The British newspaper The Guardian published a report saying that evangelical Christianity is quietly thriving among foreign workers in the Arab Gulf states, where churches provide assistance to low-paid workers who “face horrific abuse in times of crisis.”
Evangelical Christianity is quietly thriving among foreign workers in the Arab Gulf states, as churches provide assistance to low-wage workers who "face horrific abuse in times of crisis".
About 30 million foreign workers live in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman, and they constitute an economic powerhouse that transforms the oil-based Gulf states into the glamorous cities of the twenty-first century.
According to the Guardian, expatriate foreign workers constitute the majority of the population, while 80% of them work in construction, hospitals and domestic service.
The newspaper says that it conducted interviews with priests and church members in the six Gulf countries, and found that immigrants, including Hindus and Catholics, are turning to the Protestant Pentecostal sect, which is considered one of the most widespread religious sects in the world with about 600 million believers.
According to the Guardian, many have joined the Pentecostal churches, to obtain material and spiritual support, because the church "focuses on people's needs, health and wealth, as well as the afterlife."
Reverend John, who requested that his pseudonym be published for fear of knowing from Gulf governments that suspect Christian religious movements and that proselytizing is illegal in them, said his church helps migrant workers who face exploitation, financial hardship, domestic slavery and sexual assault.
“Rape is a common problem in the whole domestic service industry,” John said. “It's not just females, males come to us for help because they are raped."
Pentecostal churches tend to attract people from different ethnic and racial groups whose governments are reluctant to address human rights abuse issues with the Gulf states, for fear of cutting off generous subsidies and lucrative business contracts.
Instead, the spiritual churches became the de facto unions of these workers, their first point of contact.
"If you go to the embassy, they will call your employer and involve the local police," said Reverend John. "This is a frightening situation for the average person. In my experience, most of the brothers who face these challenges are workers, and they are subjected to severe abuse."
Because of the secrecy regarding the conversion to Christianity in the Gulf, it is not possible to know the number of Christians in the region, but church leaders and researchers agree that a large number of foreign workers in the Gulf countries have converted to Christianity.
In Qatar, which employs 2.1 million foreign workers , or 75% of the population, there are a number of Pentecostal churches, but they are secretly housed, according to the Guardian report.
Some converts to Christianity and join this strict Christian sect see themselves as international citizens, which means abandoning their past.
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