Who We Are
Engaging Islam is the training ministry of Horizons International, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to proclaim the gospel, disciple the nations, and equip the Church to do the same. Find out more at HorizonsInternational.org
Our Philosophy of Ministry
Click to find out more about our 4 core values - A New Testament Model:
1. LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL
2. NATIONAL CHURCH
3. BOLDNESS & RADICAL FAITH
4. ORGANISM OVER ORGANIZATION
Our Teaching Staff
Georges Houssney
Founder and President, Horizons International
Georges Houssney was raised in the predominantly Muslim city of Tripoli, Lebanon. He came to faith in Jesus Christ as a teenager. Soon God grew a deep love for Muslims in his heart, and he began to sense God’s call for full-time service among them.
Well-known for his work supervising the translation and publication of the Bible into clear modern Arabic, Georges and his family moved from the Middle East to the United States in 1982 to minister to international students.
Georges is passionate about reaching internationals here and abroad with the great news of salvation. He writes and lectures internationally about ministry to Muslims, and he strives to awaken a new generation who will proclaim the gospel boldly.
André Houssney
Lead Trainer, Horizons International
André was born in Beirut, Lebanon during that country's civil war between multiple sects of Muslims and Christians. The son of a Lebanese father and an American mother, André was raised with an understanding of the complexities of cross-cultural communication.
After studying Ethnomusicology at the University of Colorado, André has been involved in efforts to assist national churches develop worship music in their own language and musical style.
His ministry teaching and training with Horizons International has taken him to over 40 countries including four years spent ministering in his native Lebanon. Andre and his Thai-American wife Vanee have three boys; Elias, Silas and Ezra.
Andre is also working on agricultural and business projects to establish the viability of the national churches and their missions programs. These Fair Trade businesses like Zambeezi and The Zambian Soap Company create funds to support native missionaries to Muslim regions.
Barbara Yandell
Founder, Hope for the Nations
Barbara Yandell is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America. She teaches and speaks internationally and calls both Austin, Texas and Holland, Michigan home. She attended Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Christian Education and holds a Masters of Divinity. Barbara is working on a doctorate to mobilize the Church for evangelism to Muslims.
She is founder of Hope for the Nations, a college missions fellowship birthed by the Christian college revivals of 1996. She started Legacy, an annual conference to reclaim the legacy of Samuel Zwemer the first modern missionary to the Arab World and himself the product of another college revival – the Student Volunteer Movement. She is writing a book entitled "Where Waters Once Flowed" about the Student Volunteer Movement, Samuel Zwemer, and the Hope College revival. She speaks on campuses and is affiliated with Student Volunteer Movement 2.
She teaches with Horizons International, where she just published the Engage Course and book. The Engage Course trains churches, mission organizations, and campuses for evangelism and ministry to Muslim people. Additionally, she teaches Engaging Islam training and supports Horizons' refugee center in Beirut, Lebanon. She also coordinates and teaches Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Classes.
Barbara is an award winning gardener, loves strong black coffee, dinner parties and cooking Italian.
Rev. Ashton Stewart (Tat)
Founder, Talim Ministries
Tat Stewart grew up in Iran, finished his college and seminary education in the USA, pastored a church in New Jersey and returned to Iran to pastor the international church in Tehran until he was forced out by the Khomeini revolution in 1980. Back in Washington D.C., Tat pastored an American congregation and planted an Iranian church. He lives with his wife in Colorado where he directs TALIM, a leadership development ministry among Persian speakers. He travels extensively to Iranian communities around the world preaching and training and mentoring many Iranian Christian leaders.
PierRe Rashad Houssney
MENA Regional Director, Horizons International
Pierre Rashad Houssney is a Lebanese-American who grew up in the context of cross-cultural ministry among Muslims and international students. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Northern Colorado and is fluent in English and Arabic.
He has been in full-time ministry with Horizons International since 2006, and has been an active member of Horizons’ teaching staff and curriculum development team since 2002. Pierre lives in Beirut, Lebanon, with his wife Gigi and their two children. He leads a team of nationals and missionaries who run a center for evangelism and discipleship among Muslims.