Christians in Qatar appeal for prayers

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Doha, Qatar

Christians in Qatar are requesting prayer for the current diplomatic crisis their country is in. A growing number of Arab countries has cut all ties with Qatar. The future for Qatar and its hundreds of thousands of migrant workers – tens of thousands of those being Christian believers – is unclear.

The charity Open Doors has spoken with several Christians living in Qatar. All of them asked for prayer for the developing situation. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, and other smaller states have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for Islamist groups. “Let's just pray this problem will not escalate further… that they will be able to settle their differences,” one believer, a Christian from an Asian country, said.

Up until now, the diplomatic crisis has not been the biggest problem for the Christians. “Life goes on, almost as normal,” another Christian leader puts it. “For us believers, life is same as last week, but please do pray for our safety. There are crowds in the supermarkets because people are scared and are buying food to stock.”

This leader points out that there have been special prayer gatherings by Christians to intercede for the leaders in Qatar and its neighbouring countries. “Because of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for the Muslims, most of the companies have cut the working hours by 50 percent. Also, Christian workers only have to work half days, so they have more time go to Church and to pray.”

Another believer asked for prayers to be focused on peace and calmness. This believer asked for prayer that pride would not stand in the way of resolution. In essence, that God’s will be done in the situation.

An Open Doors worker expresses the hope that something good will come from this crisis: “Many Christians in Qatar already live with strict limitations in expressing their faith, and extra pressure on them is not what we want. But hopefully the current media attention on Qatar will spark people to pray for the country and the people living and working there.”

Qatar is number 20 on the Open Doors World Watch list a ranking of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Read more about Open Doors here: www.opendoorsuk.org

Read earlier report from our archives - ICN 1 January 2003 Qatar: First church in 14 centuries to open in time for Holy Week www.indcatholicnews.com/news/6101