Christo L. Ayoub

Christo Ayoub was born on December 26, 1925 to Latif and Matil Ayoub in the Achrafieh, a Christian neighborhood in Beirut, Lebanon not far from where his wife Laura was born. He was an only child to parents of limited means and his mom, a well-known seamstress in Lebanon, quickly fell into poor health and could no longer carry on the large operation she had been running. This forced Christo to leave school at age 15 and become the main provider for the family. However, those early years of schooling that he had received at the famous College de la Sagesse Catholic school were enough to awaken in him a love for literature, art, poetry, and writing. In fact a teacher at this school, once told young Christo that he had the spirit of Gibran Khalil Gibran, Lebanon’s greatest poet (and himself a graduate of that same school). In addition, God had blessed Christo with other more practical talents such as a head for numbers and great organizational and time-management skills. No one would have known it back then, but God had a plan all along to use these talents to enable Christo to live a life of fruitful Christian service as a businessman, Bible teacher, church elder, missionary, poet, composer, writer, husband, father, and grandfather over the next 80 years of his life. The turning point that brought Christo to Christ happened around the same time that he ended his schooling. Up to that point, Christo had been a very well-behaved, obedient son raised in the Greek Orthodox church who had no concern about his eternal destiny. Then, one day, he saw a sudden and shocking transformation in his uncle – from a tough, temperamental man to a gentle-God fearing one. The transformation happened during one single night that his uncle spent reading the Bible. This convinced Christo that the Bible had a special power and caused him to start reading it which led him to ultimately realize that his righteousness was not enough to get him to heaven and that he needed to put his faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and to accept him as his personal Lord and Savior in order to be saved. Immediately after receiving Christ, Christo had a great concern for the unsaved and, as he looked at the faces of people walking the streets, he would ask himself “who will tell them how to be saved?”. So he immediately began writing evangelistic tracts and distributing them on the streets of Beirut and that set the pattern for the rest of his life. At age 16, he began work in a textile factory and eventually became the general manager responsible for all technical aspects, purchasing, payroll, HR, and every other detail of the plant including the design and construction of a new plant when the business outgrew the original one. While in that position, he led weekly Bible studies with the workers and witnessed to the plant owner through a “verse of the day” that he would drop off daily at the owner’s desk. He worked in that plant for 36 years until civil war erupted in Lebanon in 1975. On July 6, 1957, Christo married Laura Nassar, whom he had known since childhood. A year after their marriage, they welcomed their first daughter, Amal, and three years later they welcomed Mona. Their son, Mounir, and youngest daughter, Carol, followed. As with all other roles, Christo sought to fulfill the roles of husband and father with all diligence, love, and faithfulness to God. So despite his modest income from the factory, Christo gave his children all the opportunities he could provide for them – from making homelife comfortable with enough dolls and toys, to filling the house with his music, giving the kids music lessons, sending them to top schools, faithfully teaching them God’s word, and above all making sure they knew they were unconditionally loved. God blessed Christo and Laura’s marriage greatly and gave them 64 happy years together. While raising a family and working at the textile plant, Christo’s heart was on serving the Lord and he always had a special concern and love for young believers. So, Christo started a youth group in his local church which he led until the beginning of the war. During those years, Christo engaged the young men both in serious study of God’s word and through various creative means such as Bible competitions, the performance of plays he wrote based on Bible stories, and outings and field trips he took the men on throughout the country. In 1972, while leading the youth group, the Lord led Christo to begin writing a small magazine for the young men in his class. He called it “Remember Your Creator” and I’m sure he had no idea how far-reaching this small beginning would be later in his life and ministry. Three years later, in 1975, his life and that of his nation changed completely as a vicious civil war erupted that would last 16 years. Through many miraculous events, this led Christo to take a big leap of faith and bring his family to America with very little money in his pockets and almost no acquaintances to come to. At this point, Christo prayed to the Lord that 36 years of secular work was enough and that he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to Christian ministry. The Lord answered immediately through an opportunity at the ministry of “Open Doors with Brother Andrew” to work as a liaison between the ministry and persecuted churches in the Middle East. In this capacity he went on several tours of Middle East churches to assess their needs and bring the information back to the ministry which then helped them receive resources and support. Through this ministry, Christo was able to obtain permanent residency status in the US but soon after, the ministry moved their focus away from the Middle East, so in 1982, Christo began asking the Lord again to let him know what He would have him do next. Through prayer and the encouragement of his former boss at Open Doors, God made it clear to Christo that He wanted him to start a Christian publication to reach Arabic-speaking people in North America with the Word of God. So, he resumed publication of “Remember Your Creator” but this time on a larger scale and for a much broader audience and including sections in both Arabic and English. The Lord blessed this ministry tremendously as what started as a small magazine sent out to hundreds of addresses free of charge, eventually became a 60-page magazine sent out to nearly 15,000 addresses in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Christo never spent any time and effort on fund-raising as he firmly believed that, as long as God wanted the ministry to continue, He would provide the needed funds and the Lord did exactly that until the last issue (No. 105), was published in April, 2022. The driving force in Christo’s life was to always be doing the Lord’s work faithfully and to always be “redeeming the time because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). So, he always worked for his ministry with urgency and zeal. His happiest times were sitting at his desk with pen and paper in hand, transcribing the thoughts the Lord was giving him into clear prose or poetry that would engage the readers’ minds with the pure milk of the Word of God. The legacy Christo left behind both in written material and in the hearts of his family, friends, and readers is tremendous. In addition to the 105 issues of “Remember Your Creator”, Christo has left us a book of his poetry and music which he titled “A Bouquet of Lebanese Poetry Based on the Holy Bible.” It is filled with poetry and songs (along with the musical scores) on a variety of topics that he used as divisions in the book. His Arabic song “I’m Going to Heaven,” which he wrote as a teenager shortly after being born again, grew in popularity all over the Middle East over the years and new covers of the song were still being posted on social media in 2022. In addition to his magazine ministry, books, and hymns, for years Christo published evangelist columns in several local Arabic newspapers, put on evangelistic TV spots on local Arabic stations, held a weekly Arabic Bible study for local Arab speakers, and was an elder at an English-speaking church in Fullerton, California. Through all his accomplishments, Christo’s focus was never on himself. He set his eyes upon his love for the Lord and his duty to help others come to Christ. Every visit with someone began or ended with the truth of the Gospel and the importance of serving the Lord while we are still on this Earth. No matter what condemnation he may have faced or persecution, his concern for people’s eternal destiny overcame any hesitation or fear of rejection. This is something he also passed on to his children and grandchildren and in Christo’s final days before being called home to be with his Lord, he was fervently praying and encouraging his loved ones to serve the Lord and win souls for Christ. Christo is survived by his two daughters Amal Boland and Carol Sfeir, his daughter Mona and her husband Kamil Antonios and their three children Christine, Joseph, and Caitlin and Christo’s son Mounir and his wife Antoinette and their children Christopher, Ryan and Matthew. Through God’s fixed promise, we have full confidence we will be with Christo again someday as he reunites with his beloved Laura and enjoys the presence of his Lord and Savior in Heaven for eternity.

Tributes

Christo L. Ayoub

December 26, 1925 - December 9, 2022