Perhaps you’ve noticed Egypt in the news quite a bit recently.
Last week, I spoke with an Egyptian Christian who described the situation in Egypt as “bleak” for the native Christian population. After our discussion, I found an article that corroborated her story. The article and my Egyptian sister both painted a picture of “anti-Christian pogroms.” Fifty-eight churches have been burned, looted, or otherwise destroyed. In some reports, Christian homes and businesses have been tagged during the day for destruction in the evening. One paper compared the event to Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass,” in November 1938 that signaled national violence and vandalism against Germany’s Jewish population. Over a dozen Egyptian Christians have lost their lives in attacks by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. The rest live in fear until the crisis ends.
While darkness covers the land of Egypt, there is sunlight in the land of Goshen with two pieces of news. First, there are reports that some Muslim neighbors have acted to protect their Christian neighbors from the Brotherhood. Some Muslim leaders have called on Muslims to stand and protect their Christian neighbors. Second, the Egyptian military agreed to pay for the full restoration of many churches destroyed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
We Christians in the West must not forget our brothers and sisters in the land that sheltered Jesus as a young child fleeing a power hungry king. Please join me this week in praying for the Egyptian church:
Father in heaven,
We ask that you protect the Egyptian Christians with your angels; that you would grant the church boldness to speak your word in confidence, extend your hand to heal, that signs and wonders would take place through your holy name. We ask that your light not be extinguished in the land of Augustine and Athanasius. We ask that this persecution, like so many throughout history, bring a revival to that great nation. We thank you for your faithfulness to bring deliverance to your people through unexpected means.
Amen.
-by Pastor Shawn Martin