Short visit to Dubai
Colin Baron
"Every time I visit this extraordinary place it changes"
It’s late Tuesday evening and I am writing this on the Air France night flight to Dubai.
The last time I flew international, the plane burst a tyre and I had a six hour delay, followed by a change of carrier and a total re-route. The most frustrating thing about this was it happened at Manchester airport, just 20 minutes from my home! With this uppermost on my mind I was very pleased when the plane took off ahead of schedule.
For the next three days I will be joining with my good friend Steve Blaber as we serve the Newfrontiers church in Dubai. We will be spending time with Clive and Heather Cernik who lead the aptly-named Gateway Church. The Emirate, with its large airline, has literally become a hub linking many nations of the world. Clive and Heather have done a great job over the past few years, leading this amazingly multicultural church through some very difficult times.
Every time I visit this extraordinary place it changes. Last year when I was in Dubai the place seemed full of cranes as they built new buildings. This time I am equipped with a camera to get a photograph of what I understand to be the largest building in the world, Burj Dubai (right).
Last June we had the joy of hosting Evan and Tracy Rogers for a memorable worship conference in Manchester. They have since moved to Dubai and I am looking forward to seeing them in their new surroundings. I am intrigued to see how much Evan has brought exuberant African-style worship to Gateway, and how living in this new culture has affected Evan’s style.
Three days in Dubai with two night flights will mean very little sleep, but what a privilege to be in such a strategic church at this time.
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Colin's Profile
Colin leads Christ Church Manchester (CCM), a new church on the east side of the city birthed out of a passion to see significant churches planted in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
Colin also travels internationally for the Newfrontiers team, encouraging and equipping church planters as well as coaching leaders and developing teams in established churches.