The Arabian Peninsula Partnership
The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples
25 July, 2011
Special Week of Prayer for Qatar
Praise
This week an international prayer movement is focusing prayer on one of the key countries in the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar. We would ask that you take extra time this week to pray for Qatar. We encourage you to set aside a day to pray and fast as part of an international community focusing on Qatar.
You can visit the website at: http://www.pray4muslimpeoples.org/
Praise
Qatar's expatriate Christian community has land on which to build churches in Qatar. There will be Catholic facility, Anglican and Protestant buildings. Pray that this will enable greater unity, effective discipling of believers and sensitive sharing of faith.
Prayer
The affluence of Qatari families means nannies and other servants are in these homes. Many of them are Christians from Asian countries, influencing, particularly the little ones with their Christian values and worldview. These kids are raised on Bible stories and songs through the persistent witness of believing nannies. Pray for these nannies and other servants to be bold for His name.Due to the large expatriate community in Qatar, churches meet in homes and other buildings every week for prayer and Bible studies. Some expatriates became Christians while working in Qatar, while others found new depth in their faith while living in the Islamic world. Pray that many of these believers who are living in Qatar would grow to be bold witnesses to the Glory of God.
The expatriate churches in the country were quick to meet the needs of the poor in the labour camps. Cheap labour from Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are involved with the many building projects, but many of them remained poor. Compassionate Christians reached out to them in a variety of projects. "I became a believer in Jesus due to the church's outreach to me in my labour camp. My family back home knows I am a Christian now," smiled a Nepali labourer.Pray for the poor in Qatar, pray also for the Qatari people - very rich, but still in need of Jesus.
Testimony
"I had to earn the right to speak before I could share my testimony with my Qatari counterparts," explained the Christian engineer regarding the long process of making friends in the Arab culture. "Once they trusted me and saw that I live what I believe, they were curious enough to ask questions about my faith. They witnessed my work ethics in the office and were quick to point out that my life looked so different from some of the other foreigners they met." Living and working as Christian professionals in the Arab world will always be a living testimony to the life changing difference that Jesus makes to one's life. Pray for those living in the professional workforce to be bold for the Lord, to stand for His Kingdom.