United Arab Emirates

Total area:

83,600 km2

Population:

5,927,482 (2017)

Literacy:

79%

Official languages:

Arabic

GDP (PPP) per capita:

$40,162 (2017 est.)

Life expectancy:

77 years

Religions:

66% Muslim, 15% Hindi, 7% Catholic, 5% Buddhist, 2% Protestant, 5% other religions

Prayer points

Online support for vulnerable women

Since the Middle East and North Africa have gone into lockdown, our Nisa’a team has been supporting families across the region. Nisa’a provides an online women’s magazine that reaches into 10 countries and with face-to-face workshops to support vulnerable women. The team are now looking to resume the ‘Heart Story’ workshops, but online. These workshops give vulnerable women a chance to express their needs and stories in a safe space; often the only chance they have to be themselves and to be vulnerable. Join with us in praying for the Nisa’a team and all the women they support across the region. (Middle East Media - May 2020)

Coronavirus and its impact on Muslim communities

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on many Muslim countries, affecting Frontiers workers and those they seek to reach among many of the unengaged Muslim people groups in the world. Muslim communities are suffering from fear, anxiety and loneliness. Many teams have stayed on the field and are encountering unprecedented opportunities to proclaim the gospel, as Muslims ask questions about life and death. Pray that God will use these days of uncertainty to draw even more Muslims to Jesus. Pray that God will sustain and protect workers as they offer comfort to those around them and boldly share the everlasting hope and perfect peace of Christ. (Frontiers - May 2020)

Religious restrictions

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the most liberal countries in the Arabian Peninsula; formal registration of religious groups is not required and there are no laws against missionary activity. However, evangelism and the distribution of non-Islamic religious literature are prohibited and conversion from Islam is not recognised, with converts often pressured to return to Islam. The vast majority of Christians are foreign workers who make up 80 percent of the total population; pray for their witness. Pray that the handful of indigenous believers would find ways to meet for fellowship and that many will hear the gospel through Christian satellite TV and websites. (Open Doors UK and Ireland - November 2010)