{{Short description|Kuwaiti pastor}} thumb|Emmanuel Gharib '''Emmanuel Benjamin Gharib'''<ref name="nme">{{cite news|title=Kuwait’s Christian Citizens|url=http://newsweekme.com/kuwaits-christian-citizens/|accessdate=17 July 2017|work=Newsweek Middle East|date=2015-11-05}}</ref> is a Kuwaiti 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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Garcia|first1=Ben|title=Christians are happy about religious tolerance in Kuwait|url=http://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/christians-happy-religious-tolerance-kuwait/|publisher=Kuwait Times|accessdate=3 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="ots">{{cite web|title=Visit of Rev. Emmanuel Benjamin Gharib (NEC Kuwait) to the Seminary. (|url=http://www.ots.edu.in/32132/news---events/visit-of-rev--emmanuel-benjamin-gharib--nec-kuwait--to-the-seminary-|publisher=Orthodox Theological Seminary|accessdate=17 July 2017}}</ref>
== Biography == He was born in the Qibla district of Kuwait City. His father's family is of Assyrians originally from Southeast Turkey. 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-02 |title=Kuwait’s homegrown priest celebrates Bible and bedouin culture |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1257531/offbeat |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-02 |title=Seul prêtre koweïtien, le père Gharib célèbre la Bible en tenue bédouine |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/styles/seul-pretre-koweitien-le-pere-gharib-celebre-la-bible-en-tenue-bedouine_1989153.html |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=L'Express |language=fr}}</ref>
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. In 1999, he was ordained a pastor, and later named head of the Evangelical Church in Kuwait, becoming the first Gulf Arab pastor.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
== Other roles ==
* Since 2009: Co-founder and vice-president of the Islamic-Christian Relations Council in Kuwait<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gharib, Emmanuel}} Category:Protestantism in Kuwait Chrisitan Category:Kuwaiti people of Turkish descent Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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