EBCI

Our church in Dubai, Emirates Baptist Church International, has been around for a little over 10 years. We started going there in 1998 when it was less than a year old, meeting in a villa. God grew the church and worked in the landlords heart. He also moved tenants in and out of the adjoining villa (like a duplex) so that when He grew us, we just knocked down the common wall and moved into 2 villas. Of course, this meant that the pastor had a support column right in front of the podium but one gets use to things like that in Dubai. Traffic chaos occured when a semi mega mall was built across the street from the villa. We looked at it as if we had our own parking garage, movie stage and starbucks. Safety was a MAJOR prayer request on AWANA evenings.

There are laws governing renters and rentees, but no one really knows what they are for sure. One rumored law is that a landlord cannot kick out a tenant unless he is going to do major rennovation or needs the villa for a family member. They are not suppose to raise the rent more than 5% every other year. There are many loopholes in the law. Rents have more than doubled in the 5 years we've been here this time, so it wasn't surprising to learn that our landlord wanted to do major rennovation. We were in need of a new home. We had grown soooo much, we were in need of a new home anyway. Religious communities are not allowed to meet in schools - at least that's the rumor. However, some schools don't fall under the Ministry of Education, so we can rent from them. Al Noor school for special needs kids warmly opened their arms to us. It's a win win situation for all of us. We have a place to worship, and they get income. The unpacking setting up, taking down, packing.....reminds me of the early days at Fellowship of the Woodlands. Mind you, I didn't attend there then but have heard the stories which I'm sure are true, not rumors.

I'm not sure how many nationalities attend our church. One Friday, Pastor Dan did an unofficial survey and counted more than 15 different first languages spoken by attendees. The congregation has changed significantly over the past years. Newcomers came from all over the US and we would try to guess which state they were from. (Texas usually won). Now, we try to guess which country people are from. They come from all over the world. It's truly amazing.

Here are a few pictures from a recent service at our new location.

Praise and Worship team....

the somewhat hidden worship band...

the gym is full....

a close up.