LEGACY 2026 SPEAKERS
PLENARY SPEAKERS
GEORGES HOUSSNEY
Teacher and author 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.
RENOD BEJJANI
Renod Bejjani is co-founder of iHOPE Ministries (www.iHOPEministries.org). iHOPE equips believers to boldly reveal Christ across faith. Since 2011, iHOPE has equipped over 180,000 in 180 nations with the courage, confidence, and know-how to cross religious boundaries and extend God’s transformative love. As a child, Renod endured intense persecution as a Christian raised in Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa. He spent decades filled with anger at God and hatred toward Muslims. Today, he’s serving the God he once denied, extending God’s transforming love to the very people he once hated. Renod is the author of “Muslims: 5 Biblical Essentials,” a primer for Christians who are curious or concerned about Muslims, “The Way to Paradise,” a groundbreaking Bible study tailored for Muslim seekers, and the “ETHNOS: Cross the Street, Reach the Nations”, a cross-faith discipleship pathway for churches.
BREAKOUT SPEAKERS
ADAM SIMNOWITZ
Adam Simnowitz is a minister with the Assemblies of God. He and his wife have ministered for over 25 years in Dearborn, Michigan, home to many Arabic-speaking Muslims. Their ministry includes church planting, evangelism, teaching, and writing.
He has taken part in the Legacy Conference since 2006.
BARBARA YANDELL
Barbara Yandell is an ordained minister, teacher, and international speaker. She calls both Austin, Texas, and Holland, Michigan, home. She attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Christian Education and holds a Master of Divinity degree. Barbara is currently working on a doctorate to mobilize the Church for evangelism to Muslims.
She is the founder of Hope for the Nations, a college missions fellowship birthed by the Christian college revivals of 1996. She also started the Legacy conference that aims to reclaim the legacy of Samuel Zwemer, the first modern missionary to the Arab World—himself the product of another college revival: the Student Volunteer Movement.
She helped publish the Engage Muslims with Christ course and workbook. Additionally, Barbara is a supporter of Horizons' refugee center in Beirut, Lebanon, and coordinates and teaches Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes.
DR. CYNTHIA
A retired physician with decades of experience ministering to Muslims, Dr. Cynthia is active in outreach, personal evangelism, discipleship, apologetics, writing, speaking, training, and online ministry.
She has hosted two television series and has been a guest in various media outlets. Dr. Cynthia now hosts www.ChristianfromMuslim.com and YouTube/@ChristianfromMuslim channel, both focused on Muslim evangelism and discipleship. Its free videos range from short answers to a full course of lessons with study guides featuring international experts.
American Ethnic Ministries, which Dr. Cynthia directs, brings the gospel in word and deed to America’s unreached. It pioneered The Path of the Prophets, which is now used around the globe in many languages. The method’s booklets, bracelets, and bilingual dramas put the gospel in a biblical context Muslims understand.
Under a pen name, Dr. Cynthia wrote a well-reviewed book exposing the Quran. Among the awards she has received are an Excellence in Teaching award from a major American university and a Community Physician of the Year award. Former Muslim and bestselling author, the late Nabeel Qureshi, said of her, “Cynthia is one of the most effective evangelists to Muslims I have ever met.”
DR. EZIES EBRAHIM
Dr. Ezies is a passionate evangelist, teacher, discipler, public speaker, and author with a deep love for sharing the gospel and ministering to the broken. A Christian woman from the Middle East/Arabian Gulf, her life is a remarkable testimony to God’s grace, sovereignty, healing, and faithfulness.
She is the author of From Pain into Glorious Hope and is currently working on her second book, written in Arabic, to encourage and equip Arabic-speaking women around the world.
Dr. Ezies writes and records for various media platforms, including the Arabic Christian radio program Bashayer (بشاير), broadcast through the Arabic Broadcast News app. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Cross-Cultural Studies, an M.A. in Biblical Mental Health, and a doctorate as a trauma specialist. With over 36 years of experience, she has helped countless individuals recover from emotional, mental, and sexual trauma.
Her passion is to be a voice for the voiceless and to bring hope to the hopeless through writing, teaching, and media. Dr. Ezies is also a cultural bridge-builder, using her background and insight to advocate between Arabic and American communities.
PAULA PARKER
Paula Parker is the Executive Director of the Association of Christians Ministering among Internationals (ACMI), a nonprofit organization that serves as a network and catalyst for strategic collaboration among Christians who minister to and with international students and scholars. She also represents North America on the Lausanne Movement's global ISM team called WIN. God called Paula to cross-cultural ministry 30 years ago. For the first 16 years she was the Director of International Student Ministry at a large Evangelical Free Church in Southern California. She also served as President of the International Friendship Council of North Orange County. Paula has authored several books and loves to help the Church grow in cross-cultural outreach through teaching, training, speaking, consulting, and prayer. She and her husband David have been married for 37 years and have three grown children, all married, and four grandchildren.