“Many Christians in Egypt are now able to share their faith”

Egypt is one of those countries in the Middle East in which a majority of citizens identify themselves as Muslims but at the same time reject what radical Muslim movements are doing in neighbouring countries like Libya.

The death of the 21 national Coptic Christians at the hands of Daesh (ISIS) has opened a dialogue about faith in Egypt, several local evangelicals are saying.

The cruel images showing the assassination of the Egyptian workers left “most of the people here in Egypt very sad and angry”, a Christian in Egypt told Evangelical Focus via email. 

Another Christian living in the country also told this magazine that “Egyptian society was saddened and grieved by the news.” This forced the government to take action in the aftermath: “people were happy when the Army attacked ISIS in Libya with air strikes”.

EVANGELICALS PRAY AND SPEAK OUT

The killings of Egyptian Christians opened unexpected doors to speak about Christ in this Muslim country.

Evangelicals “started to pray and asked people to pray for forgiveness”. All the media were speaking about the 21 martyrs for days and “many people were able to share about their faith and the love that there is in Christianity”.

Believers “asked God to comfort the relatives of the martyrs,” added another Christian consulted. The Christian community “also believes that the blood shed by those martyrs will open the doors for non-Muslims to come to Christ”.

WHAT DOES THE MUSLIM LEADERSHIP SAY?

How did the Muslim religious leaders in the country react? “They condemned the deeds,” said one Christian.

But Christians in Egypt have suffered many attacks by Muslim groups inside their own borders in recent years. The Christian minority knows what it is to see their churches set on fire.

That is why another believer answered that now “most Muslim leaders in Egypt are against ISIS even if they have the same thoughts and ideas… they have to say that ISIS is against the good and peaceful Islam”.

“BOMBS AND EXPLOSIONS NOW AND THEN”

Citizens in Egypt have sadly become familiar with religious violence. “Egyptians accept that there are Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt causing terrorism and do not see them as true Muslims”, one Christian wrote. “People here think that they [Muslim radicals] can kill anyone who is different from them”.

“Egyptians already face terrorism from Muslim Brotherhood members. There are bombs and explosions every now and then”, added another believer.

However, “the threat of ISIS seems far from Egypt as they cannot enter the country easily”. People “do not feel particularly threatened by them and are relying on the government and army to resolve the problem as soon as possible”.

HIGH PRICES AND STATIC ECONOMY, OTHER WORRIES

What are the other concerns of the Egyptian people? There is fear that “prices will go up… there are rumours that gas prices will increase”.

A foreigner working in Egypt commented that many Egyptians “are concerned with their jobs” in a “static economy”. “Particularly the English speaking lower paid workers with little financial security who rely on finding jobs with foreign companies or in the expatriate communities so they can use their language skills, e.g. drivers, domestic workers. Many of these were in the tourist industry which is now not very active due to political instability and increasing urban terrorism.”

Another Egyptian Christian believed there will be changes: “People here hope that the new president (Abdel Fatah El Sisi) is taking the country in the right direction even if this will take time”. “Christians are having more freedom, and are more protected now than before,” he celebrated.