Here is an update I receive Friday from Mounir Malaty, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cairo. Would you set aside a speical time each day to prary for Pastor Mounir, his family, his church, and the other Baptist and evangelical pastors in Egypt?
Don Dunavant
Mounir Sobhy Yacoub Malaty February 4 at 3:25pm ReportDear friends,
Greetings from Cairo!
Thank you very much for your prayers and willingness to follow up what we are going through as a church and help us. Your care means a lot to us. It was such an encouraging reminder for us that we are not alone but a part of God’s one family.
The Situation
“The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there... people ... cannot tell their right hand from their left.” (Acts 19:32; Jonah 4: 11) This is a summary of what we have witnessed in Egypt in the last ten days. From here, you can sense very easily “a spirit of confusion ... Egypt staggers in all its deeds” (Isaiah 19: 14)
I have to admit here that as a church we were not able to sense or predict the situation correctly and so we were not prepared to help our people interact. One of the lessons for us is to watch more insightfully through the events and try to analyze well to be able to read things and ask the Lord for a message for our people.
The Story from Our Side:
I am not going to write what you have read in the news but I am going to reflect on what we as a church have been through.
The beginning was on Tuesday Jan 25. It began with a group of young people on facebook calling for political change. It started peacefully but numbers increased and the police could not stop them. Then criminals started looting and burning shops, courts, police stations and other institutions (two of our church members lost a shop they owned in one of the centres). Then, the army was ordered to step in.
When things got worse on Thursday we were on a church retreat that was supposed to end Saturday evening. It seems that the Lord was preparing us for the tough time. The theme was “Abide” John 15: 14 which came as a part of the year’s theme, “Steadfastness & Growth”, given to us by the Lord near the end of the year to have for 2011. The Lord was calling us to see all the afflictions and pressures we are going through as gateways for growth.
Then the afternoon curfew was imposed on Friday and God led us to leave “wadi Natroon”, 130 kilometres from Cairo on Saturday morning. We could not reach the bus driver that was supposed to come and pick us as the cell phone service was cut by the government. God made a miracle as we managed to rent microbuses to take us home. Right after that, the prison, close to the retreat canter, was attacked with most Egyptian prisons, and the prisoners ran away and filled the road and scared those on their way to Cairo a few hours after we arrived safely. We really praise the Lord for his guidance and protection.
Due to the curfew, all our evening services were cancelled. So, we decided to hold a prayer meeting every day from 11:30-1:30, before the curfew time. I asked the congregation to share how they feel during the crisis. It was a way to help us expose our negative feelings and pray that the Lord may heal us. The answers were very similar and I will share what they came up with for you:
“We were scared! “
“My kids panicked! “
“I was totally confused! “
“The whole thing was a shock for me! “
“It was like a difficult test for me! “
“I heard too many rumours that scared me!”
“I was worried about my family and did not know what to do! “
“We were distracted! “
“I totally collapsed! “
If the above described the feelings of believers, you can imagine how bad the feelings of non-believers were.
Then, I asked them to share with what they think God was saying to them or what they have learned during the crisis. They came up with very deep insights that I did not hear from them during other times of relaxation. :
“I remembered what Nehemiah did when he heard the bad news about the destruction of his city and I repented and wept!”
“I recognized that in this hard time I should not think about my own needs but think of who my God is (psalm 63)!”
“I recognized why the Lord has led our church in this year’s theme ... so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.”(1Thessolonians 3:3)
“I feel that the Lord is calling each one of us to be “a watchman for the people.” (Ezekiel 33:7) It is time for us to stop being selfish and go out to encourage those who are afraid”
“The church is safe. Even if we have one loaf of bread, we will share it.”
“We have to rebuke the spirit of chaos and confusion.”
“It is time for believers to test their principles and values.”
“It is time for us to be silent and let God speak.”
“Morning is coming” (Isaiah 21: 12)
How different is the way believers see things. It encouraged me a lot that although everybody in the country sees the sad part of the story only, God blessed his people with a different way to see things.
A Good Side
One of the positive things that we gained through these tough days was getting closer with our Muslim neighbours. After the police disappeared and the chaos started, we had to stand together to watch and protect our homes and neighbourhoods and that was the first time after years of tension between Muslims and Christians. I see this as a good door opened for us to help and serve our neighbours. We have been living together for hundreds of years through which the gap has increased. We see the crisis as a bridge for us to reach them.
Pray for us!!
Whether President Mubarak stays until the end of this term in September or not is a question today. However, a more important question for us is,” who will come after him? ”Please see this as an urgent prayer request. Pray that the leadership that comes after Mubarak will give more freedom for the Egyptian church and grant us the right to carry on the great commission freely and plant and new build churches without the restrictions that had been imposed on us. Pray that we may have wisdom to discern when and how to interact with the government in the coming period.
Thank God for guarding his church and keeping us safe throughout the entire crisis. Even the attack on the Orthodox Church on the New Year’s Eve, which was tragic and disastrous, was used by God to waken up the church.
Pray that the Lord might enable us as a church to restore and maintain our vision. The church has a lot to do in the coming weeks. There is a lot of destruction is the country. We need to be positive and active in our communities and serve our people practically to rebuild and restore which will also need a lot of funds to accomplish.
A lot of Egyptian families lost a lot and it is our time to step and help. Pray for us to receive a special power and direction from the Lord to help and comfort them. The coming days are a golden chance for us to interact with people.
Pray that the Lord may complete his healing for his wounded children from fear and all the negative feelings mentioned above. Pray that we might also be able to support and encourage even those outside the church as they are in real hunger for this.
In His Service,
Mounir& Elham S. Y. Malaty
Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cairo
