Worshiping In the Dark

The rooms are plain with stark white walls and tile floors. There is no furniture except for metal bunk beds—the overly thin mattresses covered carefully with homemade blankets and quilts. Newspaper—neatly put up with masking tape—covers the windows. The only decorations are an occasional magazine picture or clock.

Six to twelve men live here—too many for the size of the room. They share common restrooms, showers, and kitchens along with the thousands of other men in the camp.

At the end of each day, almost a million men, exhausted from working 12-14 hour days in construction, board buses and return to thousands of labor camps in the Persian Gulf. They come from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Thailand to try to make a living and send money back to their families. They plan to stay for a couple of years and then return home. Instead, they end up here for years—the amount owed to the recruiters for travel costs and visas ends up being more than they realized, and with their wages averaging $5 - $7 a day, they struggle just to pay it off.

In one of the rooms, the men are preparing a dinner of sweet rice with raisins and nuts. More men begin arriving, until a total of 17 are sitting on beds and blankets on the floor. In the center of the floor, they set a Proclaimer®. After singing a few songs, they turn it on. God's Word fills the room and silence descends as everyone listens intently, temporarily transported away from the bleakness of their surroundings.

Some of the other men in the camp used to come by, drawn by the sound of the singing. They wanted to join the group, but the listening group was in Telugu and these men spoke Urdu. When Faith Comes By Hearing workers in the Gulf heard about this, they provided a Proclaimer® in Urdu. The men now have their own listening group.

Worshiping In the Dark

In another labor camp several miles away, a group of men walk into the night, far away from their dorms. They walk until they come to a concrete slab where they can put down blankets. They set a Proclaimer® down on the blanket and begin worshipping. Their praises carry through the darkness—and when they turn on the Proclaimer®—God's Word resonates clearly into the night sky.

For now, the balm of Gilead is poured into wounded places as only God's Word can do. They don't think about the hundreds of men who have died when they fell from the scaffolding. Or those who have become paralyzed and were sent back to their home countries unable to ever work again. Or those who succumbed to despair and committed suicide.

God's Word infuses them with hope, life, meaning, and the strength to endure.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light . . .