The overwhelming feeling you get as you fly into Dubai is that the epicenter of the world's economy is shifting from west to east. This is one of those cities that has inspired Thomas Friedman to say that America and the West are no longer the only ones on top of the heap, with the rest of the world struggling to climb up. With the tectonic shifts of modernization propelled by the internet, communications technology and transportation, places like Hong Kong, Dubai, Delhi, and Shang Hai demonstrate eye-popping economic growth and wealth.Dubai has 40% of the worlds cranes and 20% of the world's construction. Here, most Americans are thought of as poor folks. Oil wealth has turned the dessert into an extravagant Western style oasis that makes Houston jealous and Las Vegas blush. The average Emirate is a millionaire. The BMW's and Mercedes and Porsche fly past you like rik-shaws in India. Last week an Emirate paid 14,000,000 dollars at an auction to buy the Dubai license tag that says #1.
While here we saw the world's tallest building, and they haven't stopped putting floors on it yet. We walked through a mall that has ski slope built on the inside with year round sub-zero temparature and manufactured slopes and runs. We walked through a ski shop where they were selling ski clothes to desert dwellers. We've seen skyscrapers that have popped up in just 6 months- a skyline that looks like New York City that wasn't even here 10 years ago. Imagine building the city of Houston in five years, and then putting the city of Dallas next to it the next five years, and that is what you see in Dubai. A friend here told me that he toured the city with a Billionaire from the states who traveled through this city with his mouth open the whole time. At the end of the tour, this very savvy and experienced American businessman said, "I don't understand what I am seeing."
What my friends here are seeing is lostness and darkness on a scale that is staggering. 40% of the city is Indian, another 55% are Arabs from around the Middle East, only about 5% are Emirate. While most of the lower class here lives like slaves in government housing with no transportation or hope for the future, the government pays Emirates 35,000 dollars a year just for being married and with each child they have they get a pay increase. On the day of your wedding, as an Emirate you get a brand new home and a new car free of charge.
Meanwhile, the average non-Emirate in the working class is more like an indentured servant than a citizen. We saw housing compounds with high fences and huge worn out apartments situated next to the cities massive dump. It was like a huge labor camp. The whole area was swarming with crammed busses taking the workers to construction and road crews, hotel and transportation laborers. My mind flashes back to the castles and stone walls I saw in Morocco built by slave labor with worn out slaves bodies used as mortar. The sad and worn out people in these busses are the ones who are making Dubai rise from the dessert sands.
My friends here have an amazing vision for sharing the gospel here in Dubai. They see it as a place has enormous potential for reaching the rest of the Middle East. I think of the Apostle Paul whose hearts desire was to bring the gospel to Rome, because he knew that as goes Rome, so goes the rest of the world.
One gets that same feeling here.
As I ran along the canal my final night here and watched all the party boats motoring under the mind blowing skyline just a little before mid-night (we have not really gotten rest on this trip- we just take power naps from stop to stop- my friend John wants us to see the entire Middle East in one trip!), I can't help but think that what our friends here are doing is not unlike Paul's journey to Rome. Like Paul chained to Roman soldiers who had a direct connection to the royal house and the upper chamber, our friends here must find ways to bring the gospel to the heart of wealth and power. The stakes are high.
As goes Dubai, so goes the rest of the Middle East.
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