grace poured out when
I understood more of the meaning of making Him Lord of
my life. The verse I claimed for my life was Proverbs 3:5,6
challenging me to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and
lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, ac-
knowledge Him and He will direct your path.” I had no idea
where He would lead me, but I was wiling to go and do as He
showed me.
All of my experience serving the Lord cross-culturally began
in Hispanic countries such as Mexico, Spain, Honduras and
in cities and towns I li ved in the US. God cultivated a love
for other cultures and people and the longing to make Christ
known to them. Before I headed to Honduras, I became an
RN, in the hopes to use my skills in a third-world country.
God’s faithful grace broadened my view of the world and His
kingdom, but I never imagined where He would send me
next!
My first response that fateful date of 9/11 was: “Christ is
the only solution!” That is when He set me on a journey to
serve in the Middle East beginning in Jordan. I soon had an
Arab “mom” who taught me colloquial Arabic and a touch
of formal Arabic. It was difficult to say “goodbye” to her and
the many friends of
my community who
taught me more than
just the language.
God’s grace contin-
ued to pour out.
After visiting various
countries in the region, I moved to Cairo, Egypt. I worked
as a nurse in two different hospitals while relearning
Arabic in a new dialect. It is only God’s grace that explains
my comprehension and ability to speak this fascinating
language. It was a privilege and blessing to be able to speak
and connect with Egyptian strangers and friends.
Six years later I met a most kind, generous and wonderful
man who loves Jesus. His name is Bob Tuuri. After we were
married in 2013, we settled in Grand Rapids and attended
Calvary Church. The following year, God blessed us with our
precious daughter Mariah. Then I heard about the ministry
to refugees at Calvary, I became extremely excited to serve in
any way that I could. What a blessing to work alongside Lana
and the team using Arabic in translating to our dear friends
whom I love very much. God’s grace rains down…
Melissa Tuuri
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