Egypt #5: Building on History: Heliopolis Evangelical Church and Old Christian Cairo
Building on History: Heliopolis Evangelical Church and Old Christian Cairo
By Nancy Fox, National Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC
It was our pleasure to worship on our final day, Sunday morning, December 11, with the Presbyterian community in Heliopolis, which means City of the Sun. This is a traditional church, and the Sunday morning service has many retirees (since Sunday is a work day or school day in this majority-Muslim country) and has always been formal and traditional. But the church has built on its traditional worship to retain the highest quality and reverence while also adapting to the use of worship leaders who work closely with a musical team for a smoothly-flowing service. Most strikingly, this service has moved from mostly translated classical Western hymns (which traditional churches still know and sing in English) to the beautiful Arab-style and cadence Christian songs composed originally in Arabic for worship. Many of our Egyptian friends are part of this community of worship and mission.
Senior Pastor Dr. Yousef Samir welcomed us and gifted us with a translator for his sermon. Sitting behind us, he very capably interpreted for us the sermon on John chapter 1, “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” It was a fitting finale for our visit to dwell on this theologically profound, immediately practical, missional Christmas text with such an expertly balanced sermon. Following greetings with old and new friends, we were hosted for delicious coffee in the pastor’s office, where we had the opportunity to hear about this church’s newest mission endeavor.
Mission Elder Emad and Mission Pastor Sameh shared with zest and zeal about a new mission their church entered in June in a very poor village in Minia (the central part of Egypt). An initial team started with home visits in the village to explore and assess the needs of the community and learned of their longing for education for the kids. School only went through third grade, and most kids – like their parents – could not even write their names. The church encouraged families in Heliopolis church to sponsor kids, and nearly 60 families stepped up, enough that the church took on more children into their fledgling program. Many sponsor families joined a mission trip to meet their kids and families and help install a new system for clean water for the entire village. They also remodeled many homes, which lacked roofing and floors, adding tile floors. A medical group including six specialties provided care. The team provided audio Bibles to those who desired and held a very successful event to share the gospel. There is not a pastor within 20 miles of the village, but the villagers requested that one be sent.
As with each church our team had visited, newly planted or long-established like Heliopolis, the mission vision, energy and engagement inspired us! Dr. Tharwat would say they are building on the history of Presbyterian mission which brought the good news to Egypt; but now the tables are turned, and we, the church in America, in turn, need to learn from the Egyptians’ mission.
From Heliopolis, we drove to Old Christian Cairo, to see how the earliest Christians in Egypt also built on – literally on top of – the local history to glorify God and show the beauty, meaning, and wonder of Jesus and this new Christian faith – though with subtle imagery because of the risks they faced. The Hanging Church, built over the first-century ruins of a Roman fort (dated 45 AD), has long been a favorite of mine! But under the Romans, in 284 AD, there were 120,000 Christians martyred in Egypt. Nearby, in another old church, is an ancient well and cave where it is said Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus refreshed themselves when they fled from King Herod to Egypt. If you want to know more about it, you can use Google, but I encourage you to go to Egypt yourself with The Outreach Foundation, to see the history of this people, including their inspiring Christian history, and to explore how you and your own church might help build on this glorious history, and be built up yourselves in the process. And when you go, I hope you can enjoy at least one long, lingering Middle Eastern meal, as we did with Mourad and his wife Manal at the close of our trip.
Most Americans, when we think of Egypt, think of its glorious ancient history. But the biblical story builds even on that history. There is a biblical prophecy about Egypt’s place in God’s mission to restore the world to himself – a vision we are seeing now among the churches in Egypt. In Isaiah 19:16-25, the prophet declares that the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. They will worship the Lord Almighty who will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt, my people!” And the Lord will make them “a blessing on the earth.”
