New Church Development in Egypt - February 2022 Update
Yellow Mountain became “Green with growth”
“Yellow Mountain” is a rather picturesque-sounding name for a sprawling slum area in greater Cairo to which many people migrated from other parts of the country to find more opportunities. Most of those people are from poor backgrounds and had lived in small villages. About 10 years ago, one of the seminary students from ETSC (Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo), Jimmy Wageeh, went to the area to meet some of those families. He started by visiting them in their homes, forming a Bible study group, and then serving kids. After the number of families increased, they rented a place to have ministry and worship. The church grew in both number and quality of services. Rev. Jimmy Wageeh led the church to flourish in the ministries of evangelism and discipleship. He trained several young people who shared the Gospel with hundreds, distributed Bibles, and started discipleship groups. This group of faithful believers managed to buy a piece of land and build their own building. In their deep faith, they became a great example as they generously gave from their limited resources to the work of God. God opened many doors for them to get the needed governmental papers as well as the funds. After establishing the church, Rev. Jimmy Wageeh received a call to pastor a church in the city of Suez and continues in church planting there.
Last year, Rev. Samuel Atta, a new graduate of the seminary, became the second pastor of the church in Yellow Mountain. He brought a new vision to the emerging church. He is doing great ministry connecting the church with the local community. The church has organized several medical campaigns and they have a ministry for young mothers through training in health awareness and childcare. The church is also active in helping and communicating with the community around them. They arranged Christian-Muslim dialogue events and they serve all members of the community, regardless of their religious background.
The church has a bright future as it is full of young people and kids. Yellow Mountain is finishing its main sanctuary to be ready for worship. Until then, they worship in a smaller hall. This young church has already planted a new church in a nearby area called Mohammed Naguib! In this new church plant, they serve more than 100 families and now they are seeking a piece of land to build a new church there. We pray for resources to cover this emerging need.
We praise God for His work in such a place using young pastors like Jimmy and Samuel. They are eager to raise up new churches and to communicate the Gospel with their local communities. We can say by faith that Yellow Mountain became “green” because the seeds planted there are maturing into a bountiful harvest!
Dr. Tharwat Wahba
Egypt Mission Consultant for The Outreach Foundation
Professor of Mission, Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo
Outreach works closely with the Pastoral and Outreach Ministries Council of the Synod of the Nile which has identified three areas in which God is calling the church to pursue outreach: 1) revitalization of village churches, some centuries old and primarily in Upper Egypt 2) planting new churches in urban suburbs and 3) planting churches in the new “satellite” cities. The Council works closely with the ETSC which is producing excellent students who are called and equipped for ministry in a remarkable season for the church’s mission.
Read more about New Church Development in Egypt HERE.
Read more about the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo HERE.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the mission and ministry of New Church Development in Egypt. All gifts of any size are welcomed. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.