Langham Live November 2025 with Riad Kassis, interviewed by Cindy Crossley
I have the privilege of interviewing my boss, Riad Kassis, who is the international director for Langham Partnership. And we thought it would just be easier if I took it from the beginning and led us through the evening. So thanks very much for joining us. I hope that you’ll be blessed with what we hear tonight.
Riad, just to get started, you normally live in Lebanon, but that’s not where you are tonight. So do you want to tell us where you are and why?
Yes. Hi, Cindy. Hi, everybody. I’m so happy to see some familiar faces, but also happier to see new faces. So thank you for hosting me and I am really happy to share a few things. Yes. I am now in the United States and Oregon, where our daughter and her husband live. And I’m here because we had our first grandson. He’s now four weeks old. So it has been amazing to see this new cute little creature coming to this world. So thank you. I’m here for a few days, then going back to Lebanon in a few days.
Okay. And you’re able to share Thanksgiving with them today, which is special as well.
Yes. I think my wife is preparing some Lebanese dishes and we are inviting a pastor of the nearby church and his family to join us today. Yeah. Thank you. And I wish a good day for those who are celebrating Thanksgiving. Maybe not many of us.
Lovely. Thank you. Well, you’re celebrating Thanksgiving. We don’t have that here in this country, although as an American, I still celebrate it myself. But we are moving into the Advent season, and so we’d love to hear some thoughts from you, Riad, with an Advent devotional.
Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate this. Allow me, please, to read a few verses from Matthew, chapter 24, verse 1: Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down.”
And as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Of course, I’m sure you know this chapter. And Jesus goes on to say what’s going to happen in that generation. But what really brings me to share this passage with you is that Advent is a season of waiting and watching.
In this passage, in this chapter, verse 4, for instance, Jesus says, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” And then again, in verse 42, he says, “Therefore keep watch, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will come.” And then in verse 45, in addition to asking us to be watching and waiting, he is asking us to be faithful and wise: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?”
So this chapter really is not talking about the end of times, all these imaginative events that will happen. But I think the main point that Jesus is saying to us in this season is that it is a season of watching and waiting. You know, in the Orthodox tradition, in this region, in the Middle East and North Africa, Advent starts on November 15, not on this Sunday, and it goes on to December 24. And it is a fasting season.
Why fasting? Because, according to the Orthodox tradition, it is a time of waiting. It is a time of watching. It is a time of focusing—not on the stones of the amazing temple in Jerusalem, not on our achievement, not on the declaration of Christmas, but it is time to watch and wait.
And you know, for me, being in the Middle East, where things are really unknown in many ways, we keep on hoping, watching, and waiting. And it is really, in verse 36, there is some strange phrase when Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” It is really a surprising phrase that we see here—Jesus, who we think He is knowing everything, but we see Him as not knowing.
So I think as we wait and as we watch, there is an unknown end. Even this unknown end was possible for Jesus. In fact, Origen of Alexandria, the great theologian and one of the Fathers, says that Jesus’ ignorance reflects the reality of His incarnation.
And we, in the Middle East, in fact, we use two phrases to describe Jesus coming down to us. So we use the phrase, which means incarnation. But we also use the phrase in Arabic, which means humanisation. So Jesus didn’t only take a body, but He lived as a human being from the time He was born.
And now, as I watch my grandson that I shared with you that I’m here to see, I cannot avoid seeing Jesus in this baby who is helpless, who is really, who knows nothing. He is just waiting. And maybe this is what we see in Matthew chapter 1, when we read about the genealogy of Jesus and His birth. We see this baby, a helpless baby even. But as we proceed forward, watching, waiting, and expecting what will happen next, we can see Jesus, the Saviour and the Lord. And as we approach the Book of Revelation, we can see Him, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
So finally, what I would like to say is that in this season, sometimes of unknown things, even unknown, we trust as we watch and as we wait, that this is not the end of the story. The story ends in the book of Revelation when Jesus will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So I hope, my sisters and brothers, as we wait for Jesus’ second coming and as we celebrate His first coming, we will remain faithful to our calling and remain wise servants. Amen.
Thank you, Riad. It’s a good reminder, especially for someone who’s very impatient like me. You mentioned what it’s like living in Lebanon. You live in hope. And can you expand on that a bit? What is life like? Because our news has been taken over with Gaza and Israel, and I’m afraid in the UK it’s the budget at the moment, but Lebanon and the situation there has sort of slidden off our screens. So can you tell us what it’s like?
Yes, Cindy, thank you. I am 65 years old in December, and I think I have been maybe at least through four wars in my own country and region. So it’s really sad, the reality of war which is happening in many other places, not just Lebanon; Ukraine is one example, and so on.
In Lebanon, of course, we had a fierce war. Israel is still occupying a big chunk of our land in the south. And even where we live, in Beqaa, very near the borders, we were able to see rockets flying over us all the time, even as I speak today.
In fact, yesterday there was an attack on Beirut, the capital, and on a few villages in the south. It’s really very sad that even some of our evangelical churches in the south have been destroyed, totally destroyed. And many of our sisters and brothers, Christians and non-Christians, had to flee from the south and be internal refugees, you know, displaced people in other countries. Of course, the war is not continuing now, but Israel keeps on shelling and bombing from time to time almost every day. Our economic situation is not at its best and we have deep political divisions.
But even in the midst of this, my wife and I feel that we are called to stay in our country and to serve as much as we can and to be identified with the people who are in our country.
Thank you. Cindy, can you share just a little bit of what Istihar does? What is her ministry there so close to the border?
Ah, yeah. Istihar is my wife. For the last almost 14 years, she has been focusing on serving the refugees—mainly women and teenage girls—by providing education, but also by providing vocational training in at least 10 vocations. So these refugees will be able to be independent and they can even bring money for their families in addition to their education.
Especially, you know, teenage girls in a Muslim setting, they really suffer from early marriage, even at the age of 13 or 14. So a major issue that my wife faces with them is how to work with their parents so they are not forced to get an early marriage.
So this is her ministry. She has a big centre in Beqaa Valley near the borders, and she works with the refugees, but also she works inside with the traumatised children as a result of the recent church bombing that happened a few months ago.
So she has a ministry in both Syria and Lebanon, and she has a big heart for the ministry, particularly she is Christian and because she has a great love for her people.
She does. And she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s an amazing woman.
Yeah, yeah. We say she is a force of nature, unstoppable.
Yeah, she is.
So with those challenges, Riad, does that present problems or issues for you as the international director for Langham? Do you find that there are challenges related to living in Lebanon?
I mean, of course there are the challenges of unstable Internet connection, challenges of being sometimes in danger. We don’t have a functional airport all the time. These are some challenges. But I think if we compare these challenges with me and as international director living in Lebanon, I think the challenges would not be major ones because I think by living in Lebanon, I can feel what our scholars are feeling who are serving God in difficult circumstances in Ukraine.
If I am, you know, I have US Citizenship, so I can easily really move to the US and live anywhere. But so far we feel that being in Lebanon, although with these challenges, it is really important to be identified with those who are living in difficult circumstances. And after all, it is my country where I was born and raised up.
I know when the war was at its worst, I was always thankful to see your face come on the Zoom call and know that you were okay and your Internet was still intact and we could communicate. So God’s been good in that, hasn’t he?
Yes. I mean, I remember vividly that on one of my trips, as our airplane was flying from Beirut airport, we were next to the smoke that came from a rocket that Israel hit near the airport. So we were on the same level, our airplane and the smoke coming out of it. But this is the reality we live in and we, of course, are grateful to God for His protection and grace.
So you’ve now been International Director for nearly two years, haven’t you? And I wonder if you could share with us one or two of the highlights that you see in Langham during your time as International Director. What are a couple of the standout things for you?
But you know, Cindy, it is my relationship with Langham did not start two years ago. No, it didn’t. I am really grateful for Uncle John Stott because he is the one who met me in 1990 a long time ago and he encouraged me to go for my PhD studies at the University of Nottingham.
And during that time at the university, he was very much encouraging me and I really owe him more than what I can express in terms of his influence in my own life and in my ministry globally. So yes, I’m a Langham graduate and as soon as I returned, when I finished my studies, I came back to Lebanon for ministry.
And as you know, I was director of the Scholars program for almost 12 years before I took this position. So I think this is not a position; it is, you know, I feel it is an opportunity for me to serve, to serve the Lord in a more effective way.
Although my background is in theological education and Old Testament studies, I also have a background in economics and leadership development and this has been really good for me as I take on this role.
So, of course, my role is to make sure that things are progressing well according to our mission and vision and we are focused. I really enjoy working with you, Cindy, as my executive assistant as well as with all the team in the UK and in six other countries globally.
Of course, there are sometimes challenges, but I think when we have the goodwill and the passion to serve God, we can overcome any kind of challenges.
Is there a highlight over the last year that you’ve seen within the programs or within the national members that stands out to you?
I think there are many highlights, but if I may mention maybe three of them: For instance, in the Langham Literature Program, we published the 500th book, which was a landmark—an excellent 500 books that would bring a global voice into the global church.
Another highlight is the number of scholars who we are supporting now—over 100—which is the largest number in our history. Women and men doing their PhD that we are supporting in many countries.
Another highlight is what we received recently: that we have 121 preaching movements in 110 countries. This is really amazing. Having preachers being trained in expository preaching to transform the church and to transform societies in 110 countries is really amazing.
But having said this, we try our best to remain a modest and humble organisation. These things are not just happening because of us, but because of God’s grace and because of our partnership and cooperation with other like-minded organisations.
So I think we really need to stay humble and acknowledge that God is at work and not just us. It’s very important.
Thank you. Looking ahead to the future by God’s grace, what are some of the dreams that you have for Langham? What would you like to see happen within Langham or through Langham?
You know, when I first started in my new role as International Director, I really wanted to have a governance review, a review of how can we have the right structure and the right governing body for the organisation in order to sustain us into the future.
So after almost eight months now of doing really a very serious review, we are now at the stage of implementing the recommendations that came out of that review. Of course, we had a very well-known British consultant who helped us through this process. So I think this is really important for our future.
That would be one thing. Another thing, as I think most of you would know, that traditionally we had support from six countries: UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, and more recently we have Netherlands as being added to raise funding for our ministry which is growing.
And I’m hoping that in the coming two years we would have South Korea as well as Indonesia coming to be additional members in our partnership for fundraising purposes, but also to bring an Asian voice into the conversation in Langham.
And finally, we are working on a comprehensive strategic plan that will guide us into the coming five years. Hopefully, by May 2026, our strategy plan would be approved by the International Council of Langham and then we will start implementing it.
So I think these are three major things that occupy my time and will assure us, by God’s grace, that we are on the right track as we go into the future.