Dave & Gloria's Story Part 1: Did You Know We Have a Sister Church?
Get To Know Dave and Gloria Furman at Redeemer Dubai
Back in 2005, Dave and Gloria Furman had an overnight layover in the up-and-coming city of Dubai. That morning, as they opened their hotel room blinds, they looked out on a sea of construction workers. In fact, it seemed like the whole city was under construction. “What is this place?” they wondered, where skyscrapers seemed to sprout out of the sand.
Dave & Gloria Furman
Dubai started as a small desert town known for its pearling industry. Its location on the Persian Gulf made it an important port city in the 20th century. Then, in the late 1960’s, the city struck oil and its infrastructure took off. Today Dubai has become a Middle Eastern hub for international business and recreation.
The city is home to 3.3 million people from over 200 different nationalities. On the subways you’ll overhear bits of Arabic, Tagalog, and Farsi. At the malls you’ll run into people from Saudi Arabia, India, and Australia. This diversity creates a unique opportunity for the gospel to reach the nations. In places where westerners cannot freely travel, believers can return to their home countries and bring good news into hard to reach places.
Just one year later, God gave Dave and Gloria a vision to plant a gospel preaching church in the heart of Dubai. In fact, when Gloria first heard about the possibility, she headed straight for their bedroom, grabbed a suitcase, and started packing. They were eager to see how God could use this strategic location to reach the world!
The Furmans have now lived in Dubai for twelve years with their four kids: Aliza, Norah, Judson and Troy. The church they planted, Redeemer Dubai, has been a gospel outpost in the city. The Holy Spirit is bringing new life. Disciples are being made. New believers are being baptized. And people are being sent out to reach others with good news. God is multiplying life.
In 2013, Redeemer Dubai sent out their first church plant to Ras Al Khaimah, a neighboring emirate (or state) on the Gulf coast. Since then they have sent out more pastors to start churches in Fujairah, Al Ain, and Beirut. Still others have planted churches in Dubai that reach specific people groups, such as a Tagalog speaking church led by a Filipino pastor. These church plants have a multiplying effect. One becomes two, two becomes four and so on. And with each new plant, more people are sent out, multiplying the opportunities for people to hear good news.
As Garden City prepares to send out Quicksilver Church—its first church plant—this fall, we’re excited to see God’s multiplying work in our own city. God’s plan has always been the church. And it’s through believers like us living out faith in our unique spheres of life that God brings people to Himself. How may God be at work in the lives of people you know? And how might He be using you to multiply life?