On any weekend, the packed St Andrew's
Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi would offer a microcosm of the UAE's
multicultural and multi-ethnic society.
For the last five decades, this church complex
located in Mushrif has been the spiritual home for thousands of
Christians in the capital.
More than 50 congregations catering to
different nationalities, including Ethiopians, Koreans, Pakistanis,
Indians, Nepalese and western expats, all gather for prayers at this
church complex, that is celebrating its 50th anniversary next week.
For many old timers in Abu Dhabi, the church has been very much part of their existence.
A British expat woman, who moved to the UAE in
the 1980s, said one of her children took his first steps in the aisle
of St Andrew's Church.
"I first went to the church, which was on the
corniche. When the new church opened in Mushrif in 1984, I had just
become a mother for the first time, and I started to go to the Sunday
morning service, which was specifically for mums and kids. Some of the
people I met were to become lifelong friends," said the expat in her
60s, who did not want to reveal her name.
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