An angry mother stood at the doorway of her house, cursing and shouting accusations against her only son. She had just reported Mustafa* as an infidel to Egypt’s state security police. She simply could not accept his choice to believe in Christ and turn his back on Islam, the religion of their family and the overwhelming majority of their neighbours.
The police had just raided the house and were brutally dragging out Mustafa into the parked police detention truck. Her son’s wife and his 3-year-old child, Amr*, watched in horror.
Three months later, Mustafa was released from prison and went back to his wife and son in the north of Egypt. He was traumatized by what he had gone through during the first few days of interrogations. Even so, Mustafa came out of jail with a more resilient determination to follow Jesus and raise his family as Christians.
But no one thought about how this had affected little Amr, who as young as he was, deeply feared he might never see his father again.
For his parents, it was now very clear that they would have to live as “secret believers” on a wise, low-key level, since it is illegal for Muslim-born Egyptians to become Christians. Through a local network of ministries coming alongside such new believers, Open Doors helped provide a discipleship and support framework for them. Mustafa was funded to take Bible school training, and then he started discipling others who had believed in Jesus.
That included bringing up his young son in the faith, teaching him to love and walk with Jesus. But when Amr went to school, his mother and father had to advise him carefully, helping him understand the “different” things about his family that he should keep secret as best as he could.
*Identities hidden for security purposes
Source >> http://opendoorsusa.org/
The 2011 revolution that ousted President Mubarak initially brought Muslims and Christians together, but improved relations were short-lived. The Muslim Brotherhood won parliamentary elections in November 2011 and a new Islamist-backed constitution was signed into law in December 2012. Support for both the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi Islam is growing. The government has been unable to impose necessary law and order, to the detriment of the protection of Christians. Persecution is on the rise and massive emigration of Christians is a concern. But the church continues to grow.
Pray:
- For an end to the violent unrest and for true freedom to be established
- That the new Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, will continue to unite the denominations in Egypt so that the church is united in sharing the gospel
- For Open Doors partners working with local churches to provide training and Christian community development opportunities.
Source >> http://worldwatchlist.us/
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