May

Oct 20, 2023 by LMAsia

Churches in Gulf Cooperation Council Region

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is comprised of six oil-rich countries: Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Until 2019, we had 21 cities with Lord’s table meeting every Friday morning. That was until the global pandemic started. The global pandemic brought major disruption to the entire world. Our saints were not spared: many lost their jobs, families were sent back to their home countries, some got sick, and a few lost their lives. An aggravating situation is the “Saudization” campaign in KSA to replace expatriate positions with local people. Consequently, we had lost the church meetings in six cities: one city in UAE and five cities in KSA.

However, the remaining 15 local churches are firm and even stronger in their faith and function, despite all the challenges they’d been through. During the years of isolation, the remaining 15 churches continued on with virtual meetings and conferences. To keep the supply of the ministry, we had the GCC Distance Perfecting Training (DPT) for two years. In this weekly online training, 101 serving saints registered. Those who gained much from the training became the faithful channels of supply to the churches during the period of “spiritual drought”.

Outwardly, the situation in the GCC Region is evolving rapidly in many aspects: economic, political, religious, social, etc., leading to the liberalization of cultural and legal systems. One can only conclude that, behind the scene, there is truly a throne that rules over the universe that made all things possible for His purpose. For instance:

(1) For some years now, it is no longer a taboo for travelers to carry their own Bible or spiritual books to GCC.

(2) There is also more tolerance now in conducting Christian meetings at home, as long as there are no reports complaining about being disturbed by the gatherings.

(3) Bahrain no longer places any restrictions on or require a permit for hotels to host Christian gatherings. Christians can openly practice their beliefs without worrying about getting discovered by the police. In reality, brethren from the denominational group erected their meeting halls in a specific location in Manama, and the Bahrain government even acknowledged it.

(4) In UAE, there are regular flights from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv, Israel and vice versa. Thus far, there has been no report of hostility.

(5) In Dubai, we observed that during the Ramadan fasting time there were designated places for foreigners to take meals during the day. In the past, that would have been met with serious discipline for insulting their culture.

(6) The success of Dubai in evolving into a primary tourist destination and a major commercial hub has become the inspiration and envy of the region.

(7) KSA has announced their Vision 2030 to become the final tourism destination in the Middle East, with all their natural and cultural tourist attractions waiting to be uncovered. Thus, to attract tourists from developed countries, they have started restructuring their governance and practices to liberalize what otherwise were outdated rules and ordinances.

(8) Women are no longer required to wear the Abaya (black gown) in public places. Women may now drive cars.

(9) The partition wall between men and women in all restaurants are no longer observed.

(10) Workers of certain status holding GCC residence ID can now enter KSA, or any other GCC country without pre-approved visa.

(11) For business investors, the governments launched the “Golden Visa” that allows five years of stay and multiple entries to GCC.

These changes can be viewed in two aspects. On the positive side, we trust that these changes would liberalize the conservative culture and environment that hinder the spreading of Christian faith among the Arab people. This also implies that our prayers for the gospel to reach the local people is getting answered. It may take more time, but we will be patient until the door of the gospel is fully opened into the heart of the local people.

On the other hand, some of these changes could also become snares that disrupt the normal church life of the saints. The churches need to overcome the effects of these advancements, particularly the strong enticement of worldly living and entertainment, for the saints to remain sanctified and to continue living the kingdom life until the gospel is preached even unto the farthest part of the earth.

Despite all the worldly conundrums and attacks of the enemy, the divine life continues to progress. In the end, we were awed by how wonderfully the Lord has been carrying out His work among His faithful ones. These are the shining testimony of Jesus in this vast and adverse region of the earth. Throughout all the difficult times, He has blessed the churches with the overcoming ones.He is the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands. Amen.

Bahrain

The Bahrain saints have previously been met and shepherded by KSA saints who had to cross the border. But there was a breakthrough this year because KSA opened its border, giving the Bahrain saints the chance to attend the special meetings in KSA (local perfecting meeting & FAC). A one-year visa allows the visitors to travel and have the opportunity to visit places in Saudi Arabia. Some Bahrain saints had taken advantage of this to visit Riyadh, the capital city of KSA, after the conference.

KSA

The Fellowship Among the Churches (FAC) was held on April 21-23, 2023. The message was taken from the Spring ITERO: “Knowing, Experiencing and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life”. During the last afternoon, the brothers shared with the saints concerning the direction of the Lord’s move today, which was taken from “The Eldership and the God-ordained Way”, message 2. A total of 99 adults and 12 children attended the conference. Five saints connected online. The conference was very supplying and perfecting. In every session, the saints were very released in their spirit. The prophesying times were filled with warm responses from the saints. Even the new ones and the invited ones gave their testimony and sharing that uplifted the atmosphere of the conference.

UAE

National Blending Conference was held on April 14, 2023. The main topic of the conference was “Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming”. After three years of isolation, the saints were all longing to meet up again in person. The air of excitement was high throughout the day. The attendance was up at 242 (221 adults + 21 children). Many new saints have been added to the church despite the pandemic. The burden among the sisters was to start the children’s meeting soon to prepare the coming generation.