The deposing of President Mohamed Morsi has led to violence in the streets of Egypt. Hundreds have been killed. The crisis has devastated communities and inflamed political and religious divides.
Among those vulnerable to violence are Egyptian Coptic Christians, who have suffered persecution for decades. Christians are easy scapegoats for the extremists. According to the New York Times, militant supporters of President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, believing that Christians were partly to blame for his ousting, have ransacked local Christian establishments. At least three people have been killed as “Islamists set upon homes and churches, shops and schools, youth clubs and at least one orphanage.” In one monastery, vandals “lash(ed) out so ferociously that marble altars were left in broken heaps on the floor.”
There is a silver lining, however. The love of Christ is being put on display even while churches are burned to the ground. According to one of our co-workers, “in spite of the difficult circumstances that our countries go through, the Lord is still encouraging us by many open doors for ministering to our communities and practically declaring Christ’s love for people.” As people cope with the strain of civil unrest, many ask our co-workers, “Why?” This provides a unique opportunity for Christians to talk about their faith.
She Is Safe has worked for over 10 years within Egypt and other countries in the Middle East, nurturing Arab Christian women to grow in Christ and share Him with their neighbors. By God’s grace, we are determined to continue to stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Egypt and beyond. A growing element of our work is with exploited women and children displaced in conflict zones. We support their children to go to school, while the mothers are gaining skills and entering new vocations and learning about Christ.
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Read the original article by the New York Times.