2012 Speaker Biographies

Jay Smith

Jay has worked for over 27 years with Muslims, he has two masters degrees in divinity and Islamics, and is currently finishing his Phd. dissertation at the Bible College of Victoria, Australia, under the supervision of Dr. Peter Riddell.

UNIVERSITY WORK: Jay's area of expertise is in Christian/Muslim apologetics and polemics.  As such he has been invited onto many university campuses to teach classes, participate in panels, help out numerous Christian Union's with training, and also to do 'dialogues' and debates with Muslim polemicists. 

DEBATES: Since 1995 Jay has participated in over fifty formal debates with distinguished Muslim scholars, statesmen, and apologists, including: Dr. Jamal Badawi (Univ. of Halifax), Dr. Mousa Pidcock (Leader of the Islamic party of Britain.), Abdul Rahman Green (Da’ist at Regents Park Mosque), Shabir Ally (President of the Islamic Propagation Center, Toronto, and world renowned debater), Benazir Bhutto (former Prime Minster of Pakistan), Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad (Founder of Hizb-ul-Tahrir-UK, and al Muhajiroun), Ishmael Muhammad (son of Elijah Muhammad, the founder of Nation of Islam), Dr. Azzam Tamimi (President of Muslim Association of Britain, and Hamas spokesman), Dr. Timothy Winter (Cambridge Univ. Lecturer & convert to Islam), Ayattolah Sayed Fadhel Milani (Principal UK based Shiite Cleric), Anas al-Tikriti (Muslim Association of Britain), Iqbal Siddiqui (Editor of Crescent International Magazine), Sarfraz Manzoor (Independent Muslim journalist), Sheikh Muhammad Bahmanpour (Shiite cleric and professor of theology), Mohammed Ali (Head of The Muslim Channel [TV]), Sheikh Mohammad Al Houssaini (professor at Leo Baeck Rabbinical College), and Sheikh Abu Hamza al Misri (President and founder of Students of Shariah, and convicted terrorist).

TEACHING: Since working on his Phd. Jay has been teaching advanced Islamics to the 2nd year students at OM's Turning Point, in Harlesden, London, and has taught apologetics/polemics at Oakhill College in Southgate, London, for the last five years, as well as apologetics at Moorland Bible College in Bournemouth.  He is now teaching 1-2 week modules on Islam at two Seminaries (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, and the Ethiopian Graduate Theological Seminary in Addis Ababa).  He also teaches Islamics every year for Ichthus's Networkers Program in SE London, and Christian/Muslim Apologetics for the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) in Oxford.  Since 2001, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) has been using Jay to teach their evangelists Islamics in the US, England and Scotland. 

OVERSEAS TRAINING: For the last 7 years Jay has been teaching 1-2 week-long programs in Islamics, training missionaries before they go into the Muslim world.  The countries he has taught include: Korea, Russia, South Africa, Brazil, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Spain, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Nigeria, Ethiopia, the US, Canada and Hungary.

SPEAKER'S CORNER: Jay has been going to debate at Speaker’s Corner in London since 1993, and since 2000 he has been leading a workshop every Sunday afternoon (1:30 - 3:00 p.m.) at All Souls Church, Langham Place, teaching and preparing Christians who are interested in engaging publicly with Muslims.  There are between 20 and 50 people who attend every week, and the number rises to 150-200 during the summer due to the influx of Christians who come to London to engage with Muslims.  Following the workshop they head down to Speaker's Corner and engage them for 2-3 hours.

YOUTUBE: Most recently, Jay has been posting over sixty 5-10 minute videos on the very popular Youtube internet site (see: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PfanderFilms) answering the most frequently asked questions (FAQs), which then are used to reverse the questions, and open the site up for vigorous discussions with both Muslims and Christians.  To date, over 800,000 people have watched those videos, and hundreds of videos by Muslims have been posted in response.

CODGERS: In the last year Jay has helped to begin a group of 10-15 men and women interested in learning and doing debates with Muslims.  They meet fortnightly to carry out debates (one person taking on the Muslim position, the other that of Christianity), film them and then critique them. As of the autumn of 2009 they are carrying out 1-2 debates per month with Muslims in the London area on a range of topics concerning both Islam and Christianity.

BRITISH MUSEUM TOUR: During the initiation of his Phd. he put together a tour which looked at archaeological, documentary and manuscript evidence for the Bible (both the Old and New Testament) which can be found in the British Museum and the British Library.  To date over 4,000 people have taken the tour, and it has now been filmed.  A new 6 hour DVD of the tour has been put together in English and in Persian, which you can procure at: http://www.222publications.com/catalog/

 

Rev. Bassam M. Madany

Bassam Michael Madany was the Arabic Broadcast minister of Back-to-God Hour, the radio ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, from 1958-1994. In his retirement ministry, Middle East Resources, he offers materials on the global challenge of Islam from a Christian perspective. www.unashamedofthegospel.org

Rev. Madany was born in Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, Syria. He received his education in British and French schools in the Middle East. In 1950, he came to the United States and studied at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1953. In 1957, Rev. and Mrs. Madany joined the Christian Reformed Church and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Rev. Madany took further studies at Calvin Theological Seminary. He holds a Bachelor of Divinity degree from this institution.

Rev. Madany pioneered Arabic-language radio missions and developed a Bible-based ministry, which emphasized the centrality of the Word of God in missions to Muslims. A CD is available containing the following items: 12 Arabic-language books that he produced during his 36-year radio ministry, 100 audio sermons, the Arabic Bible in PDF, Arabic hymns, and Arabic video clips on basic Christian doctrines.

Shirley W. Madany was involved in various aspects of the radio ministry, and directed the follow-up department of Saatu’l Islah, the Arabic name of the radio mission. On Sunday, 24 August, 2008, she went to be with the Lord after battling pancreatic cancer for five months.

Rev. Madany authored “The Bible and Islam: A Basic Guide to Sharing God’s Word with a Muslim.” Shirley authored “Muslims Meeting Christ,” a book of testimonies from listeners whose lives were impacted by the Arabic radio and literature ministry.  In 2006, the Madanys published “An Introduction to Islam,” consisting of 33 articles, book reviews, and commentaries on contemporary Islam. In January 2008, the book “Kamil Abdul Messiah: A Syrian Convert from Islam to Christianity,” authored in 1897, by Dr. Henry H. Jessup, of the Presbyterian Mission in Beirut, Lebanon, was re-published by Middle East Resources. 

The Internet ministry consists of articles and essays, based on Arabic-language sources that deal with missiological subjects, as well as on current cultural and religious materials being discussed on various reformist Arabic-language websites.  After translating and analyzing their contents, Rev. Madany presents his comments forthrightly, and sympathetically.  

The Ministry of Middle East Resources  is based on the supreme and final authority of the Word of God, and the uniqueness, finality, and superiority of Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior.

 

Abdu Murray 

Abdu is a co-founder and the President of Aletheia International, which is an apologetics-based ministry dedicated to offering the Truth of the Gospel to Muslims, Jews, cult members, and skeptics through apologetics that touch the mind and the heart.

Abdu was born into a Muslim family that encouraged his studies of the Qur'an and Islam.  During the course of a years-long investigation into the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the major world religions, Abdu discovered that only the evidence for the historic Christian faith could withstand the toughest challenges.  The results of Abdu’s intense search, coupled with the Lord’s drawing of his heart, led him to put his faith in Jesus as the one and only sufficient Savior.  Since that time, Abdu has dedicated his ministry to reaching non-Christians with the Gospel and teaching Christians to do the same.

Abdu has spoken in numerous venues both in the United States and internationally, including churches, convention centers, and college campuses.   He has been a featured guest on radio talk shows across the United States and on numerous national and international television programs, including Newswatch, Stand to Reason with Greg Koukl, CrossExamined with Dr. Frank Turek, Jesus or Muhammad? on the Aramaic Broadcasting Network, The Bob Dutko Show, and  SRN News. 

Abdu has published articles in a variety of settings, including internet articles for the North American Missions Board that have been translated into different languages.  His first book, Apocalypse Later - Why the Gospel of Peace Must Trump the Politics of Prophecy in the Middle East, has been released by Kregel Publications and is available in bookstores. 

In 1999, Abdu earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.  He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1995.  He is a member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the Evangelical Theological Society, and maintains active relationships with many ministries, including InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ, i2 Ministries, and the North American Missions Board. 

Abdu resides in the Detroit, Michigan area with his wife and their three children.

 

Georges Houssney

Born and raised in Lebanon, Georges Houssney’s background in psychology, linguistics, and intercultural studies has contributed to the production of two books in Arabic, Bible translation projects in Arabic and Kurdish, an indigenous Arabic Bible study curriculum in cooperation with David. C. Cook Foundation, and the thirteen-year publication of ReachOut to the Muslim World.

His travels to ninety-eight countries and his forty years of experience in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting have culminated in the development of two training programs: Engaging Islam, for church members and missionaries, and Cubs to Lions, for Christians from Muslim backgrounds. As founder and president of Horizons International, Georges, along with his family and global staff members, strives to awaken the Church to the task of boldly proclaiming the Gospel to the nations.

Georges brings a Middle Eastern perspective to Islam and the missionary movement. Born and raised in Lebanon, he has more than forty years of experience in evangelism and church planting among Muslims around the world. He is well known for his work supervising the translation of the Bible into contemporary Arabic and Kurdish. He is the founder and president of Horizons International, which is raising up a new generation of bold disciples of Christ in the Muslim world. Horizons equips missionaries and Christians from Muslim Backgrounds through its two main training programs, "Engaging Islam," and "Cubs to Lions."

 

Bill Nikides

Bill is one of the directors for i2 Ministries and works alongside of Advancing Native Missions (ANM) supporting church planting in South and East Asia. In a former ministry life, he had responsibility for church planting facilitation oversight that took him from North Africa to the Philippines.

Bill has worked with Muslims for nearly 30 years, the last 12 of which have dealt with facilitating church planting. He is currently, in his old age, working on a Ph.D. dissertation in Trinitarian theology, mission and the ideal of martyrdom with Dr. Robert Letham. Bill’s fields are theology and history. A former assistant professor of history and religion at Samford University, Bill has lectured extensively in seminaries, Bible colleges, and the L’Abri Institute.

Bill’s passion is for working with and equipping leaders working in Muslim cultures to plant and grow strong reproducing churches. He has designs and leads seminars that focus on leadership issues for people working in the challenging environment of the Muslim world. Bill also has a zeal for writing. He is collaborating on two book projects right now. He has also written extensively on missiology and theology and is considered an authority on insider movements.

He is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America, the former moderator of the International Presbyterian Church (IPC), a body located in Europe that was started by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, and assisted in the development of the Presbyterian Church of Bangladesh (PCB), a growing denomination of Muslim background Christians.

 

Rev. David B. Garner, PhD

Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Vice President for Institutional Partnerships, Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, PA) 

Rev. Dr. David B. Garner, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Vice President for Institutional Partnerships at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.  Since 1986, Dr. Garner has served in pastoral ministry, theological education, and parachurch ministries.  Over the last decade, he has lived, traveled, and taught in various parts of the world, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.  From 2003-2007, Dr. Garner served as Director for TE3 (Theological Education for Eastern Europe), a regional theological training ministry based in Sofia, Bulgaria.  In addition to his current responsibilities at Westminster, Dr. Garner writes, preaches regularly, serves as visiting faculty in various educational institutions both stateside and abroad, and speaks frequently at conferences and seminars.  He currently is completing a book on Scripture due to be available in the Spring of 2012. 

Representative scholarly and popular publications:

  • “A World of Riches,” in Reformation 21 (April 2011).
  • “Rescuing the Church from the Arms of Digital Deity,” in Equip (May 2010).
  • “The First and Last Son: Sonship in Pauline Soteriology,” in Resurrection and Eschatology: Essays in Honor Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Presbyterian & Reformed, 2008).
  • „?????? ? ????????” (“The Bible and Tradition”), in ????????????: ??????? ? ?????????? ????????? (New Bulgarian University, 2007).
  • “Review of The Binding of God: Calvin’s Role in the Development of Covenant Theology” by Peter A. Lillback, Trinity Theological Journal, Fall 2002. 

Dr. Garner’s education includes the following degrees: B.S., University of North Carolina (1987); Th.M, Dallas Theological Seminary (1992); Ph.D., Westminster Theological Seminary (2002). 

Dr. Garner and his wife have six (6) children, ages 7-19.