Bible revelation with migrant workers

The following article was written by Liz Waldy of the United Bible Society. The Bible Society of The Gulf which has an outlet on the Cathedral compound with it’s much larger Resource Centre at the National Evangelical Church compound is part of The Untied Bible Society and a visit is recommended.

Travelling to a Bible Study group has never been more compelling than recently when I travelled with 18 migrant workers. All of Hindu descent and from the Andhra Pradesh part of India, they have come to Dubai to work on a 15-year project to build the new airport.

They walk to their Bible Study, with their Bibles under their arms. The only light comes from the headlights of the endless trucks that drive back and forth carrying a constant stream of building materials in.

Life is not easy for the migrant population in the Gulf. They leave their families behind so they can earn the money to support them by working with one of the Gulfs many construction firms. In Dubai they are everywhere, building skyscrapers, roads or the new Metro system. Thousands of others are working in hotels or as housemaids. What is less visible is the way they live. Accommodated in labour camps they will leave for work at 8am and return at 8pm. A basic worker will be paid about $200 a month, his accommodation is free but he will have to pay for electricity and food. As well as sending money home to his family every month he will need to repay some of the debt he owes to the agent who arranged for his visas. The interest they are charged means most workers never repay the debts. They are the invisible people of the Gulf.

Next to God the pastor is the only one who cares for us.' That is how one migrant worker describes the remarkable man who started this Bible Study group. Ananda Rao is also from Andhra Pradesh, he has a mission to tell his fellow migrant workers about Christ. Despite working full time at the docks Ananda Rao used to travel on his one day off, or after work to the labour camps to tell the men about God. There is poor public transport in Dubai and the buses that do exist don't go near the labour camps. Ananda Rao gets the bus as far as he can then walks the last 7km, often in 50 degree temperatures.

One day he noticed that the trucks were continuing down the road past the existing camps he was visiting. He carried on walking over the sand dunes to see what was beyond. Here he found a new camp, with the usual cluster of portacabins. In this camp 4,000 workers live. In each room 12 men have to share with 6 of them sleeping on bunk beds. Ananda Rao began to speak to them in Telugu their mother tongue, and spoke to them about a DVD he had with him — Guns to Gospel — the testimony of Michael Vijayakumar a well-known politician from Andhra Pradesh who became a Christian and who's powerful story resonated with these men. They enjoyed the film and when Ananda Rao returned the following week there were even more people, so they watched the film again, as well as the Jesus film in Telugu. After three weeks Ananda Rao bought ten Bibles with his own money and took them to the men.
'It is through men like Ananda Rao that the Bible is impacting the lives of the migrant workers in Dubai' says Babu Ganta of the Bible Society of the Gulf. 'And not just printed Bibles but audio scriptures and DVDs too. These men are so pleased to have something in their mother tongue when they are so far from home' he continues. These eighteen men knew nothing of Christ until four months ago when Ananda Rao first found their camp, but last month 9 of them were baptised. In a dry and barren place they have found the water of life. As one group member put it 'I am so so happy having this man visit week after week'.