Emmanuel Benjamin Gharib is a

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i pastor of the Kuwait Presbyterian Church and the chairman of the National Evangelical Church of Kuwait, a campus where nearly 100 Christian denominations gather for prayer.

Biography

He was born in the Qibla district of

Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...

. His father's family is of Assyrians originally from Southeast

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. His father moved to Iraq to flee the massacres against the Assyrians, where he married a Christian Assyrian woman. The couple moved to Kuwait. Emmanuel is the oldest of seven siblings. He graduated with a degree in geology in 1971 and was hired at the Ministry of Oil. Ten years later, he discovered his Christian faith. In 1989, he started to study theology in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. In 1999, he was ordained a pastor, and later named head of the Evangelical Church in Kuwait, becoming the first Gulf Arab pastor.

Other roles

* Since 2009: Co-founder and vice-president of the Islamic-Christian Relations Council in Kuwait

References

Protestantism in Kuwait Chrisitan Kuwaiti people of Turkish descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Kuwait-bio-stub