Babel On

Dr. Mike Hyde, optometrist from The Woodlands, Texas, came to Dubai last week to minister at Sonapur labor camp. Mike is an incredible testimony of God's grace. Since his pursuit of following Christ last November, Mike discovered/received a new talent - the gift of song writing. He has written 18 songs since last November!

Make it 19. He forwarded me his latest work today and with his permission, I've posted it for you below. I haven't heard the tune yet but the lyrics - summing up his experience in Dubai - are stunning. The song title is an obvious play on words. Dubai is trying to build the world's tallest building, The Burj Dubai - dubbed by many as the modern day Tower of Babylon. By the way, the picture below shows the structure now 109 stories tall. Projected height is about 160 stories but the exact height has not been unveiled yet. Projected completion date is Fall 2008.

Thanks Mike! Keep using your gifts bro!




Babel On

The wise man built on solid rock but this nation rose from shifting sand
Through sweat and blood, mire and mud, the towers climb on backs of man
The poorest poor pay the price but no one stops to count the cost
The lonely cries from Sonapor that mourns for hope that’s all but lost

Chorus:
Pierce this shroud of darkness in the burning sand as we
Babel on, Babel on
Lead us to deliverance in this foreign land as we
Babel on, Babel on
The clock is winding down now it’s the final stand as we
Babel on, Babel on
Reach down in this place and touch the broken soul of man, why do we
Babel on, Babel on?

Covered in a thick veneer, religion’s the façade
We worship at the temple bank, our Money is our God
Amusement parks and tennis stars, they’re golfing in the sand
So once again were gathered here to test the strength of man
Were from every corner of the globe to execute the plan
To build the Tower Babel, to the heavens now it stands
But we’ve become slave drivers and abusing “lesser men”
We’ve got one hand in a pot of gold and a whip in the other hand

Wading through the Sea of Humanity as one by one the tide brings in more
Arabic, Hendi, Telegu, from Africa to the Far East too
They wash up here on desperation’s shore
Tucked outside the City, work camps out of sight,
People seen but never heard or learning of their plight
With a landfill on the left, a cemetery on the right
Treat them like trash throughout the day, and bury bodies here at night

Praying for "Lift"-off

My friend Kevin was back in town last week to nurture the Dubai Camps for Christ movement started earlier this year. (See link in the right-most column on this page.) Suffice it to say, momentum is building.

It appears that Jesus is breaking the break of His Word shared with one Telagu-speaking (Indian) congregation at one labor camp and is multiplying it - giving it to other workers to feed to other people groups and at other camps!

Here's an example of what I mean...

While Kevin was here, he led a “Train the Trainer” event for 30 people interested in replicating this discipleship ministry at other labor camps and among other language groups. One couple in attendance was an Egyptian couple. They told me of a group of Egyptian believers the husband has been working with for a few months. They asked if I wanted to meet them and explore the possibly of initiating a similar bible-storying track among this group. We went the next night.

We walked into the dimly-lit, one-room villa last about 9 p.m. These Egyptian brothers were expecting us and were eager to talk. All of them have been in Dubai less than a year and came here to work for a “lift” (elevator) company. Most of these men left young families back in Egypt. I was saddened by their basic living conditions: 15 men sharing a very small room and sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. But I was encouraged by their heart-felt sharing. They spoke of their loneliness and their struggle to live the Christian life in this land.

God led me to share with them the parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25 – five were prepared with enough oil for their lamps when the bridegroom returned, five were not. We talked about what it means to be ready for Jesus’ return – our lamps full of oil (walking in the Spirit) and being found doing what he asked us to do. We talked about Jesus’ last words to his disciples – the mandate to make disciples of all nations. We prayed. God broke into our meeting as the men cried out to Him in surrender.

Tomorrow night, I will meet with these Egyptian brothers again. I want to express to them what God has put on my heart over the last week. My goal is simply to equip and mobilize them to make disciples. Should they agree to work with me, I will commit to meet with them every week for the next 3 to 4 months. They have potential to share God's love with people I could never reach. There are tens of thousands of Egyptians in Dubai. And of course, they are much closer in culture to our priority target group.

If all goes well tomorrow, we will begin the next week by teaching them a story track on some of the prophets (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, etc.). Then we will focus our study on the life of Christ.

Studying this prophet story track will accomplish two objectives: 1) it will build them up in their knowledge of God and His Word and 2) it will allow them to build bridges with friends with whom they share these stories.

If you are reading this, we need you to pray for us. We need your church to pray for us. A church planting movement “lift”-off among our people group will not happen without MUCH prayer and FERVENT prayer from God’s people. Thank you in advance for your partnership in the Gospel through prayer.