Qatar is country which has been in the news lately because it has sent planes to work with NATO on their mission in Libya, and because they have recently been chosen to host the World Cup Football event in 2022. Qatar borders on Saudi Arabia and is situated on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. It is a little larger than the island of Hawaii or about half the size of Wales in the UK. Thanks to its abundant supply of oil and gas the Qataris themselves have one of the highest gross incomes per capita in the world. This sounds good until one realises that only 30% of the population in Qatar are actually Qataris, the rest are migrant labourers from places like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Iran, and they are normally far from being well off. Some of them are, in fact, extremely poor. People in this group have many religious backgrounds and about 10% are Christians. 99.99% of Qataris are Muslim and are easily recognisable because the men are mostly clothed in white garments whilst the woman, often with their faces veiled, dress almost exclusively in black. The countryside itself is a large expanse of flat, bare desert with only a few desert plants and herds of camels surviving there. The capital city of Doha is fairly big and features a modern harbour filled with expensive yachts and bordered by an impressive boulevard. Their old oriental market, known as a soeq, is also an interesting attraction as are the camel rides and places where one can drive 4X4 vehicles along precariously sliding dunes! Once out of Doha there are few inhabited places other than the five towns built in the desert to cater for workers from nearby oil or gas drilling projects. These are inhospitable places with just bare sand and grit with a scattering of desert plants between houses. Qatar was a Christian country but all traces of Christianity were swept away by the coming of Islam. It was only in 2003 that freedom to chose one's religion became lawful in Qatar, and at the same time Muslims were forbidden by law to change their religion. The emir confined the Christians to a place called Christian City where, under state control, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglican, Lutheran and Coptic Christians, are allowed to build churches. In this protected place, which discourages fanatics from other religions from disrupting services in any way, Christians come from far and wide to attend church on Fridays, Saturdays and in the evenings. At Easter the people stand in long queues as they wait patiently to enter the busy churches. Under the auspices of the Anglican church, various evangelical denominations have sprung up to cater for the different people groups. During the Easter weekend of 2011 Mattheus van der Steen and I visited a Full Gospel congregation which was started by two families in 2008 and now has 320 members. There are 12 different nationalities represented in this group and whilst the majority are Indonesians, Chinese, Filipinoes, Ghanaians, Kenyans and Nigerians are also valued members. Preaching is done in English, the second official language in Qatar, although translations are available for those who do not have a good command of the English language. We held our meetings in Christian City and two other places where the government had given permission for the Full Gospel Church to meet. We taught them about the Kingdom of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare and prayer. We were very touched by this groups dependence on each other as all were far from their homes and families and in need of encouragement from each other. We encouraged them to develop a vision on how to reach out to other groups, including migrant labourers. The two main points we covered were how the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Power (1 Corinthians 4:20 says "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" NIV). This greatly touched those who had become discouraged and lukewarm, and even people who felt they could not go any further spiritually were re energized by the Holy Spirit and inspired to continue. Many young people were powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit and encouraged to become all that God has called them to be. The second point in our preaching which really stood out was that God has a vision and plan for Qatar and this is not the time for the Christians in the country to sit back and vegetate. They need to know what God's plan is and to develop a vision to work towards helping Him achieve it. Matthew 24:14 and Joel 2:28 are particularly relevant here. "I will pour out my Spirit on all people","And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations". Yes..even in Qatar! Both Mattheus and I look back on our time in Qatar with joy and are extremely grateful for the hospitality and love we received from the precious brothers and sisters we met there, many of whom had to make personal sacrifices in order to accommodate us. We carry them in our hearts and hope to see as many of them as possible when we visit Indonesia in a few months time.

Willem J. Ouweneel, translated version from Dutch