Egypt #1: Moving Mountains
by Nancy Fox
In the wee hours of this morning, the Egypt spring 2020 team had finally all arrived in Egypt. Paul, Kathy and I are from National Presbyterian Church in Washington, Pam from Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church, New Jersey, and Ken from First Pres Charleston, West Virginia. Sometimes, little things like flying internationally can feel like moving mountains, if there is any little complication - such as an international virus threat, for example. But we trust the Lord has called us here and we are all practicing caution, foregoing the traditional Egyptian greeting - hugs and kisses on both cheeks - in favor of elbow or fist bumps. Sad.
We hit the ground running this morning, with some historical background about the church in Egypt, specifically the Presbyterian mission and the current activity of the Pastoral and Outreach Ministries of the Egyptian Presbyterian Church - the Synod of the Nile. Instead of hunkering down to preserve itself in a challenging environment, the seminary has led the church into a vibrant mission life of its own, in which about 30% of the churches (and fellowships becoming churches) in Egypt are new plants within the last 10-15 years, and about half of those in the last five. Such a change in outlook and identity has involved moving mountains of fear, doubt, and habit. It is an encouragement to overcome such mountains that the US church faces, too.
Christians in Egypt have a heritage of moving mountains! We visited the cave churches of Mokattam in Cairo today, where the story of the faith of a common shoe-maker named Simon is celebrated. Tradition holds that by his faithful prayer and the Egyptian Christians with him, God moved a mountain to save the church from a hostile caliph.
Just yards below the cave churches stands a very different three-story monument to the truth of Matthew 17:20, that with faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains: the beautiful Center of Love, which arose from the faith, hope and love of Rebecca Atallah and others like her who have devoted their lives to serving the neediest of the needy in the so-called Garbage Village, the special needs children of all ages and their parents and care-takers. We witnessed art, physical, vocational, educational, movement, play, and LOVE therapy in the love of Christ for those with issues such as Multiple Sclerosis - mostly by volunteers. And we got to dance with some of the youth! What a lovely way to move those mountains of challenges faced by those they serve.
A final visit was to Manshiet Nasser Presbyterian Church in a very crowded and low-income area adjacent to Mokattem. A few church leaders shared the vision, mission, and growth of the church and its fully-holistic, life-transforming ministries. One of those ministries is supporting area women (mostly widows with children to support) through micro-loans that enable them to build their dignity and income at once. Five women came to show and tell us about their shops, handicrafts, baking projects, and recycling ideas and how they have transformed their families. Faith, and hard work, and a hand up is moving their mountains and bringing them closer to their Lord. Their joyous sense of achievement was contagious! We concluded with a circle of prayer with the ladies and the church and then started some side conversations about solar cookers and how those could fit into the vision and ministry already transforming this difficult area of Cairo. Step back and see what mountains the Lord might move next!