Egypt: Are things looking better or worse?
For anyone who is interested in evangelism in the Middle East, Egypt should be an item of interest. Egypt has over 82 million people, making it by far the largest Arab country.
There are many believers in Egypt. Most of them are from the native Orthodox (Coptic) Church. However, there are also many that are coming to Christ there from Muslim families.
There has been a raise in violence against the Copts this past year. Although, it does not seem to be in the general populations goals it seems to be happening more since there is a very weak government to investigate the killings.
There have been numerous Church burnings, and also some deaths.
Despite all of this…
“A steady stream of positive reports from indigenous ministry leaders is coming to Rae Burnett, Africa Director for Christian Aid Mission. “Christian missions are definetly on the move in Egypt, and they need our prayers and help.” she says. Read in context
So, even though there are setbacks there seems to be some positive action happening.
There has been a lot of violence against Copts. This is easy to see as their ID cards state that they are “Christian”. However, it is difficult to gauge violence against Muslim background believers. This might be difficult as they might publicly be known as Christians except by those who killed them.
On another positive note, one of the Churches that was burned is being rebuilt by the Egyptian Army.
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) — Egypt’s military has started rebuilding a church burned down in an outbreak of unrest between Christian Copts and Muslims, a military official told CNN on Sunday.
The Shahedin Church in Helwan province south of Cairo, the capital, was burned earlier this month in what was believed to be a feud between a Muslim and Coptic family. Further clashes last Tuesday killed 13 Copts. Read in Context
We need to continue to be in prayer that freedom will emerge in Egypt, and that the Gospel will be preached more freely there. What happens in Egypt effects the whole Arab world.
Filed under: Current Events