Today marks the final countdown to so many things: three days until Christmas, nine days left in 2016 and two weeks until I fly out to Egypt. Yes you heard right, Egypt 2017 is still on! I am still raising support so if you'd like to help out with that follow the link here: https://first-pres.ccbchurch.com/form_response.php?id=169 Oddly enough I have experienced more push back and criticism concerning this two-week trip than I faced going into my year-long excursion to the same part of the world. I was told by various voices in no uncertain terms that this trip should be called off and that those still determined to go are foolish. Well color me a fool...
To be fair recent events in Egypt have raised concerns. Unless you live under a rock you've heard the reports about the bombing of St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo. (If you do in fact live under a rock, here are links to al-Jazeera's and the Economist's coverage of the event) To those short on time here's an extremely simplified version of the goings on, but I encourage you to read up on current events and stay informed as to what is happening in and around the global Church
Despite being geographically and historically linked to the roots of Christianity, Egypt's population today is only about 10 to 15% Christian. Life for this religions minority has never been easy, quite the opposite. However, it seemed in September that things were beginning to lighten up for these minority believers as the government passed a handful of laws lessening the red tape surrounding the building of churches throughout the country. These laws, though met with apprehension and skepticism, were hoped to be the beginnings of greater religions freedom and protection in a country where discrimination and harassment had been the norm. Scarcely four months later a bomb detonated outside the St Mark's Cathedral killing twenty-five and wounding many others. The violence was far from ignored as the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi himself joined mourners at the funeral service held the next day calling for national unity and the end of religious friction.
Despite being geographically and historically linked to the roots of Christianity, Egypt's population today is only about 10 to 15% Christian. Life for this religions minority has never been easy, quite the opposite. However, it seemed in September that things were beginning to lighten up for these minority believers as the government passed a handful of laws lessening the red tape surrounding the building of churches throughout the country. These laws, though met with apprehension and skepticism, were hoped to be the beginnings of greater religions freedom and protection in a country where discrimination and harassment had been the norm. Scarcely four months later a bomb detonated outside the St Mark's Cathedral killing twenty-five and wounding many others. The violence was far from ignored as the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi himself joined mourners at the funeral service held the next day calling for national unity and the end of religious friction.
The undeniable fact is that persecution for Egyptian Christians is a far more tangible and threatening prospect than anything we face in the States. The question then remains "How do we, so far removed and sheltered, respectfully suffer alongside our brothers and sisters? Separated by geography, culture, language and a myriad of other variables, how do we do life together?"
3 Responses
1) Don't be like Job's friends
In the midst of his suffering, Job was visited by his three friends. After reading Job's book we wonder if he would have preferred for them to stay away. Chapter 16 of Job is legitimately called "Miserable Comforters." Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar all thought they had the answer to Job's predicament. Their rational is understandable - they see their friend in great suffering and want to fix it. Over half of the book is comprised of very eloquent arguments which fail miserably to be of any comfort at all. Their unhelpful words as well as their haughty attitudes exacerbate Job's suffering. Let us avoid informed stoicism and apathetic arguments that do no one any good. Pain is not relieved by pretty words.
2) Be like Job's friends
To their credit the three friends had the correct initial reaction to the dreadful news of Job. "Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." (Job 2:11-13) We cannot afford to avoid the suffering of our compatriots. It discredits the gospel when those who claim to believe it fail to live in love and unity. Remember how in the Parable of the Good Samaritan the Priest and the Levite pass by the wounded man first? They continued to pass by. This is the picture we paint when we avoid those in persecution. When the hardships of this life come upon our family and close friends we would not dream of waiting for it to dissipate before going to comfort them. Our actions should be the same towards our brothers and sisters in Christ whom we may not yet know.
3) Practice Hospitality
"Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality." I wish I could remember who said it. It certainly was not me, I am not nearly that eloquent nor that succinct. In any case this mantra has become one that I strive to live into as often as possible. Much can be said about how listening well has become a lost art but let us now focus on how desperately we need to revive this practice. Hospitality is, at the most basic level, making space in your life for someone else. When we pair this with empathy and action we find a recipe that changes how we go about doing life together. THIS is the purpose of the Egypt trip that is only 2 weeks out. We are going to seek teachers, find friends and worship the Lord together.
To answer any lingering questions: yes I am still headed for Egypt in two weeks with the rest of the team. We cannot wait to practice and receive hospitality in a way that will leave everyone involved changed for good.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many."
External links to The Guardian, al-Jazeera News, the Economist and Christianity Today
