Historic Prayer Conference in Kuwait
T
he ministry of the Church of God in Kuwait, under
the leadership of Dr. Sushil Mathew, the National
Church of God Overseer, has more than doubled
since 2014. A Bible School has been established and
now has over 25 students. Dr. Tim Hill, Church of God
General Overseer, was the first General Overseer to visit
and minister there.
One would not think of Kuwait, in the heart of Islam, as
a starting place for revival in the Middle East. It is a small
nation about the size of New Jersey with a population of
only 4.2 million people, 70 percent of whom are expatriates.
While the constitution provides for religious freedom;
other laws and policies restrict it, in favor of Islam.
Illegal, underground churches are now flourishing. A legal
compound, the National Evangelical Church of Kuwait
(NECK), provides space for 200 churches of every hue to
gather on Friday, Kuwait’s holy day, and the experience is
like an international festival with Baptist and Methodist,
Orthodox and Pentecostal churches worshipping next
door to one another in two hour segments in more than 60
languages from almost 6 AM until midnight.
Pastor Gerald Golbeck, Senior Pastor of The
Lighthouse Church, and Dr. Mathew invited P. Douglas
Small, International Director of Prayer Ministries for
the Church of God, to visit Kuwait and minister in the
churches there. The
idea
expanded,
and the first ever
Interdenominational
National
Prayer
Conference
for
Church Pastors and
Leaders took place on
March 8. Over 2,000
people attended seven meetings where Dr. Small taught and
encouraged them about intentional, focused prayer for the
6
nations including the need for a national prayer movement
in Kuwait. A veteran pastor testified that such a meeting
had never taken place in the fifty years he had served the
nation, one calling for national revival and for Kuwait to be
the first among its Arab brothers to turn to Christ and see
an Arab-Muslim harvest.
Small testified that he had gone to minister in a few
churches and encourage the Church of God congregations
in the nation, but God had opened a wide door. Instead of
a beleaguered oppressed church, he found extraordinary
resilience and optimism – a spirit of revival is alive in
Kuwait, of all places. Small noted, “To see God moving in
a place like Kuwait, so clearly, so definitively, is proof that
revival and awakening can occur anywhere and everywhere.
And it is also an indication that God is ‘on the move’ and He
wants us to join Him on mission.”
A National Prayer Movement has begun in Kuwait
according Dr. Mathew. This historic conference is the first
of its kind in Kuwait according to Pastor Golbeck. Plans
are underway for a national prayer movement to trigger a
revival in Kuwait to spread into the other gulf countries in
the Middle East.
Pray for Kuwait
◊ Sharia (Islamic law) is a main source of legislation.
◊ Christians are officially allowed to practice their faith under
restrictions.
◊ The Church of God started its first church over 50 years ago and
has 13 churches.
◊ Indians, Egyptians, Bangladeshis, Syrians and Pakistanis are the
top 5 immigrant communities.
◊ There are only 250 known Arab Kuwaiti Christians from the 1.1
million Kuwaiti Citizens.
◊ For more information to send a missions team to Kuwait or visit
Kuwait for ministry, contact Dr. Sushil Mathew, Kuwaitoverseer@
gmail.com. COGWM Project Number: 065-0925