*ARCHIVED OCTOBER 2007 // CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT DATA
Kuwait (click here to view a satellite map)
Kuwait, Arabian Peninsula
Population: 2,335,648
Christians: 8% (mostly expatriates)
Dominant Religion: Sunni Islam
Persecution Ranking: 41st
Political Leader: Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad
Religious Freedom in Constitution: Yes
Although Kuwait's constitution states Islam as the official religion, it does also grant freedom of religion. In practice, there are four Christian groups, including the Roman Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Anglican and National Evangelical (Protestant) that are allowed to operate compounds officially designated as churches. These facilities are well-used, with worship services beginning at 7am on Fridays and continuing until midnight. The National Evangelical Church alone has 54 congregations worshipping there in 27 different languages. The government restricts the number of ordained and lay staff that Christian groups can have. Requests for permission to buy additional land and enlarge the over-stretched facilities are ignored. An amazing two-thirds of the population--roughly 1.7 million of the 2.7 million--are expatriate migrants, many of them working in domestic service and unskilled labour positions. Amongst these are numerous Christians. The few national Kuwaiti Believers are descendents of Christians from what are now Jordan, Lebanon and Syria who moved to Kuwait prior to the establishment of the modern nation state. In the future, Kuwait may be more open to the rest of the world. An indication of this was the 2004 decision to alter the requirement for visitors from the nations of Australia, Canada, EU and USA to obtain advanced visas.
Prayer Points
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Pray that visas will be granted to more expatriate pastors and lay church staff to care for the expatriate Christians in the country. |
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Pray for the approval of extensions to Christian compounds. |
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Pray for effective leadership and teaching for Christians of all language groups. |
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Pray that expatriate Christians will be a source of health and well-being to their Kuwaiti employers as the expatriate servant girl was to army commander Naaman in 2 Kings 5. |
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Pray that those who choose to follow Christ would know the peace, joy and strength of Jesus Christ when harassed by their families. |
Dear God Almighty, we thank You for the land of Kuwait. Uphold Your Church in this nation, provide leadership and teaching for the Christians from many countries and languages. Grant the churches favor in the eyes of the authorities that more requests for visas for pastors would be granted, and building permits given for expanded facilities. Protect the Christians as they are serving you in this land. Amen. |
