Christian work started in Kuwait in 1910 when theArabian Medical Missionof the Reformed Church in America (RCA; see United States no. 36)) opened a clinic in Kuwait. It was followed by a Men’s Hospital and later also by one for Women. The income from oil soon made this ministry unnecessary, and the hospitals were closed in 1967. By that time the church consisted of three distinct language-based congregations. congregations. They constitute the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait (NECK), formerly also called the Church of Christ in Kuwait. There exist, in addi-tion, ten Christian organizations in Kuwait. At present there are within NECK 45 different congregations with over 4,800 people — Arabs (mostly expatriate, but also a few Kuwaiti families), Euro-peans, Americans, Indians (several different denominational and language congre-gations), Pakistanis, Koreans, and Filipinos. Services are held every day of the week, especially Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. There is a much more positive attitude from the Kuwaiti people and government since the help the USA gave dur-ing the Iraqi invasion. Under the present organization each congregation has its own council; there is one common council, made up of representatives from the larger congregations, charged with overseeing times of worship, use of the building, etc. The main church building is in the city of Kuwait. At present it belongs to the government and is rented by the church for 150 dollars a year. Among the congregations within NECK the more historical ones are: • the English congregation, which was formally established in 1962 and maintains warm links with the RCA. It is an independent congregation within NECK. • the Arabic congregation, which has in the past been pastored by ministers from the Coptic Evangelical Church of Egypt and is now nondenominational. •the Malayalam congregation, which is served by a pastor from the Church of South India.
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