Most Christian expats in Gulf can celebrate Christmas

This is a rejoinder to a report by Agence France-Presse I saw in inq7.net today. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, and Kuwait were mentioned as places in the Middle East where Christians can freely practice their faith and enjoy sanctuaries.

However, the article failed to mention the Kingdom of Bahrain where freedom of religion is being enjoyed by everyone for the longest time now. In fact, Bahrain is host to the only Christian cathedral in the Gulf region - the St. Christopher's Cathedral. There are huge Christian churches here. We can even pray before meals anywhere. We can even pray for intercession in public places. People of different religions respect each other in Bahrain.

In fact, our church, the National Evangelical Church will be celebrating its centennial in January, 2006 - a testament to the openness and greatness of this tiny island kingdom which has long been the beacon of tolerance, pluralism and religious freedom in this part of the world.

Merry Christmas to all Christians in the world especially those in the Middle East and Season's greetings to our non-Christian brethren!