A Lutheran in the desert

Greetings all. I posted in the "other regions" folder but have gotten zip response there. Since I am a Lutheran I thought I'd drop a line here and see if I get any response.

I may take a job in Dubai, UAE shortly, but in the research I've done there does not appear to be any sort of Lutheran fellowship in Dubai, at least that I can find. There are two Anglican churches that the ELCA is affiliated with in some way or another, but none of the straight stuff.

So on the one hand, I can see a huge oportunity to work with other Lutherans there to create a church home, especially with the giant expat community there, but on the other hand, I fear the difficulty of living my life without being able to go to church on Sunday morning.

Is anyone on this forum a Lutheran in Dubai, or does anyone know any Lutherans in Dubai? If so, how do they worship and where? Do they find their faith fortified, or weakened?

A bit of factual background on myself: I've attended both the LCMS and the ELCA, liking certain aspects of each of them. I would be comfortable affiliating myself with either one. I have a girlfriend who just moved to Dubai to teach who I miss dearly. What the future has in store in that regard is an open question, but the job is out there to be had if I want to take it.

Thanks in advance,

Archigeek

Well FriarTuck, that's half the problem. It's a long story, but I'll try to give it to you in a nut shell.

It's always about love isn't it? I have a girlfriend who moved there, (to Dubai). She however isn't a Christian, but is otherwise wonderfully supportive of me in whatever I pursue, including my religion, but she's a world traveler and has taken a job there in pursuit of her love of exploring the world.

With a true feeling that if you love someone you must let them pursue their dreams, I have encouraged her to do so, knowing that without doing so we surely would have self-destructed, but by doing so it might also mean the end.

So now she has been there since August and I just got back from a visit and there is a ton of work oportunity there in my field, so the option to move there is possible. There are many other issues that I won't get into because they aren't particularly germaine to the question, but here's what is:

I prayed. And I prayed and I prayed. And the other night a thought came to me, from God or just a thought I don't know, but it was a sense of peace accompanied by the knowledge that the answer was in church. Simple enough eh?

At first I took that to mean that it was way past time for me to start a church life again, (while of strong faith I haven't been a member anywhere in 5 years). So the thought was that yes, I knew I would find comfort in church and I should walk the two blocks down the street here in St Paul where I live, and join the church I was fairly comfortable with. But after that, since I was up and still jet lagged and it was 3am and I couldn't sleep... I started web surfing looking for jobs in Dubai, and gradually moved to surfing for a church in Dubai. There isn't much as I said earlier.

Then it dawned on me that one of the reasons I hadn't had a church home in five years was because my prior one had been a mission church and the experience was very rewarding, while all the established churches here in Lutherland were by comparison well, dull. They have little that I could see in terms of mission while I was looking, at least in comparison to the mission church. So now I'm thinking that perhaps it was God calling me to go to Dubai and start a church there. But I don't know. You would think that if God were to call you there would be no doubt about it, but here I was with a strong feeling and a sense of peace. It could have just been the comfort of recognizing and accepting that I really just needed to join a church and that I would find further comfort there... or it could have been God telling me to get off my butt and move to Dubai on his behalf, but would God send me to my agnostic girlfriend halfway around the world on the pretense of being his servant there? Seems a little wacky doesn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if the answers were always crystal clear?

So the irony of your quote, "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am there," is dark, as I would in large part be there in pursuit of an agnostic girlfriend. But does God want me there? There is a huge expatriot community there, roughly 80% of the population, and it is woefully underserved as far as I can tell, yet starting a church in an islamic state can't be an easy task. You basically have to get permission from the ruler and you build on land that is his. But there are several churches. Two Anglican, at least one Catholic, and at least one non-denominational. It would be tough for sure, but as you said, "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am there."

Needless to say I'm troubled... and praying more. And thank you for your response.

After speaking with friends who had attended an Anglican church for a year or so in England I'm fairly comforted to hear that they are fairly similar services.

All that said, it's still at best a 50/50 chance I'll move to Dubai. If I do, I'll most likely go to the Anglican Church.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Peace.