Debora and Jonathan Merheb grew up in Lebanon, where their parents pastored Family of Faith Church. As pastor’s children, the duo received complex questions about their Christian faith from Muslims, atheists, agnostics and other Christians.

The siblings credit these encounters with inspiring them to dig into Scripture and science to find answers to others’ spiritual questions.  

Debora, now a nursing junior at Oral Roberts University, and her brother Jonathan, an engineering senior, were born in Bangladesh. In 2006, the family moved to Baabda, Lebanon, where they founded Family of Faith Lebanon.

Jonathan and Debora Merheb led the youth group at the church before they moved to ORU.

“We learned a lot about the importance of discipleship, the importance of relationships, and actually sitting down and answering people’s questions,” said Debora.

Debora and Jonathan discovered ORU while visiting family friends in the United States. Jonathan enrolled in 2019, and Debora followed a year later. The more they learn about science, the more the duo finds evidence of God in the world, they said.

“I love learning, and he loves science,” said Debora. “Over the years, I’ve grown understanding about how faith is aligned with science and how it’s normal to have questions. There are actually answers to our questions if we’re willing to look for them.”

Their passion for biblical literacy inspired the pair to create a podcast called “What We Believe” that tackles questions about Christianity with answers found in both the Bible and science. Debora and Jonathan designed the podcast for Christians who want to deepen their knowledge of faith and unbelievers who have questions about Christianity.

“Asking questions is not something you should be afraid of because God has answers to your questions,” said Jonathan.

The first episode of the podcast went up in May 2021. Eight subsequent episodes in the first series aired throughout the year. They answered questions like “Why does God allow evil to exist?” “How can you believe in an invisible God?” and “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Jonathan and Debora answer Biblical questions based on research, but they are upfront with the audience that they incorporate their opinions in their answers.

They are currently working on a second series of podcasts, which will be uploaded this summer. The upcoming episodes include interviews with ORU professors who are experts in chemistry, physics, evolution and physiology.

Viewers can submit questions for the pair to answer on the podcasts by messaging the @whatwebelieveofficial Instagram account.

You can view previously released episodes at @whatwebelieveoffical on Instagram, YouTube and @whatwebelieve on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.