The average unchurched parent doesn’t lie awake at night wondering what some senior pastor is going to talk about next…but they do lie awake some nights wondering whether their kids are going to be all right.” – Carey Nieuwhof (careynieuwhof.com)

Yesterday we had the opportunity to join the leadership and elders of Gateway Church in their morning staff meeting and a special dinner in the evening. Several in the room are fresh back from a trip to India, and had incredible stories to share of how God is working in Mumbai and the surrounding regions. The leaders at Gateway are excited about the diversity they experience each Sunday at Gateway, and how they are positioned to impact further than the Dubai city limits.

Earlier this week during volunteer training, Christine paraphrased Carey Nieuwhof in saying the unchurched parent doesn’t lie awake at night wondering what the pastor down the road will preach this weekend; but they do lie awake wondering if their kid will be okay. This idea was brought up again in staff meeting by one of the elders who had been in attendance at the training, and was met as an “ah-ha” moment among the rest of the team.

As the thought settled in, one of the elders exclaimed, “That’s just like Jairus! He would not have come see Jesus on his own, but he would for his daughter!” Found in Mark 5, Jairus was constrained from following Jesus by his role as a synagogue ruler. But when his twelve year old daughter falls ill and dies, Jairus was motivated by the need within his family, and pursues Jesus even in a large crowd.

Last night at dinner, our team sat in an Arabic-style home, woven among the Gateway leadership, and talked about the church’s opportunity to become a place famous for loving broken families and making an invisible God visible. A day will come in the near future when parents in Dubai will say, “I don’t know what that church is preaching about this Sunday. But I know they love my kids, so I’m going to go find out.”

This blog post is part of a week-long series from an Orange Coaching team partnering with Gateway Church in Dubai. The team is comprised of the following church ministry specialists: Darren Kizer (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester) , Becky Kizer (Orange Specialist), Christine Kreisher (GT Church), and Stephanie Whitacre (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester).

The Burj Khalifa is the tallest man made structure in the world. At a vertigo-inducing 2,722 feet, it more than doubles the size of The Empire State Building. Located in the heart of Dubai, an observation deck 124 floors up was the perfect place for our team to begin the day. Dubai is a beautiful city – from a bird’s eye view to the intricate details. Food is eloquently prepared, the architecture is completed by skilled craftsmen, and even the metro system is immaculate (how many large cities can say THAT of their public transportation?).

For all that impresses us about Dubai, the people are what stand out the most. Polite and kind, we have been met with friendliness in every shop, every restaurant, and of course, every meeting with Family Ministries volunteers who serve at Gateway Church. The families in Dubai are unique because due to various government regulations, few actually plan to settle down and spend the rest of their lives in Dubai. Many come for a time, but know there will be a day when it is time for their family to move on to another home in a place like Canada, the UK, or Australia.

The transient nature of Dubai made tonight’s volunteer session paramount: time. When you see how muchtime you have left, you tend to do more with the time you have now. Christine wove this theme together with the FISH! philosophy of Being Present. 

“I’m pouring into this [preschool-aged] child right now because I believe that something will happen in their heart and in ten years they will be kind, considerate, and on fire for Jesus… All because I was fully present.” 

And because we know that what happens at home is more important than what happens at church, Darren introduced the concept of 40 vs. 3,000 and how to make the most of the time we have in our weekend gatherings to Incite Wonder, Provoke Discovery, and Fuel Passion in the heart of every child. One of the questions volunteers have been asking is, “How do we know if we are doing it right? How do we know it’s making a difference?” Alongside each idea, Darren introduced a word to look for that exemplifies what Wonder, Discovery, and Passion may sound like.

• Wonder may sound like “REALLY!? God made me!? God loves me!? Jesus wants to be my friend!?”
• Discovery may sound like “COOL! If I’m created and crafted by God, then I’m created and crafted by God to do something nobody else can do!”
• Passion may sound like “YES! I will be a part of ending that injustice. I will volunteer my time to help others. I will write a big story for my life.”

In a world where time moves quickly, our friends at Gateway Church are refreshing. Every weekend, they take the time to slow down and invest in the lives of children in a city where most families are “just staying a little while.” In a place where time is counting down, they know how to make the time count.

This blog post is part of a week-long series from an Orange Coaching team partnering with Gateway Church in Dubai. The team is comprised of the following church ministry specialists: Darren Kizer (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester) , Becky Kizer (Orange Specialist), Christine Kreisher (GT Church), and Stephanie Whitacre (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester).

Last night we had our first session with the Family Ministries volunteers of Gateway Church in Dubai. They packed a meeting room of the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Center. A recent partner with Orange, they were excited to share their stories and discover more about how to make First Look and 252 Basics curriculum work better in their setting.

As a portable church, the leaders and volunteers at Gateway are rock stars at making their children’s environments engaging and fun each week! Families gather on Friday mornings (the weekend in Dubai is Friday and Saturday) in a hotel lobby to check their children into conference rooms that have been transformed into colorful places for kids to worship God, hang with their small groups and leaders, and do hands on activities that reinforce that week’s bottom line.

Going into last night’s session, our team knew we wanted to open the week together by saying YOU’RE AMAZING! A theme of affirmation was woven throughout the evening through the sharing of stories, overview of the FISH! Philosophy, and Orange-focused breakouts with small and large group leaders.

This morning, one of the volunteers who joined us last night, sent this e-mail to her team leader:

Thanks for organizing Orange. It really ties into Gateway’s vision and personally to me it is going to change my life forever.

I think doing family well is so important, but the amazing thing is that I think about impacting my workplace with what I have learned today!

So I just wanna say a BIG THANK YOU for your love, effort, organization and the execution of your vision to change and build a healthy community!

Great things are happening here in Dubai, and we’re excited to see how Orange is impacting churches and families across the globe!

This blog post is part of a week-long series from an Orange Coaching team partnering with Gateway Church in Dubai. The team is comprised of the following church ministry specialists: Darren Kizer (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester) , Becky Kizer (Orange Specialist), Christine Kreisher (GT Church), and Stephanie Whitacre (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester).