2010-Dubai and Pakistan
0By randy in : Foreign Missions // Jul 29 2010
Well, it is now Sunday in Dubai. It is hard to believe that I will be leaving here tomorrow. It has already been a life-changing experience and I haven’t even been to Pakistan yet.
The flight from Savannah to DC was on schedule and uneventful. The flight in DC however was 1 ½ hours late due to ‘Navigation Computer Error.’ That is definitely NOT what you want to hear when flying ½ way around the world. After the first 30 minutes, they announced that the problem was with the data and not the computer. (Not sure that made anyone feel better).
So after whining internally for the first hour about missing a last meal in the airport, and missing one of the best Falcons games ever, I just started praying…I began wondering if there was something wrong with my ‘navigational system.’ I began second-guessing my decision to come on this trip. I know I heard 100 times, ‘are you sure you are called to Pakistan & Dubai?’ After a while of wrestling with that issue in prayer, and seeking the Lord’s direction, we got our clearance to take off. We were told they fixed the problem by removing a software update and reinstalling the old data.
That was my answer.
I knew that I was going to the right place, but I needed to revisit maybe the reason, and the purpose. I needed to go back through my old journals and notes and see if there was something that I had left undone from when I got off track with the ‘tower of Babel’ in Malawi.
The Lord did not reveal much else on the plane, but I had a sense of expectancy of my answer waiting in Dubai.
We landed in Dubai on Friday, Nov 12 around 10pm or so. I was a little concerned about getting money changed and finding a cab that late, but the Lord provided for both. I would eventually find myself in a cab with a Muslim man named Ayub. I sat up front with him, and we began talking. I asked where he was from, and he told me ‘Pakistan.’ So that opened a great door for our conversation. He asked why I was going to Pakistaan, and I told him the Truth…I was going to proclaim Jesus.
Much of our conversation was him trying to bridge the gap between our faiths and find common ground, and then he went to great lengths to proselytize me. So we pulled up at the hotel after about 15 minutes. We then parked there for another 45 minutes. I pulled out my Bible and my copy of the Koran in Arabic & English and we had a good conversation. He will come back to pick me up on Monday taking me back to the airport. Please pray for that conversation & conversion.
Friday I was able to get to bed around 2am here and awoke at 7am & went down to breakfast in the hotel. I had aa meeting scheduled with a local Pastor that is from India. He and one of his church leaders came right on time and we met down stairs in the lobby for coffee & water. After some casual greetings, he asked me to share my heart and vision and how I came to be in Dubai.
So not really sure how much to share, I shared about half of my testimony and story. What blew me away was how when he shared his testimony and burden from the Lord, it was nearly identical and completely complimentary to mine…the half I did not share. Had I shared it before him, I would have wondered if he was just saying those things. I cannot begin to tell you how my spirit leaped within me as this Pastor spoke his heart.
There is not room here for all, but I would like to share a portion with you. Some time ago I received a text from dear brother in the Lord that was sitting at a café in New York City, and he had a vision of that place being one of the great crossroads of the world. What a great place to minister to individuals to get the Gospel to every corner of the world, he text. Well, when researching Dubai, I found that around 17% of the population is indigenous, while a staggering 83% is from other parts of the world. From this one hotel I have shared with a taxi driver from Pakistan, a room attendant from India, a waiter from Egypt, an a grounds employee from Thailand.
Anyway, there has been concerning things as well. I handed over the contact information for Ayub to this Pastor. His Church leader said that he would contact him in a few days, if he did not call him. He said that if Muslim complains about you, it is great trouble for you. So it is best to let them come to you and open the door for a conversation…so…
Also, when I got online to look up more information for Ayub, I found that the search engines were banned from certain phrases like “e r r 0 r + k o r @ n “ I broke up on purpose. There are also multiple apologetics sites I tried opening directly, but they are banned. I get a warning message in Arabic & English about that sort of content. It is truly an unsettling feeling.
Anyway, I have one more Pastor to meet Sunday, then I depart on Monday for Pakistan.
PS…thanks to all of you that have been praying for my diet. The breakfast buffet here is tremendous and there is a food court here in the hotel that has a Subway and McDonalds.
More soon…
About the Author
randy has written 35 articles for Acts 3 Global Ministries.