Reaching the Nations in Middle Tennessee feat. Fady Al-Hagal

In this episode, Mike Glenn sits down with Fady Al-Hagal to explore the unique landscape of church planting in Middle Tennessee, where ethnic diversity is rapidly growing. They dive into the reality that 1 in 13 people in Middle TN were born outside the United States, highlighting how the world has truly come to our doorstep. Mike and Fady discuss practical ways churches can intentionally engage with these international communities, sharing the gospel in meaningful and culturally relevant ways. Tune in to learn how your church can make a difference in reaching the nations right here in Middle Tennessee.

• Transcript

  Mike Glenn: Hi, I'm Mike Glenn, and I am the president of the Engage Church Network. Today we're gonna be talking about planting churches, especially ethnic plants within Middle Tennessee. You may not understand this, there's about 90 different languages spoken in the Middle Tennessee area, and that doesn't include hill- hillbilly.

  So he- helping us think through this today is, uh, Fadi Al Hajjab. How'd I do? You did good. I did, I did all right? You did good. You did close. Yeah. So, you know, being from Alabama- ... that's a tough one. Uh, Fadi and I have worked together for years. He serves on the staff of Brentwood Baptist Church in the area of church planting.

  Uh, but because of his background and his life experience, has a real deep heart understanding, and has built a lot of bridges in the ethnic communities of the greater Middle Tennessee area. So that's, that's what I thought it'd be kind of fun for us to talk about. Fadi, [00:01:00] uh, uh, kind of give them the, uh, the, the 50,000 f- foot flyover of Fadi's life and how you-

  ended up here in Middle Tennessee. Yeah, yeah. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Thank you for having me, uh, Pastor. I, I'm from Damascus, Syria, uh, a well-known nation for many, many, uh- ... things. But, but the one we wanna focus on today is our Christian history. I grew up as a, an Eastern Orthodox in Damascus, Syria. I was around Christian history.

  I was around the story of Christ. But I've never had that story to become my story. Uh, by divine design, I was able to arrive to the United States as a student to a little town called Martin, Tennessee, northwest of, uh, here, and, uh, in mid-'80s. And through the ministry of a small Baptist church and the Baptist Collegiate Ministries- Mm-hmm

  I was introduced to a relationship with Jesus Christ, not just the religious aspect of, of knowing Christ, and gave my [00:02:00] life to the Lord October 30th, 1984. Uh, surrendered to ministry, but went into the executive business, worked with Holiday Inn Hotels for a while. Right. And then, uh, a few years down the road, uh, my wife and I made the decision to surrender to full-time ministry.

  Uh, and, uh, we began our ministry in Northwest Tennessee in Martin. I pastored there for 22 years before I transitioned back to Middle Tennessee, where my wife is from. Mm-hmm. And, uh, through a series of events, I got connected with Brentwood Baptist Church, and, uh, remembering meeting with you the first time I got here when, uh, you, uh, you were inquiring about what I'm doing.

  Uh, at that time when I arrived back to Nashville, 2015, I was working for an organization called World Relief. Mm-hmm. Uh, it's a ministry that welcomes internationals into the Middle Tennessee area [00:03:00] and helps them settle. Also, the other element of that ministry was to connect the international world with the local church.

  So there is a, a bridging that goes on so the church can have an opportunity to, uh, share the gospel with the international community, and also to eventually lead to ministry planting and church planting- Mm-hmm ... in Middle Tennessee. I came to be on your staff at Brentwood in 2018, and since then I've had the assignment of planting and, and revitalizing churches through Brentwood among the national churches and the international churches, yeah.

  Mike Glenn: A- and other jobs as assigned by Pastor, huh? Yes. And, uh, just whatever else we need you to do. Yes, and anything else you want me to do. I'm not sure most of our friends listening would understand, uh, the, the The opportunity among- Yes ... the different nationalities- Yes ... and ethnic backgrounds in Middle Tennessee.

  Yes. So talk a little bit about [00:04:00] h- how, how diverse Middle Tennessee actually is. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Yeah, yeah. One out of, uh, one out of 13 people living in Middle Tennessee, which now a population of 2.2 million people, one out of 13 people was born outside of the United States. Mm. And Middle Tennessee is becoming more diversified- Right

  even more so. In the next 20 years, we're expecting to be having a ratio of one out of eight people living in Middle Tennessee was born outside of the United States. So it's almost, 

  Mike Glenn: that's almost doubling. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: And it's almost gonna double up, yeah, the numbers. Yeah. The, the beauty of it is the, the, the opportunity to do ministry among the internationals is plenteous.

  Mm-hmm. Right now, we have over 300 and probably 50,000 internationals just within the Nashville proper, uh, area. Right. And not even including the, the way outskirts part of, of Middle Tennessee. And those, uh, 350,000 people, which I think it's an [00:05:00] underestimated number- Mm-hmm ... uh, they come from over, as you have mentioned, over really over 51 nations, uh, over 91 people groups, over 145 different languages.

  145 now? Languages. 

  Mike Glenn: So my number- That are spoken ... my number's a little 

  Fady Al-Hagal: old now, huh? That are spoken, 'cause some nations may have different tribes- Right ... that speaks different dialects. Uh, the, the unreached people groups or the unreached, uh, nations that we think are just a prime spot for church planting in Middle Tennessee is over 31 of these nations.

  So if you have 50 to 51 nations in Middle Tennessee- Mm-hmm ... uh, over 30 to 31 of those are considered unreached, which m- which means 2% or less of their populations in Middle Tennessee identify as evangelical believers in Christ. As a, an example nation would be, uh, the South [00:06:00] Asians from India- Mm-hmm ... uh, folks from Bhutan, Nepal, uh, Pakistan, uh, now Afghanistan, uh, uh, the Middle East, not including the Coptic, uh, element or- Right

  conglomerate from Egypt. You have a large number of unreached peop- even in my opinion, even the Hispanics, uh, for me, would be considered unreached because no more than 5 to 10% of them identify as evangelical believers, and there's close to 200,000, uh, folks who speak Spanish- In our region. Mm-hmm. In Middle Tennessee region.

  Yeah. 

  Mike Glenn: And one of the challenges, uh, you know, the- Yeah ... this kind of thing that, that, uh, I found out working with you- Yeah ... is saying Hispanic- Yeah ... isn't saying a whole lot. Yeah. I, I, I mean- Yeah ... Mexicans are different from- Yeah ... El Salvadorans. Yeah. And El Salvadoran are different from- Yeah ... Nicaraguans. Yeah.

  So you have to pay attention to all of the subcultures- Yeah ... within that [00:07:00] huge- Yeah. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: You've always said, you've always said the mission has come to us. Right. The world has come to us. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and I believe today that is more true than ever. Now, again, when you talk about Spanish language, you're right.

  Um, you have people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different classes- Mm-hmm ... as they identify themselves. We don't like that- Right ... terminology, but that's how they identify themselves. Different levels of education. For example, with the Latino world, there are three levels of engagements with our Spanish-speaking people.

  You have those who don't speak English well at all, and that's the larger number of our Spanish folks that are here, and they tend to migrate to ethnic churches that are solely Spanish-speaking. Then you have those who have been here for a while. Their English is okay. However, their children are in schools, so instead

  So they don't have a big gap, uh, to keep the gap from growing bigger- Right ... between mom and dad and the children. And, uh, they attend, um, [00:08:00] kind of a church that may be, uh ... that may speak English but still do some Spanish- Spanish mass ... activities. And then you've got the highly educated Spanish folks that are basically saying, "I want to be part of the culture.

  I'm gonna attend an English-speaking- Mm-hmm ... uh, congregation and, and, and kind of, and, and enjoy melting and assimilating well into the culture." I honestly think there are several things churches need to do to, to understand how to plant ministries and churches among the international world, uh, world at large.

  Mm-hmm. Some things we need to do internally, some things we need to do externally. Okay. And we can address that, uh, if you'd like for me to do that. Yes. 

  Mike Glenn: Okay. But I ... You know, my, my next question is, okay, now, you know, I'm, I'm gonna paint with a big brush just to- Yeah ... just be clear here. Yeah. I, I am a Southern Baptist Church- Yeah

  at the corner of First and Main. Yeah. Um, multi-generational. Uh, we love singing our [00:09:00] hymns. Yeah. We love a good sermon. Yeah. Totally unaware- Yeah ... that around us in the community- We have in- an international community. Yep. What do we do- Yep ... next? 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Yep. Yep. And, uh, and, and there are several stages that I think are key as preparatory steps- Mm-hmm

  to begin our actual ministries among the people groups. Uh, the first one is, is readiness. I think, uh, uh, pastors, ministry leaders, it's incumbent upon us to really get our people ready to understand that God has brought the nations. Mm-hmm. That means we go do simple activities in partnership with existing networks, whether it be nonprofits or ministries that are wor- already working with the internationals.

  I call that a, a, a readiness stage, where it's an exposure stage. Now you come among, let's say, the Afghan pe- folks- Mm-hmm ... that have arrived in here. Now you're aware that they do [00:10:00] exist. They have certain habits, cer- certain cultural things, and your people are just getting ready to understand that culture.

  So there's readiness. And that, that stage needs to be aggressive. Otherwise, our people will think, "Well, I'm just gonna do this, this thing once- Right ... and then I'm out of it." So it needs to be consistent. The second stage, I think, that are important as part of our readiness is education Take time to do workshops, to educate the people that are interested in doing international missions locally.

  Mm-hmm. And take time to really learn the cultures. Study them. Study languages. Study, uh, their social habits. Study their challenges in here. What can they do by themselves? What cannot, what they can't do? Right. That way we can build relationships with them and be that agent that helps them not only assimilate socially, but eventually build a relationship that we can get them to assimilate spiritually- Right

  into the Kingdom of God. So readiness means exposure, it means education, [00:11:00] and thirdly, equipping. Equip our people on how to present the gospel to each one of these people groups. Mm-hmm. Because there is differences. Right. Uh, for example, you would, y- because the majority of our Latino world come from a Catholic background, you can share gospel stories with them- Mm-hmm

  and, uh, get them ready. Uh, and but if, but if you come into a world, let's say a Hindu world- Right ... or a Muslim world- Mm-hmm ... uh, you probably not only share a story, but you would want to identify Christ, who He is- Mm-hmm ... His, His person, His character, His work, and that's very important. Why? Because in that world, they're tied to wh- whom they call gods or a god.

  Mm-hmm. So i- it's a focus on a person, when the Spanish world focuses on the stories of the gospel. Right. Right. It's like what the Apostle Paul did in Thessalonica at the synagogue. He knew that the Jews are in need of [00:12:00] tracing- Is this is Christ in this sight That's right, in this sight. Yeah But when he went to Athens, he knew that these are worshiping just stone gods- Right

  and he, he took a completely different approach. So first of all, readiness, which involves these three stages, exposure, education, and equipping. The second thing we need to do is really find out in each one of these people groups, and that, those surveys are available. Mm-hmm. That, that knowledge is available- Right

  uh, through the, uh, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board or through Brentwood Baptist, which does a lot of 

  Mike Glenn: research. We, we- Brentwood does a lot of it. Um, any of your chamber of commerces- That's right ... would, would have it. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Yeah. You'll know, you'll know how many of each people group identify as believers. We also have traced and are able to tell, uh, where, uh, are the churches- Mm-hmm

  among each been- each one of these people groups. We can talk to pastors. We can talk to believers from each people group and build relationship with these, uh, entities that are [00:13:00] existing among these people groups and begin, uh, a plan, creating a plan. So stage number two, now that we've equipped our people, is to literally make room within our mission strategy- Mm-hmm

  to really build relationship with believers, let's say, from people who've come from, uh, uh, uh, from, from Palestine or Jordan- Right ... or Egypt. And, and say, "You know, what are the needs? How do we enter that community? And how do we begin to establish gospel posts?" 

  Mike Glenn: Right. How do we, how do we begin the conversation?

  Yes, sir. And l- let's, let's, uh, before- Yeah ... you move past this, let's double-click on this. Yeah. Uh, you said the mission strategy. Yeah. One of the things that, that I'm discovering, and, and, and that we've talked about it in the past, is pastors- Yeah ... can no longer see themselves as chaplains of the status quo.

  Yeah. We're, we're not keepers of the Christian [00:14:00] tradition anymore. Right. We are now missionaries in our own community. Right. And we have to think the same way that a missionary would think who is going to a different country. Yes. You know, when I was growing up, the, the, the hero status of Southern Baptists were the international missionaries, and if you gave your life to Christ, and you were going to a different country or something like that.

  Uh, and it, n- n- there were all the stories about how you had to learn the different languages, and had, you had to learn the different culture. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Sure. 

  Mike Glenn: Now, there are a lot of countries that literally will not let a missionary in. Yeah. People have to go in as doctors or businesspeople or th- Right ... and can't identify- Right

  as a Christian going in. Yeah. Those same nations now are sending their friend- their, their children to be educated here, to be trained here. Right, right. And God is bringing all of those people to our very front door. Exactly. Uh, and, and we have [00:15:00] an incredible chance to reach them, but we have got to stop thinking- Yep

  like we are chaplains of the status quo- Yep ... and understand that the mission field literally is out just the other side of the front door. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: It is. I mean, I, I, it really is. And, uh, there is not a place you go to today, a marketplace, an educational place, um, a, a, you know, a public square, that you will not see that diversity.

  Mm-hmm. And specifically with the second, uh, generation. Right. So you have a, like for example, right now the population, the South Asian population that have come to us from India, which works in the medical and the IT industry- Right ... in middle Tennessee, the average age of the folks that are here is anywhere between 25 to 40, which means you have a generation highly equipped, uh, educationally.

  Their English is sufficient. Mm-hmm. Their ability to adjust is very well. Mm-hmm. They're, they are a [00:16:00] wonderful target with the gospel. Mm-hmm. Now, what we need to do is to, uh, do what you're saying. Be aware, number one. Make room to grow in our learning- Mm-hmm ... to carry on a gospel conversation. And really, what's important for us to is step into it.

  Yeah. Yeah. Not eventually. Mm-hmm. Not eventually. Not just an event, but like you said, if I am in, in India, let's say, I'm gonna have to melt into the culture, assimilate. Mm-hmm. We're gonna have to do the same thing in here. They're not far from us. They're f- let's say, in Franklin, and so I melt into the culture as if I'm a mish- missionary there.

  Mm-hmm. There's been some folks who literally here in middle Tennessee Have sold their houses and have gone and bought houses among the people they're trying- Right ... to minister to. Mm-hmm. Now, that is, um, a change of mindset. Mm-hmm. And I, and I agree with you. You've always said that we need to come out from the pulpit, and we need to get into the, the social structure.

  [00:17:00] Right. Get, get among the people. Mm-hmm. And I think it starts with the pulpit. Um, and, and, and it b- And then it moves forward down to the staff. You're imparting a mindset. You cannot impart what you don't have. Right. 

  Mike Glenn: Right. And so, yeah. And, and, and it's simple things. Yeah. Uh, uh, like, uh, going to a partic- becoming a regular at a particular restaurant.

  Yes. Yes. Uh, you know, I had a friend introduce me to some Korean barbecue. Yes. I, I'm a big fan of Korean barbecue now. Right. So, but now we want to start going back- Yes ... so that they know who I am, and we have the opportunity for conversations- Yes ... just because I'm now seen as a friend of this restaurant.

  Yes. Uh, and it's having those stories to tell, uh, in the middle of, of, of a sermon instead of telling the same Baptist preacher joke that we've, we've cycled down through the ... Have one say, "Hey, I got gas, and I met a young [00:18:00] man from ... " And not being surprised that you have met someone. That's right. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: And there's grocery stores- Yeah

  you can go to that are internationals. Yeah. There are clothing stores you can go to. There's ... I mean, you can create a missionary world- Exactly ... and let your faith activate. Exactly. Yes. And start doing that. I just came from, uh, at lunchtime, I was at Chick-fil-A, and right next to me, there was a Hindu couple sitting and having, uh, a lunchtime, uh, and it was a wonderful, easy conversation- Right

  to carry on. And, uh, now, I did the same thing about two weeks ago with a couple of young couples who were in one of the apartment complexes where one, one of my children lives there. Mm-hmm. And we sat down and talked for a long time. 

  Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: And, uh, I told them what I do. They were not surprised that I come from a ministry backward, background, and, uh, and they just wanna connect.

  Yeah. So, I mean, it, yeah- They are very lonesome ... it's there. Yeah, just lonesome. Yes, they 

  Mike Glenn: are. Yeah, you know. [00:19:00] Yes, they are. Uh, the, um, uh, the thing that has surprised me, uh, is how eager they are to tell you their story. Yeah. how they got here. Yep. Because there are some heroic stories. Yep. Uh, you know, families that, that left everything and walked across mountains and- That's right

  and, uh, a- and, and as I tell people, y- you're gonna love meeting these people because- Yep ... you know, when they got to America, somebody said, "Where do you wanna live?" And they said, "Nashville." Yeah. Yep. So, so you have that in common with them- Yep ... because both of you chose to live in one of the great cities in the United States.

  Fady Al-Hagal: Yep. And, you know, when they come to the United States, um, they find peace, they find freedom, they find opportunity, they find something they've been longing for. The human nature- Right ... longs for value. Mm-hmm. They find it. They find belonging. And, uh, and, and, and, [00:20:00] a- and, and here are four or five reasons of why people don't come to church, uh, even from other nations.

  Mm-hmm. Number one, and none of these reasons have anything to do with Jesus Christ. None of them have anything to do with God. None of them. So which means that you literally are sitting, uh, you know, they- they're just waiting. Here are the reasons. Number one, nobody invites me. Nobody asks them. Number two, um, nobody wants to know who I am.

  Mm-hmm. So if you're in the grocery store and you notice somebody is confused about what to do, how much to pay, step into that. Mm-hmm. It's a God thing. So nobody wants to know who I am. Number three, I don't know how- Mm-hmm ... to connect- Yeah ... with, with things. So I mean, these are simple reasons. And, uh, and, and on and on and on.

  And so you've got s- and none of them have to do with the Lord Jesus. Mm-hmm. I mean, it just, it's an amazing thing. I mean, even our own generations, our children, the Millennials and, and [00:21:00] others are saying, "I would come to church, but just nobody's invited me." Yeah, "Nobody's invited me," or when I 

  Mike Glenn: show up, nobody- Nobody connects with me

  makes me feel, feel at home. Nobody. It's the same, same kind of thing. It's the same thing. Same reasons that you and I wouldn't go- It's the same thing ... if we didn't have, uh, the connections that we have. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: When I came to the United States, I was alone as a student, um, in a small town, and it was the interest of a small town church pastor who looked at me and decided, "Hey, can I take you to coffee?

  Hey, uh, what are you doing next week? Hey, would you like to come and go with me and my family?" Mm-hmm. "And, uh, we're gonna go fishing. I've never been fishing." So, uh, so he brought me into his world. Yeah. So we think we have to go into their world. Yeah. Uh, did you know that 50% of internationals will come to Christ faster- If you bring them into your world, rather than saying- Let's bring

  "They're over [00:22:00] there, let's do a- Yeah, let- let- let's go over there. Yeah ... an, an, an event there." Because they're here, and they're wanting to belong. They wanna, yeah They wanna feel- Wanna be part of the ride ... they wanna feel safe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And churches, this is part of our education and preparation, understanding culture, understanding human longing.

  Mm-hmm. And then when we discover that, m- we'll step into that because it's natural. Building relationships are natural things that needs to happen. Yeah. 

  Mike Glenn: All right. Let's wrap this thing up. Yeah. I'm pastor of a church. Yeah. What are the two or three things you want to be sure to say to me? 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Yes. The first thing I would say, uh, seek out entities that can educate you and your people about the presence of the international world- Mm-hmm

  and people from other states that have arrived into Middle Tennessee- Right ... that are seeking- Mm-hmm ... for God and after God, number one. Number two, assign a team of your own church to really take interest in doing some research about some specific people groups, not everybody- Mm-hmm ... but [00:23:00] specific- Right

  people groups. Let's say the Chinese or others. Well, find 

  Mike Glenn: out who's in your community. Yes. That's right. And, and, uh- That's right ... and then, and bait your hook accordingly. Exactly. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: Fi- find out what kind of fish are in the river. That's right. And do research on that- Uh-huh ... people group or that nation. Number three, which is very, very important, find out within your congregation who has an interest in, in, in, in building relationship with the, with, with the, with the ethnic groups that are within- Yeah

  your community- All right. Key point ... because those people are there. Key point. 

  Mike Glenn: Key point. Yes. Because most pastors, when they g- hear this, they're gonna say, "I've already got too much to do." You're saying, I'm backing this up- Yeah ... that if this is something the Lord's calling your church to do- Yes ... the pastor's not the only person he's talking to.

  Exactly. He's sh- he's putting that burden on, on other people's- Exactly. Exactly. So- ... uh, heart. And, and, and when you name it, then they'll step- Exactly ... forward into it. 

  Fady Al-Hagal: So, uh, the [00:24:00] general view, wh- who are, you know, uh, the internationals that are here or the ethnic folks. Number two, who are the nations in, within your community?

  Right. And then find out who has a specific interest to reach the folks, the, this people group. Mm-hmm. And then equip them, resource them to go and build relationships there, do missional activities, invite them to your church, and then begin a preparation process to create what we call a gospel life groups.

  Mm-hmm. Invite them into learning the stories. So the steps are from general to more specific within the community- Mm-hmm ... to more specific within the church. Now you bring it to the house. It may not start in a church house. No. It may start in your house. 

  Mike Glenn: Around the kitchen table. Yeah. S- so invite 

  Fady Al-Hagal: them into your house for fellowship, for story, for learning.

  From there- Equip the people that are ministering there with gospel conversation. Equip them with the ability to communicate very effectively with those that are- Mm-hmm ... accepting the invitation, [00:25:00] and then you will watch the Holy Spirit draw people to himself. Those folks that will accept the Lord become your agents from within that ethnic group, your agents and ambassadors- Because and that's what it is within your group

  to go back to their people and help you establish a church plant. A- a- and, 

  Mike Glenn: and, you know, and, and in it all, let, this, this is a God thing. It is. So prayer has to be- It is ... on top of and underneath it, on each side- It is ... uh, for God to call out the people in your congregation- Yes ... for God to give you favor with the gatekeepers- Yes

  of these various communities. Yes. And, um- 

  Fady Al-Hagal: And I'll share a live story with you- Okay ... if you'd like, very quickly. When the Afghan folks started arriving here three years ago because our troops left- Right ... Afghanistan, they came in under trauma, under heartache, under pain. Uh, our church reached out to several people that are working with the Afghans, and then we have assigned some folks to go and kind of minister to them and meet their needs- Mm-hmm

  and on [00:26:00] and on and on. One of the things that we did is we, we had a Christmas party for Afghan families that have never known Christ or known what Christmas is all about. We had that in o- in a church here in Middle Tennessee. There was over 100 folks, Muslim folks- Mm ... who have never had a Christmas, and when they saw a tree, we had it in early December.

  Mm-hmm. They said, "Why can't we have a tree in our house?" So eight of the families- ... had a Christmas tree- Tree ... in their h- for the first time. Yeah. Now, after Christmas, two of these families got engaged, were invited to the p- to people's house that, that have ministered to them. Mm-hmm. They were engaged in gospel conversation and Bible study and stories, and many of them have given their life to the Lord Jesus.

  That's right. And now they are agents among their own people. They, right. It's those steps that we're 

  Mike Glenn: talking about. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, and it's nothing extraordinarily hard. Nothing, no. It's just a very natural- No ... kind of things to do. Listen, we will have Fadi's, uh, [00:27:00] contact information in the notes attached to this video, uh, if you wanna reach out and spend some more time getting, getting the insight from Fadi.

  He is a wealth of information, and as you can tell, a man of great passion for reaching the internationals in the Middle Tennessee area. Yes. Now, like I tell you all the time, the reason we wanna focus on the Middle Tennessee area is all of the great opportunities that we have just down the street from us.

  So you be engaged with us, and we'll look for you on the journey. I am Mike Glenn. This is the Engaged Church Network. Thanks for being part of this podcast.