Arabic Ministry Expands Reach and Leadership Capacity

ReFrame Ministries' Arabic language ministry is reaching an important milestone as work continues toward the creation of Today daily devotional written in Arabic.

The Today devotional celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2025, and is a cornerstone of ReFame’s English language ministry. Starting as Our Family Altar, the print booklet was launched in 1950  as a way to meet the needs of listeners of the Back to God Hour radio program who wanted to know more about the Bible and grow in their faith. More recently, the devotional is known as Today and is distributed in print to 250,000 people worldwide, as well as online and in audio versions. Producing Today in Arabic is the latest effort to expand this important ministry's reach even further. 

The ReFrame ministry team has been working with Arabic audiences through a partnership with Christians in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt. The first Arabic-language project included translating the well-loved English devotional Seeking God's Face, and producing a corresponding mobile app to support devotional readers. 

As part of its ministry, the team is intentionally working not only with formal Arabic, but also with commonly spoken "street language," recognizing that many readers connect more easily with Scripture when it reflects the language they use in daily life. This approach aims to make Scripture more accessible while remaining faithful to the gospel message.

During a recent visit to ministry partners in Egypt, ReFrame Ministries Director Rev. Kurt Selles observed encouraging progress on the Today translation effort. The work reflects years of preparation and growing capacity within the Arabic ministry team.

An additional milestone for the Arabic ministry is the recent move of Rev. Youssef Adel Hanna into a full-time role with ReFrame Ministries. This transition marks a significant step forward for a ministry that has been steadily developing over many years and seeks to proclaim Christ to seekers in Cairo and the larger Arabic-speaking body of Christ in 22 countries where Arabic is spoken.

"Both the progress on Today and the move to full-time leadership reflect long-term faithfulness," Selles said. "These are developments we have been working toward for a long time, and they position the ministry well for continued growth and sustainability."

Together, these developments highlight ReFrame's ongoing commitment to strengthening global ministry through trusted leadership and thoughtful approaches to sharing Scripture in ways that are both accessible and culturally meaningful.