Egypt #1 - Raining Blessings
Raining Blessings
by Karen Copley
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC
Rain peppered down on us as we snaked our way between the rows of looming apartment buildings in New Cairo, 5th Settlement. I was reminded of our good-humored tour guide, Mourad’s, words, “It only rains 15 days out of the year in Egypt!” Undeterred, we reached a beautiful cemetery that opened up in the midst of the buildings. It was filled with a maze of walls topped with cross after cross - Protestant, Catholic, Coptic - all pointing upward into the heavy clouds toward heaven. On the edge of the cemetery, facing a busy square in this poor area of the 5th Settlement, sits a steep area of sand, waiting. It is waiting to be the foundation of a new church plant building to bring glory to God and transformation to this city with the love and witness from God.
The spark for this new Presbyterian church vision lies in a narrow apartment a few blocks from the cemetery on a sandy side street. As we approached the doorway, smiling faces greeted us and the beautiful, clear song of children’s voices rang out into the street. As they sang, the presence of the Lord filled this space and filled our hearts. Their joy to have us there was a gift from God to us. El Katamia’s pastor, Rev. Ekram Atta, is a light-filled being used by God to love and guide these people, so they may, in turn, bless this burgeoning area.
The sun shone out brightly as we left the apartment - the surprising rain hardly remembered - but God’s blessing truly enveloped us and rained down on us through the love and gracious hospitality of our brothers and sisters here at El Katamia. We look forward to seeing God’s church on the square and witnessing the effect of His powerful love in this city.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!” Ephesians 3:20
by Rachel Segars
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC
Due to rare heavy rains, our trip to Moassaset Al Zakah was changed to a meeting with Rev. Elia Amen at our hotel. Having visited the church on a previous visit, I understood the reasoning that our bus would not be able to traverse a rain-soaked dirt road because of the mud.
We were blessed instead to meet for an hour with Rev. Elia. He shared his calling to this amazing congregation, a calling he described as an adventure far from home. It takes him two hours and four changes in transportation to get to the church from his home. Moassaset is a very poor community involved in the trash industry.
One of the things that sticks with me was the way you can hear the love Rev. Elia has for the people of Moassaset, telling us he is encouraged by their heart and hunger for the Lord, especially the youth. The hunger for the Lord was evident from the beginning. Rev. Elia had a vision when he first arrived of completing the sanctuary of the church. The members lacking the resources to donate offered their labor for free to build the stage. This ended up being better than monetary gifts because, with the cost savings on labor, they were able to complete the construction of the whole sanctuary, not just the stage! And best of all those that worked have a new sense of ownership and commitment to the church.
As this is a very poor area with few options, there are many issues the congregation and neighbors of the church face. These include unhealthy eating habits, children leaving school at the age of 11 or 12 to be able to start earning money, girls marrying early which results in difficult marriages.
The church works to address the issues of poverty. They provide preschoolers a good breakfast and lunch five times a week and then preschoolers and elementary-age children in the summer.
What impressed me most was Rev. Elia’s devotion to the children and youth of Moassaset. He has a strong desire to help the youth grow in their faith as well as encourage them to stay in school and find better opportunities to help bring them out of poverty. It is a slow change, bit by bit.