Ghattas, a native of Egypt, was a nuclear engineer in the United States before joining the Southern Baptist ministry....
This Christian biography gives an account of the life of Raouf Ghattas.
Arabic Baptist fights confusion, grasps evangelism
MURFREESBORO — The cadence of Sanaa Shehata’s prayer quickens as it goes on, her Arabic words foreign to some in Arabic Baptist Church’s pews, but her rising enthusiasm and volume obvious to all.
The English translation, transmitted through an earpiece, more reflects the church’s rural Tennessee setting — measured, quiet, delivered in a Southern drawl.
But white or Arab, English-speakers or not, members of the congregation have the same mission: Evangelizing Middle Tennessee’s Muslims in a language many of them understand.
It’s what prompted Pastor Raouf Ghattas and his wife, Carol, to put off retirement five years ago and instead start visiting area churches, explaining Islam and leading strategy sessions on how to reach its practitioners.
He held services in living rooms, eventually sharing space with Grace Baptist Church near Murfreesboro’s southern city limits. It sits next door to Murfreesboro’s Islamic Center and made news