Egypt

“Relations are more important than rules.” - Abuna Menes Abdul Nur

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26


These are the quotes from the beginning of my travel journal from Egypt and Israel. I don’t think that I can express fully how I was impacted by my trip to the Middle East, but I can share some of the experiences and stories that I got to take part in. This is the first of a three-part series.

A group of 9 relative strangers from the Midwest (and one Californian) traveled from Minneapolis to Cairo, Egypt, at the beginning of April. We had an express purpose: to encourage and strengthen people who were suffering persecution whom we also consider to be out spiritual brothers and sisters. We arrived in the city of 6.8 million people after midnight following a momentary visit to the flowering tulip fields of Holland. With a few hours of sleep, we awakened to take our first adventure in an officially Muslim state.

Lili met us in the lobby of the hotel. “Lili” is not her real name, but then I never did learn what it was (most of the names in this story have been changed to protect the identities of those abroad). It didn’t matter, though, because we instantly knew her heart through the love and joy she showered on us. Lili took us to Kasr Al Dubara, the largest evangelical church in the Middle East, which also finds its home in Cairo. There we met Reverend Menes Abdul Nur. “Abdul Nur” means “slave of light” in Arabic. Here was a 70-plus year old man who had poured out his life for the love of Jesus Christ. As soon as our group entered the office, the peace and love radiating from Abuna (“father”) Menes’ face won our hearts. He instantly became my Egyptian spiritual grandpa. After sharing stories with us and loading us up with gifts, we prayed for him, and the Spirit of the Lord showed up. It was amazing.

We got to see a lot of sites in the area, including the Great Pyamids of Giza, which I had long dreamed of seeing in person. The truely life-changing experiences of this trip, however, were with the people we met there. One night we met three people at a restaurant owned by a Christian businessman. As long as we spoke in english, our new friends Adam, Meg, and Mark seemed to be at ease. However, Mark spoke mainly in Arabic, and the volume of his voice seemed to make Adam and Meg nervous. If the non-believing staff heard Mark telling his story, things could go very badly for all three of them. Mark was from Alexandria and had been recently imprisoned on trumped-up charges based on the false witness of some people who knew him. While imprisoned, he was tortured with electric shocks while tied to a metal chair in an attempt to make him denounce his faith in Jesus. Meg seemed especially fearful of becoming suspect by the restaurant staff. At one point, her fear overcame her and she got up and left. Her husband, Adam, explained that this was because they had already been “separated” for two of their seven-year message due to their Christian activities. Meg did return a short time later, thankfully, and I was blessed to have the chance to pray for her and share a word of encouragement from the Lord with her.

The story of another man was also shared with us. Joseph was from a village in Upper Egypt, the region along the southern part of the Nile River. As a result of his Christian faith, he received death threats from people who were hostile to his beliefs. The government of Egypt at the national level supports religious freedom, but they are often unaware of the goings-on at the local level. Joseph was forced to leave his home and his family and travel to Saudi Arabia to find work. After several years there, the knowledge of his faith reached the ears of people who also sought to have him imprisoned. He refused to deny his faith and therefore had broken glass ground into the palms of his hands. By a miracle, he was released and returned to Egypt, but he could not work. He had never received medical treatment, and much of the glass was embedded in his hands. Through the donations of supporters of Dr. Pat’s ministry, News Service 2000, Joseph was able to have the glass removed. While we were in Egypt, he was with his family for an annual weekly-long vacation. The local government of his family’s village had determined this was the maximum amount of time his family would be allowed to leave the village to be with him.

We also had the joy of getting to know Pastor Jack and his family. Jack is a gregarious traveling evangelist who has led thousands to Christ and planted numerous churches in his 15-year ministry. He, with his wife Rose, and four beautiful children, minister in house-churches, delivering Bibles, preaching, and leading worship. One night, my team member Mary and I piled into Jack’s Fiat with the whole family and visited a church in a flat on the outskirts of Cairo (well, at least I think it was the outskirts, but I really don’t know where we were). We were treated with usual Arabic hospitality to tea and warm greetings before the service began. A 10 year old boy, the pride of the church, played piano while several other teens led worship. Jack told us that since they were up to around 30 regular attenders, this church was ready to plant churches in new neighborhoods. We greeted several of the excited church-members before quickly and quietly exiting the building, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves as foreigners. We met the pastor of the church we had visited on the way back to the hotel. He had been covering for a pastor at another church. He gave me his card, which I returned to Jack for safety reasons, and I gave the pastor a scripture the Lord had put on my heart for him.

On a sight-seeing trip to Khana al Khalili, a large market, we stopped to drink Turkish coffee at an outdoor café. A young Muslim woman, whom I later found out was named Nelli, approached us seeking alms. The baby in Nelli’s arms had thick black eyeliner and a port inserted in its arm for frequent shots. I quickly gave her 10 Egyptian Pounds (about $1.25), and shooed her away. She seemed a little overwhelmed by the gift - small to me, but immense to her - and seeing the tears in Nelli’s eyes, and I immediately felt convicted that I’d just made a big mistake. I pulled Lili aside as we were about to leave and asked her to translate for me. We found Nelli close by, and she told us her story.

Nelli was married with two children. The younger boy was sick and required shots twice a day. Nelli’s husband had lost his job and they were unable to pay rent. As a result, he was required to go to debtor’s prison for 10 months, leaving Nelli alone with the children. At the time, he had been gone for 4 months and they were sleeping on the floor of what Lili described as a kind of hotel. Her only livelihood came from begging. My heart broke, and through Lili, I told Nelli that Jesus loves her and wants to heal her baby. People were starting to watch, so I decided go as far as I wanted with prayer and calling on the name of Jesus to heal the baby. HOW LAME! The next day I prayed and fasted for Nelli and her family in a meager attempt to make up for it.
My second-ever Arabic teacher (the first being my homegirl Sumita from Iran) was Jack’s 10 year old daughter, Patty. We took the family on a relaxing boat ride on the Nile on one of our last afternoons in Cairo (part of the encouraging and strengthening, you know?). She taught me words like “frekh” (chicken) and “ferowla” (strawberry) as we ate lunch. She was the hardest to leave when we finally said goodbye. Someday, I hope to return to her, Lili, and Abuna Menes, and I will pray in the authority of Christ for any “Nelli” that the Lord puts on my heart.

The spirit of Cairo felt heavy and dark as we visited there, but there were beautiful lights all along the way. I guess Minneapolis might feel the same way if Jack or Lili were to visit here. It was just a different kind of oppression - not as familiar. Whether I’m overseas or in my home on the Southside, I will not view the world in the same light ever again.