Hossam Garas was born into a Christian family, but he was always skeptical about the story of Jesus. His grandfather was a preacher, but he lived far away, and Hossam didn’t have much contact with him. He walked through his teenage years as a cultural Christian until, at age 18, he began to consider what it would be like to face death. What would happen to him? He sank into a depression and was paralyzed by fear.

“I traveled to visit my grandfather and spent an entire week asking him all about Christianity,” Hossam says. “A few weeks later, when I was alone at home, I opened my Bible to the book of Isaiah and the Lord touched my heart through Isaiah 43:1 — ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’”

Hossam fell to his knees and asked God for forgiveness.

“From that day on, I had a passion to make up for those lost years of my life,” he says. “The Holy Spirit was doing His mighty work in my heart, and I fell more and more in love with Jesus every day.”

As Hossam matured in his faith, he realized he had gifts in teaching and discipleship. In addition to evangelism through apologetics, he has equipped hundreds of other leaders. Because of his salvation at 18, he feels especially called to minister to university students.

“I want to present the Gospel to young people in a biblical way that makes sense to them and is relevant to the dilemma of their existential crisis today,” Hossam says. “But God has always encouraged me that it’s not enough to lead young people to Christ — I have to walk the distance with them until they can become preachers of the Gospel themselves.”

After years of ministry, Hossam has begun to see that vision God gave him come to fruition.

“University students who were newcomers a few years ago have become the group leaders, and some of them are even preaching now,” he says. “Some of our students have even started minor movements in their own colleges.”

Hossam, who completed the Haggai Leader Experience in 2017, also serves through his church and other ministries to engage with people through outreach, apologetics, discipleship programs, theology instruction, and newly married couples’ counseling. He is a staff member of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo and has taught at in-person and online conferences with Haggai’s national ministry in Egypt.

Professionally, Hossam is a materials engineer and co-owns a metallurgical supplies trading agency.

“My participation in the work of God is proof that God is mighty and able, and that His grace is indeed sufficient,” Hossam says. “I never thought of myself as worthy to be one of God’s children in the first place, but He’s deposited a divine impartation of the Spirit in my heart, granting me the honor to be one of His friends.”

Written by Jill Clair Gentry