Last night, Cindy and I attended a special dinner at the Atlantis hotel (on the Palm Islands) here in Dubai. The dinner was hosted by the Jebel Ali Churches Council, and the purpose of the event was to honor and give thanks for the rulers of Dubai who allow Christians to worship here. Sheikh Mohammed, the current ruler of Dubai, graciously granted land in 2000 (in a part of town called Jebel Ali) where churches could be built. His predecessor, Sheikh Rashid, made a similar grant years earlier in another part of town, and actually laid the cornerstone of one of the buildings there. I'm not sure exactly how many churches exist in these two church complexes (20+), but I do know that there are a variety of churches represented, including evangelical, Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic churches [There are other churches that are part of the church council that meet outside the church complexes as well - including the one that Cindy and I attend, Redeemer Church of Dubai - which is presently meeting in a ballroom at the JW Marriott - http://www.redeemerdubai.com/]. You can find services held in a host of languages as well - English, Arabic, Tagalog, Spanish, Hindi,...and others.
Last night, there were about 200 people in attendance at the dinner, which included a handful of members of the Dubai royal family, members of the UAE National government, and members of the Dubai Ruler's Court. Most of the attendees were pastors, church leaders, and other church members. The Emirati dignitaries were presented gifts of appreciation, a few people made brief speeches, and then we had dinner. The program for the evening, and a couple of pictures appear below.
Let us know if you have questions or comments.
Last night, there were about 200 people in attendance at the dinner, which included a handful of members of the Dubai royal family, members of the UAE National government, and members of the Dubai Ruler's Court. Most of the attendees were pastors, church leaders, and other church members. The Emirati dignitaries were presented gifts of appreciation, a few people made brief speeches, and then we had dinner. The program for the evening, and a couple of pictures appear below.
Let us know if you have questions or comments.
Interesting that they limit the speeches to 5 minutes apiece. Did everyone stick to the timetable?
ReplyDeleteFor the most part everyone stuck to the timetable. This was one of those events where you have a lot of people who need to make it up to the podium, but there's really no "keynote" or "person of honor" who gets the bulk of the time. So I would say that everybody did their part to get us to dinner as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteArgh! You had to wait to all the "preachin'" had been preached until the dinner....at 8:50?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what on earth does one give to Emirati dignitaries as a token of appreciation? Scented Candles? A Mercedes?
BTW: Linda Miller and I are leading the Priscilla Shirer study on Jonah right now. I noticed that you, too, will be studying him at your church.