As you have seen from the news, Egypt is experiencing a time of historic spiritual and political upheaval. Since the ousting of President Mubarak, Egypt has been searching to find its way towards some level of a parliamentary run government in light of a powerful controlling military. It appears the Muslim Brotherhood, a mainstream Islamist party, has gained a significant place in the new parliament raising deep concerns among Christians for their future and safety.
Because of the political chaos, occurring there has been more violence occurring towards Christians than ever before. Egypt has had more martyrs in this last year than in the entire history of the church in that country. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life ranks Egypt as the fifth-worst county in the world for religious freedom. Egypt is also included among the 12 worst countries in the world in terms of violence against religious minorities, and specifically in terms of social hostilities against Christians. It is not uncommon for women to be abducted from their homes and forced to convert to Islam. Coptic churches promised in the past protection by the military from Muslim extremists are now being abandoned and told to protect themselves. For example, in the last year a 17-year-old Coptic Christian boy was ordered by his teacher to take off the cross he was wearing. When he refused, the teacher flew into a rage and started choking the teen. The other students joined in beating him. He died shortly afterwards and the only recourse was the teacher was put on suspension from her position and there was no further investigation of the incident.
It is in this cultural backdrop that we were involved in two ministry opportunities while we were in Egypt. The first one was in Menye, Egypt, a small poor industrial town in upper Egypt. There is a believer there named Viola who has worked with NGO’s to bring through U.S. government grants clean water to Menye. Now her focus is to bring healing and hope to women who have been abused. About 90% of women in Egypt have been victims of abuse. The average man, if asked of what a woman’s role is, would unashamedly reply that a woman is only for sex/pleasure and children. I was asked to be the speaker for a monthly gathering Viola organizes in which she goes door to door in the shops in Menye and invites women to come to a luncheon on a boat on the Nile where there is a speaker and music. This month the focus was on abuse and their identity in Christ. In a space that would comfortably fit 60 people - 250 Muslim, Evangelical and Coptic Christian children and women from ages 8-mid 40’s, came.
As I started to speak, I looked across the room and saw the defended and guarded expression that is often the case of women that have been abused. About a third of the way through my talk I sensed the Spirit of God moving across the room and began to see tears start to roll down the cheeks of some of the women and others smile back at me as I smiled at them. In a country where showing emotion equates with vulnerability, it was no small thing to see expression of heartache being expressed in the faces of these women. Afterwards a number of young women came up and asked for prayer.
The second ministry we were involved in was to provide teaching and encouragement to the leadership of Mama Maggie’s Stephen’s Children – a ministry to the poorest of poor children and families in Cairo's rancid garbage slums and severely impoverished communities in rural Upper Egypt. Maggie Groban or as she is affectionately called, Mama Maggie was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three different times for her work in addressing the needs of the neglected and impoverished children of the garbage slums and other places of poverty in Egypt. Stephen's Children touches more than 30,000 families through ministries that enlist almost 1,500 workers and volunteers. The children there are malnourished emotionally, physically and spiritually. They provide home care, education, camps, and vocational training. The home care workers are assigned a child in need and journey with a child and his/her family from 10-15 years. They teach the children the Scriptures, model the love of Christ to him/her and assist in any needs the family might have.
As Ray and I got to know the leadership staff and hear of their challenges and struggles, we were emotionally undone by the level of devotion to Christ that we saw in each of the staff we met. They work in horrific conditions, traveling long distances from their homes to the places where the children reside, putting their own welfare and safety at risk daily for the sake of being able to bring Christ’s hope and love to these precious children. We sensed their deep fatigue and weariness yet never heard anyone complain but spoke about their love for the children and families they ministered to.
Someone told us that what happens in Egypt tends to become a domino effect in the rest of the world. As well as what God is doing spiritually in Egypt is a testimony to the rest of the world. I believe we must pay attention to what God is doing in Egypt. Our fellow believers are witnessing to the rest of the world what a life wholly dedicated to Christ looks like. Their courage, sacrifice, faithfulness, and boldness is a testimony to us in the United States of what a life of holiness really looks like.
Thank you for your support – with your prayers and financial resources to allow us to receive such a profound experience and to bring God’s word of encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ in Egypt. We will be forever thankful that we were able to meet believers that so clearly evidenced their love for Christ and radiated his presence in a magnificent way. Because of this, we are asking ourselves the question as to how we might honor Christ more fully in our own lives and show forth his glory in an intentional way. We would love to bring a group of believers back with us perhaps in the fall to take the next step in training and resourcing with the people we met. We are trusting God to confirm if this is what he would like us to do.
I want to close with the verse from Revelation 12:11 that I believe aptly describes the believers in Egypt.
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” May this be found true for each one of us as well.
