SAUDI ARABIA: Christmas in a Closed Country

Source: Open Doors, December 15, 2017

It’s night in one of Saudi Arabia’s cities. The streets are empty. Two Indian men can be seen walking on the sidewalk. When they knock on a nondescript door, it is opened and immediately closed behind them.

Inside, they take off their shoes and enter a meeting room decorated with Christmas stars and garlands. They join a handful of worshippers already there. Over the next hour, over a hundred or more Indian believers will arrive here to celebrate Christmas.

Most of them have low-paying jobs in large Saudi companies or households; they are construction workers, stone cutters, electricians and cleaners. But tonight, there are no differences between them: these men and women are followers of Christ about to be encouraged and then sent back into the world with a calling to spread the light of Jesus everywhere they go.

When the celebrations begin, there’s no doubt that this is an Indian celebration. The instruments, the music; when you close your eyes you feel as if you’re right in the heart of India. Taking turns, many of the worshippers sing worship songs in their mother tongue, glorifying God who sent his Son into the world.

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» Also worth noting: Christian Schools in India Warned Against Celebrating Christmas (International Christian Concern).

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