Today’s main events included walking around the suk (local shopping area), attending the church board meeting, and witnessing ministry in the labor camp.
Peter Kapinga took me around the local suk, as he speaks Arabic and knows the history. It was delightful array of sights, sounds, and smells. Most of the products are imported, so there won’t be many local crafts to take back. But I found the people all very nice to be around. Peter’s explanation of the history and customs was fascinating. He also showed me several different community centers and mosques, explaining the differences between each one.
We walked all the way to the coast, where Bahrain’s new financial district is booming. All the land you see in the pictures was claimed from the sea. In fact, virtually all of Bahrain’s building programs are on land pushed out into the sea. I said, “Looks like what the Netherlands did.” Peter replied, “The Dutch have won the building contract.” Alas, but I saw no windmills or tulips.
In the evening, I attended the first part of the church board meeting (can’t get away from consistory meetings on sabbatical!). The church leaders were all very kind and gracious to me, and we shared a little about how each of our congregation’s do leadership.Pictured in the back row is a young man, named Raj. He is the associate pastor and a passionate servant of the Lord. He is not ordained, but the church would love him to get seminary training. They are exploring several options, but all are quite costly. Maybe it would be a gift of Trinity to help fund his education, or for some individual to help. He also would like any theological books we could send him, or CD-ROM based theological libraries.
Raj is in charge of outreach. Outreach here consists of sending teams to visit in the hospital, prisons, and labor camps. All of the hospitals welcome visitors to go room to room and ask the patients if they want visitors and prayers. Since many patients are from other countries and have no family here, they have many needs, which the teams try to help with.
Following the board meeting, Raj took me to one of the many “labor camps,” where imported workers live. These men are lured here to work on roads and buildings, but are often given substandard care and little income. I met with five men who share one room (about 12x12). In it are all their living quarters. It is unimaginable.
The English Language Congregation has several teams that go out and care for some of the men. Recently they purchased gas stoves for them to cook on and several used refrigerators to store food. It was heart-breaking to see such conditions. Worse still was the hopelessness in their eyes.
But one of the impressive joys of the ministry being done in Bahrain is the true nature of the shepherding care these leaders have for their people and their work.
