Book Launch of The Christian Church in Kuwait

Book Launch at British Embassy 28th April 2010.

Author’s Speech

I want to begin by thanking H.E Frank Baker for his hospitality and support for this evening. I also want to thank the many people who have encouraged me and gave practical help in getting this book to print. Without you, quite simply there would be no public record of the story of Kuwait and the Christian community.
Nearly two thirds of the world’s population is either Muslim or Christian. The future of our planet depends on our ability to not just tolerate one another but to co-exist and co-operate with one another in the daily business of living. The problem is that the history between our two communities has been a chequered one. Periodic outbreaks of persecution by one community against the other is only too depressingly the pattern. But not in Kuwait.
This is what makes Kuwait special for me. In contrast to her neighbours (and indeed some Western countries), Kuwait has found a model of interfaith community which works. In my research I have found very little in the historical records where there was blatant mass hostility or persecution towards Christians in Kuwait. In my albeit admittedly short experience of living in Kuwait I have always felt welcome as a Christian leader by Kuwaiti people. Yet their hospitality is firmly rooted in their Islamic tradition.
I wrote this book for two reasons.
1) To retell the story of Christianity in Kuwait and to show how Christians have made a positive and vibrant contribution to this part of the world. This was facilitated by the genuine hospitality of the people of Kuwait .
2) To celebrate the model of religious freedom which we enjoy here under the Kuwaiti government. It is a great achievement which is actually little known outside of the country. Back in the UK people constantly express their surprise that Christians are allowed to worship freely in Kuwait. They assume that because Kuwait is an Islamic nation that there is no freedom. This is simply not true and I for one want to share with the wider global community that the Church is alive and well in Kuwait and we sincerely thank the Kuwaiti people for their welcome


It is good to celebrate friendship and faith between Muslims and Christians. Ultimately, we all worship the one God who created the heavens and the earth and that we believe he has revealed himself through scripture as a God of mercy, compassion and justice. To God be the Glory.

Thank you all for coming tonight.