Egypt #4 - Three Churches, Three Centers of Blessing
Three Churches, Three Centers of Blessing
By Karen Copley
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC
“…hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
II Corinthians 4:8,9
Love covers and moves in this village like the warm sun and comforting breeze. All these are palpable here. Love for the village; love for family; love for the church; and love for God.
We left Cairo in the early morning mist to begin the four-hour drive to Minya in the south, called Upper Egypt, on the Nile River. For many miles, the highway roadside is sand as far as the eye can see, but the closer we get to the Nile, bright green squares of low agriculture begin to appear. We are traveling to a village of farmers.
We leave the modern highway, and the sandy dirt roads become more and more narrow as we approach the church of El Debiky. Hands wave in welcome from the dirt yards, the women beautiful in colorful dresses and the men of the desert with glowing robes.
As we descend the bus, the greeting is gracious and warm. Rev. Manasa Nesen Sadek, the church planter, and the lay pastor, Emad, guide us into a beautiful sanctuary of bright blue and green. Birds are flying through the open windows filling this holy space with birdsong that seems to be praises to God. Outside is a grassy courtyard surrounded by a white block wall. Chairs and small tables greet us, and we sit in this pastoral yard with cows mooing, roosters crowing, doves cooing, birds singing, and children playing.
We fellowship with our brothers and sisters here, even though we don’t speak the others’ language, over generous servings of a layered pastry called “fateer” dripping with honey and molasses, and served with buffalo cheese. The bounty of their land.
Rev. Manasa begins to tell us the history of this village church, and our Tharwat Wahba translates. It’s an engaging story of struggle, faith, and divine intervention. He tells how in 1997 a young man of the village searched the surrounding areas for a pastor to perform his wedding, but there was no pastor, no church. Finally in another area, Tayeba, he found Pastor Maurice to perform the ceremony in the street of El Debiky, just a cow farm then.
Six brothers of faith who lived in the village donated a piece of land to be used for a church. Pastor Emad came in 2006, and worship began in 2007, but the struggle to worship also began. Officials and security forces closed the church for two years, but they continued to meet together in the village to worship, then on carpets in the courtyard, begging officials to open the church, and eventually defying officials and going back into the church to worship.
Then in 2010, unrest between Muslims and Christians began to increase, and police once again interrogated Pastor Manasa, arresting the lay pastor, Emad, and the church doors were closed once again. The police continued to harass, until finally, by God’s grace, El Debiky was issued a permit to worship and became an official church.
A beautiful ending to this spiritual struggle is that the policeman who harassed him so much asked Manasa to pray for him and his family. Now they have become fast friends.
This story unfolded before us as we listened in the courtyard. We were overwhelmed as, first, one of the six sons who had given the land strolled up, then another, then grandsons and children. Sitting on a nearby stone step, humble, yet strong, sat their 85-year-old mother. The matriarch of generations passing along The STORY of God’s love and sacrifice to others in El Debiky.
Praise be to God!
By Rachel Segars
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Spartanburg, SC
After a delightful visit with the El Debiky Church, Ed headed to the far left north of Minya. There we drove up to a construction site with three floors very close to completion, the site of the long-awaited new church of Ard Soultan. We met with Pastor Emad Butros and four elders.
This was the new church location in a property long owned by the church. The Presbyterian Church began its ministry in Ard Soultan in 1926! The original site was only half a mile from the construction site we visited.
A circuit pastor pastored the church for 46 years in this small 60-square-meter apartment. During his ministry he purchased the land on which we were standing. He applied for a license from the government to build a church on the land but was ignored. The site was instead used to build a home of the pastor and another building for students.
In 2009 Pastor Emad, a previous elder of the church, was ordained as the minister for Ard Soultan. Emad applied again for license to build the church and was told no. However, he told the church that he believed they would eventually get license, so he had the church start raising funds for the construction of a new church on this property in the heart of North Minya. And he wanted church on that property so they moved out walls in the pastor’s house and started worshipping there and began ministries in the neighborhood. They began building relationships with Muslims and leaders in the area, even inviting them for drinks and food at sundown during Ramadan. Finally, in 2019 the church was given its license to immediately begin construction.
Three things stand out to me. One was Elder Ashraf who spoke passionately about the reality of a 45-year-old dream coming true. This was a dream of his parents and many of those at the church who had not lived long enough to witness it. There was such joy on his face to be able to show us how close they are to opening the doors of this new church.
The second thing that made such an impression was the foresight and faith of Emad to start raising funds for the church 10 years before the answered prayer. Hand in hand with this was how those funds were raised. It is a common practice to visit other churches in the presbyteries to raise funds. They visited 54 churches and received from regular people of the church donations beyond 3,000-10,000 Egyptian pounds many times and as much as 20,000 Egyptian pounds a few times.
Finally, we were able to go up to the very top floor of the construction site that could be termed a roof if not for the rebar sticking out in unfinished columns waiting for future floors to build. Emad, the visionary, has many plans for this church and its future ministries. The church has even applied to build three more floors, hoping to get approval for at least two. Standing on the incomplete “roof” you caught this vision and looking down at the heart of the city understood the difference this church will make in this area.
Pastor Emad was a jovial man with a deep heart for this area and a determined spirit to care not only for the people of his church, but all those in the area. This compassion and faithful service to the whole neighborhood is what allowed this 45-year-old dream to finally come to fruition because the church had good relations with their Muslim neighbors.
I look forward to seeing the full completion of the church building and look forward to hearing how this church will continue to grow and thrive in Ard Soultan.
By Brady Clark
First Presbyterian Church, Amarillo, TX
Three churches, three unique stories, and three very different economic realities. Today has been an incredible journey through the lives of a poor rural church, an urban church, and an affluent suburban church. All have beautiful and inspiring stories of how God has moved throughout the lives of these congregations. We have sat, listened, and learned from them each and tried to hear the voice of the Lord through these faithful servants of the Gospel. The resounding truth that has struck me is that, as Peter says in the book of Acts, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.”
The profound faith and miraculous provision I have constantly seen Him pour out on his most poor and humble servants has been a source of great joy and inspiration to me personally throughout my ministry, however today I was reminded of the great beauty and faithfulness of His church in all walks of life. The church leaders in suburban New Minya encouraged me in their ministry to all people of their growing city, from the orphan to the affluent. Their faithfulness and reliance on Christ is a reminder that God does not just take care of the downtrodden, but all of His children. He pours His Spirit out on all of us who seek Him. Rich or poor, rural or urban, educated or not… He works in all and through all to share the grace, love, and redemption of our Jesus to all mankind.
