Raouf ghattas biography

Editor’s note: This article was edited after its initial publication.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Raouf W. Ghattas, a Tennessee Baptist pastor known for his work in reaching Muslims with the Gospel, died Nov.

25 of an apparent heart attack at his home in Murfreesboro. He was 69.

Ghattas was noted for his love of Muslims and his desire to educate others about Islamic culture and sharing the Gospel with Muslims. He was pastor of Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, a congregation he helped establish in 2011 with his wife Carol.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Evangelical Presbyterian family, he received a degree from Cairo University and immigrated to the United States in 1976.

He worked for 12 years as a nuclear engineer.

God called him to pastor the Arabic Mission of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, where he served from 1985-1990 while earning a master of divinity and a doctor of ministry in Muslim evangelism from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.