Thanksgiving or holidays similar are celebrated in many countries during the autumn months such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Australia to name a few. Tomorrow it is Thanksgiving in the United States. Several believers living in the UAE were asked what they are thankful for.

As she was working, she shared about Jesus with all of her co-workers and the women she lived with. She did not know a single other believer in the city. Her boss was angry that she was speaking about Jesus and changed her schedule to 14 hour days without a single day off.  

Jeanine moved to Dubai from the Philippines to earn money that she could send home in order to support her family. She had two sons while living in Dubai but never married.  She was forced to send her children home to the Philippines to be raised by her mother in a nominally Catholic home.  

What does it look like to be an intentional, committed follower of Jesus in the marketplace? David moved with his wife and children to Dubai where he works a normal business job, but there is nothing normal about David.  He and his wife have tried to live their lives aware of the people around them and their need for Jesus.

On a busy Friday evening, Aysar ended his shift and was on the way home when the team called him, desperate for help. They asked him to make one more delivery. Aysar agreed, even though he would not be paid for it.  When he finished the delivery, he was on the way back to the office and a woman walked out in front of him in the street. He was unable to swerve in time and so he dropped the bike to stop it. The metal bars on the bike fell on his leg and fractured it in three places.  

Bisma cried out to God from her hotel room. She needed Him to show up because there were only days left on her UAE visa after she lost her job. There was nothing for her in Syria and her children lived in Dubai with their father who she was separated from for over a decade.  She knew God could do a miracle, but she didn’t know if He would do it for her.