Everybody raise your hands if you know where Sharjah is? No one? OK, raise your hands if you know WHAT Sharjah is. hmmmmm.
I can’t recall the first time i heard about this city/Emirate, next to Dubai which makes up part of the United Arab Emirates, but can remember the first time it really hit my consciousness – when i was in an airport, and the “Flying Today” or something like that magazine trumpeted Sharjah on its cover, calling it the “up and coming destination”. The first airport where i saw that destination mentioned was either Bangkok or Colombo, and distinctly remember a long queue at the Air Arabia counter at Colombo around 1am when i was checking in for my flight on Air Sahara to Chennai.
And now i am on a new Airbus A320 plane bound for Sharjah. The plane is about half full, and i have the 3 seats in my row all to myself, so get horizontal for some much-needed rest – over 2 hours of sleep tonite! Awakening to a brown landscape under the plane in the morning, i prepare for a very modern airport, with a helpful information desk, just as the airport’s web page showed me —– surprise! Evidentally what they have displayed is AFTER renovations are completed, because the current airport looks very similar to something you might find in India. Strange too, that most of the workers there too, except for the big guys in the flowing, white robes who stamp your passports, look Indian too. There is no information desk as such, and am told by the people who look to be employed under some type of official capacity at the airport, that there is no public transport to the city centre either, contrary to the web page which i am increasingly thinking is some pipe dream of a planner, with no basis in reality.
God has provided some type of contacts in every country i have visited up to now, except for England and Thailand. But both these countries i have visited before, so know a bit what to expect. Not so with Sharjah. I have emailed the Mission President, but got no reply, so am heading out into a real unknown. Fortunately i copied down two telephone numbers found on the web for SDA church members here, and give one a call. Explaining my situation, i am told to go to St. Martins, where they will come pick me up. They inform the mission president, and i give him a call a few minutes later, explaining what i am, and he, with reservations, welcomes me.
I’ve exchanged 20usd, receiving around 72 dirhams, and 30 of those went for the telephone card. Upon learning that there is no public transport, i go over to the taxi stand. One tall, gruff-looking man tells me it costs 40dirhams to get to town, then he raises it to 50. I’m looking for something more like 10. Laughs. He tells me he was a taxi driver in NY City for 7 years, and he knows i’m a rich American, and 45 is like nothing to me. Protesting that i’ve had no income for one year falls on deaf ears, and i tell him that all i have in dirhams on me is 42. He barks something to a young driver who puts my suitcase in the back, and we go off for a 10 minute drive down a flat expressway at 140km, with the “over limit” beeper accompaniment. The meter shows “19.50” when the driver lets me down at the Gold Centre, but pointing this out to the driver does nothing more than bring a sneer, and a hand motioning me to cough up the other 2 dirhams on top of the 40 i have already given. I resign myself to the fate i’ve chosen, and get out, and open up the rear hatch of the van when suddenly he accelerates and my suitcase comes tumbling out, landing with a loud thud on the pavement. Instinctively my Japanese comes out in a loud voice asking “What do you think you’re doing?!” He stops, rushes out, says “sorry” several times, gets back in his car, and drives off. I stand there amazed – not only has he taken twice as much money from me as he should have, but after accidentally dumping my suitcase out, he doesn’t even make any effort to pick it up for me! Welcome to Sharjah.
I walk towards St. Martins, according to what i remember from the map posted on the web, asking people all along if they know where it is. Strange that everyone i see looks like they came from India. It is probably a bit over 1km from the Gold Centre to St. Martins, a sweat-inducing walk as you may imagine in the 10am Arabian sun, carrying a backpack, and pulling a not-well suitcase. Reaching the St. Martins compound, i see tons of signs on the walls, all for some religious group, nearly all with some Indian lettering. The Seventh-day Adventist one is a welcome sight, and it isn’t long after sitting on a red, plastic chair, that the church member i called from the airport is there to greet me. Thank you Jesus.
Most of the SDAs there are from the Philippines or India, and some Filipinos have taken me to their place. I have a deep conversation with a lady there who is wanting a deeper experience with the Lord. We go to another member’s apt. in the evening, and i am surprised to see over 20 people gathered, with all singing hymns loudly, not fearing anything. When it is finished, some of the church elders and members grill me, asking about my intentions and status with the church etc. While they don’t offer a place to stay (I told them sleeping on the floor would be alright), they offer to pay for a hotel room. Now i am the one to feel strange, coming in unannounced (they did express sympathy that i had sent a email but gotten no reply), and then having them pay for me to lay my head down somewhere. Of the 3 nites spent in Sharjah, they paid for 2, and i paid for 1 in a hotel that was plenty nice, but i couldn’t help thinking of the waste of the 80usd for those 3 nites.
The hotel is located close to one member’s home, and they invite me over for breakfast which a young lady prepares – for me alone it seems. It was normal Filipino style, and i appreciate her willingness to prepare for me, even tho i told her i would do fine with just bread and fruit. We go to church, back to St. Martins. Saturday is a slow day for that place, so we get one of the larger halls, perhaps the largest, there for our services. The music is nice, and i am thankful that the Indian influence has not affected this place. I am told that the Urdu group that meets on Sabbath evenings does get pretty wild tho.
They give me 10 minutes to give my personal testimony for a “mission report”, and then, just after the talk for the kids, while they are all still up front, we showed the first chapter of the 1858gc animation up on a big screen. Everything went quite well, and the way was opened to invite people to an elder’s home that evening for a special meeting to study this 1858gc book. In the afternoon we go to a Tanzanian couples’ home on the campus of the American University there, and we are treated to a nice meal, and then several hours of recent wedding videos shot in Tanzania. The groom had gotten some of his education at David Libscomb, in Nashville Tennessee, and it was great to talk a bit about my home state. It was even nicer to talk about spiritual things, as both of them are well-versed in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, with especially him being about as knowledgeable as anyone i have ever met.
God blesses the study of chapter 32 in the evening, altho only around 10 people show up. They all seem to feel the solemnity of the message,and are interested in learning more. Especially the one grandmother is eager to receive one of these books for herself, even coming to my hotel room at 11pm with a little bag of edible goodies, and a plea for one book 🙂
The streets are full of Indians milling about, with a fair sprinkling of Asian-looking, undoubtedly Filipinos giving the city an international flavor. The overall impression is one of new construction, buildings, many cars, hot, desert, third-world dirtiness, available cash etc. Some places, like the American University and nearby school grounds are immaculate, with facilities and grounds the envy of many a school in America. Other places, like where most of the people live, is just two steps up from an Indian city. There isn’t the mad crush of people like in India, and there isn’t as much trash, and they do spray for mosquitos, but the overall impression is one of “poor foreigner, rich native”. I didn’t see very many natives, as they are not church members, but the abundance of tall buildings and expensive cars shows that they are there.
The church has a unique position. UAE has always had two govt. holidays every week for a long time – Thursday and Friday. Friday of course for going to the masjid (mosque), and Thursday, well, i don’t know why. So the SDA workers who have come looking for the pot of gold have nearly all compromised the Sabbath, because Saturday is a normal work day. I understand this is still the reason why the Urdu-speaking SDA church meets on Sabbath evenings for its main worship instead of Sabbath morning like everywhere else. Well, there were a few Filipinos mostly, i understand, who would not compromise the Sabbath, and from about 5 years ago, they would band together and fast and pray about this problem. Well, just this September, the govt. changed, and announced that now the govt. holidays would be Friday and Saturday. This has been a great witness for the Seventh-day Adventists to the other Christian denominations, with them seeing with their own eyes the power of God working for his people. It is true tho, that the witness of someone keeping the Sabbath now in this country is not as powerful as it was before, but it is also true that the door has been opened for the SDA church members to more easily keep the Sabbath, and lead to quicker growth for the church. Sad to hear that many are still making little compromises….but great to see that Filipinos are missionaries going out and evangelizing where it would be very difficult for an American to do so.
The internet cafe seems to full mostly of men who are talking into headsets. Interesting. With about 80% of the population being foreign-born, it stands to reason that the one coming to work would usually be a man (altho Filipino maids are in high demand too), and that they would be wanting to call their families cheaply thru the internet phone service. I get on to make my reservation on Air Arabia to Colombo, as i would like to get the Sinhala 1858gc in electronic form, and of course to visit the people there again if possible. The response has not been as happy as i would wish from that side tho, and while scrolling thru the list of destinations from Sharjah, the word “Kathmandu” jumps out at me. Just jumps. I know, it is silly, but within minutes i had reserved a flight to Nepal. Actually, the story is a touch more complicated, with me first checking the price to Colombo – seeing it was 94usd – then logging in with my ID, and seeing the price had changed to 130 – it annoyed me. Somehow in the checking several times, and not believing the price could change that much in just the 2 minutes i was looking, made me look closer at the home page where the list of cities was, and Kathmandu showed up. Hey, that north Indian pastor friend i have helped sponsor for several years said his brother was the mission president of Nepal SDAs…..maybe i should go there instead….but it is probably expensive……126usd? Bot! A quick email to my Sri Lankan friend telling him the change of plans, along with a tel. call to my Indian pastor friend (the next nite), made all the arrangements go smooth.
Sunday was spent mostly being with one Filipino family, talking about spiritual things with them, realizing that they were desiring a deeper walk with the Lord too, made for a nice morning. In the afternoon we went in the car to Dubai, around 15km away. Yes, the buildings there are much taller and newer looking, and there are nicer cars, and less sand on the road. The “going to be world’s tallest building” is rising off in the distance, and even tho it is nowhere near completion, is already impressively tall. We are headed to GITEX, a computer selling show/exhibition near Dubai airport. It costs 15dirhams to enter, which seems very strange to me, as what you find when you get inside is what you can get in Pantip Plaza in Bangkok every day for free – lots of computer stuff. Well, no, not the same as Pantip, as here there are not the little corner shops selling used transistor switches, or slightly broken glare-free screens etc. etc. I’m wanting a SD card reader, but not willing to pay nearly 20usd for one, when i know i can get it for around 2usd in Pantip Plaza. The main thing seems to be notebooks, with that being the most displayed device on nearly every table. The brochure we got when entering shows some at a price of around 500usd, but looks like they are all gone already. The cheapest i see on display are around 700usd, with the vast majority being at 800 – 1,000usd. It is cool to see quite a few men in long, white, flowing robes with bags filled with notebooks, and some of them even having somebody push around their new-found treasures in a cart following them. The man taking me buys a USB flash drive, just a touch over 30usd for a 2gb device. Later i’m to find out that it is the same, or just a tad cheaper in Bangkok.
The 2 receptionists at the Hotel front desk are eager to talk to me, and i learn that one of them is from Iran. Her English is better than the Filipino one. We talk and laugh about a few things, but she gets a bit cool when i mention that i am a Christian. Maybe she wants to be one too, but is having problems fulfilling her dream? Lord, please work on her heart. While there is only the Filipino at the front desk, i pay for one nite’s stay. Somehow it worked out that i handed her 3dirhams over the price, so i waited for her to give change. She made a sign like she had no change, so i went to my room, and came back down a little later to go out. She seemed perturbed about me asking for the change. It annoyed me that she was trying to cheat me out of 3dirhams, probably telling herself that since i was a rich American, she deserved it from me. Telling her that i could eat a meal for 3 dirhams seemed to surprise her a bit, and she reached in the drawer and kind of threw the change out towards me. No, just because my perceived salary is less than your actual, does not beholden me to give you money for doing nothing.
The church member kindly takes me with his daughter to school the next morning, not so far from the airport, and he lets me off about 3 hours before my flight. This is the first place where i was concerned that they might not let me in the airport without a paper ticket, as one man motioned me away, but the other man kindly let me thru, and i got checked-in quickly, and then waited a while listening the jack-hammering of progress in the muffled distance. The plane again is a brand new A320, only about 1/3 full this time, so again i can get horizontal for a while, tho not needing it much this time. I definitely recommend Air Arabia. They even give free water, something you cannot get on Air Asia. Goodbye Sharjah, and i hope your place, especially your airport, lives up to the hype someday soon. May all the SDA members there be of good courage, keeping God’s day holy, and may our light go forward, beating back the darkness. Perhaps someday soon the church will be officially recognized there, and the 3 Angels’ Messages can go unfettered in that dark country.
NOTE: Post written December 22, 2006