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Egypt: Years of political turmoil and persecution sees Christians presented with “golden opportunity” to share their faith

DAVID ADAMS speaks to Egyptian Christian ‘Michael’ – currently visiting Australia with persecuted church advocacy Open Doors – about how the political turmoil of the past four years has affected – and inspired – the church in that country…

While the West may characterise the most recent of Egypt’s political upheavals – the overthrow of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi in August last year – as a military coup (albeit, in many circles, a welcome one), Egyptian Christian Michael says that for the local church, it was “an answer to our prayers”.

Michael, a Christian worker from Cairo who has been brought to Australian by persecuted church advocacy Open Doors to share his story at churches in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania over the next two weeks, says that during the time of Morsi’s regime – when Egypt was in the “iron grip of the Muslim Brotherhood” – the country was on the brink of civil war.

 

UNDER PRESSURE: Damage done to Christian churches in Egypt’s Minya region that took place in August, 2013. PICTURE: David Degner/Getty Images

 

“It was scary, it was absolutely scary…The beautiful thing that it was not only evangelicals or Orthodox alone (but) the whole church with all the different denominations of Orthodox, evangelicals and Catholics – we all joined massive prayer meetings together because we knew that in such a miserable situation…we have nowhere to go but to come before the Lord and cry out for our country.”

– ‘Michael’, speaking in reference to Christian responses to the 2011 revolution.

“Not between Christians and Muslims but between the Muslim Brotherhood and the majority sector of society who did not accept their dominion over Egypt. We as Christians had to pray…and seek protection from above because it really looked very ugly, where we were moving.”

Michael, whose last name has been withheld for security reasons, says following the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolution which saw the Muslim Brotherhood come into power, life became particularly hard for the country’s Christians, which various sources estimate to number anywhere between six and 12 million.

“We witnessed a lot of incidents when churches were burnt down (and when) Christian families were forcibly migrated from their neighbourhoods…” he says, noting that when this was occurring, the government of the time did nothing to prevent either the relocation of families or the looting of their homes, but actively aided the process.

Michael says while Christians in Egypt had been complaining about their treatment at the hands of government officials for many years – all of which he says were legitimate, it was only after the 2011 revolution that their focus changed and Christians in Egypt “opened our eyes to our true responsibility towards our country”.

“As a church, we were praying not for our safety or protection in the first place, we were praying for our country…” he says.

“It was scary, it was absolutely scary… The beautiful thing that it was not only evangelicals or Orthodox alone (but) the whole church with all the different denominations of Orthodox, evangelicals and Catholics – we all joined massive prayer meetings together because we knew that in such a miserable situation…we have nowhere to go but to come before the Lord and cry out for our country.”

Michael says that if there was any positive outcome for Christians from the past four years of turmoil, the “one thing we want to praise the Lord for is that He brought His people together”. 

“I can’t say we are united in the full meaning of that word but we have come together in a spirit of humbleness and unity…We asked for forgiveness for one another, for any judgmental attitudes we used to have in the past, and God has honored that and He listened to our prayers…It was only God who saved our country and we can stand in awe of that.”

Michael says that while the ousting of President Morsi last year saw the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood from a position of power, there hasn’t been a “magic change of attitude among the public” toward Christians in Egypt and “persecution, discrimination and suffering” still remains part of their lives. “Because the normal pattern of life in Egypt and in general in the Middle East concerning the church is that Christians are considered second class persons.”

But he adds that the upheaval has presented the church with a “golden opportunity” to show an attitude of love and forgiveness towards their persecutors. This was particularly the case after Muslim Brotherhood supporters launched a wave of attacks against Christians following the removal of President Morsi which saw more than 80 churches in numerous cities burnt down and the homes, shops and businesses of hundreds of Christians destroyed or looted.

“(W)hen Christians chose not to retaliate or (seek) revenge, the…love and forgiveness of the Egyptian church became a powerful, loud message to the entire country and we had the opportunity of our lives to show how Christians should forgive and should show love in return to aggressiveness and violence…” Michael says.

“We had a wonderful opportunity to show the difference between hatred and violence…(and) the attitude of forgiveness and love of the church. This has given us a lot of opportunities to testify and share about our Christian faith.”

He says that as well as seeing many nominal Christians returning to the church, there has also been in increase in the number of Muslims wanting to know more about the Christian faith. “(T)he church is growing…fellowships of Christians are starting our and multiplying in homes, especially in cases where there are no existing church buildings.”

Michael says it is a great encouragement for the Egyptian church to know they are part of the worldwide family of those who follow Jesus Christ. He asks Christians in the West to be praying that every Christian in Egypt “can stay strong in the middle of the storm” and keep their eyes focused on the “business of the Kingdom”. 

“We had a wonderful opportunity to show the difference between hatred and violence…(and) the attitude of forgiveness and love of the church. This has given us a lot of opportunities to testify and share about our Christian faith.”

He also asks for people to pray for the empowering of Christian women in Egypt and for young people in the Egyptian church who, he says, will need a “solid, profound faith in Jesus” as they grow up in a time when there are “so many uncertainties”.

“We do not expect the coming days to be much nicer or easier in many (respects); we do expect pressure to continue to be put on the church. But please pray for Christians to continue to shine where-ever they are – if they live in a small village or a tiny farm or a big, large city or the capital. We want to live as the salt and light as Jesus has (created) us to be. Our people are thirsty for the Gospel and they don’t know where to go; they don’t know the truth.”

For details of Michael’s tour in Australia, visit www.opendoors.org.au.

 

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