T
he Seventh-day Adventist Church’s first missionaries arrived in Egypt in 1899, but they had little success. By the autumn of 1908, 10 Adventists were in Egypt, and three of them were missionaries; only seven local believers had been won in almost 10 years. In September 1908, however, two new missionaries arrived: George and Mary-Ann Keough.
Egyptian church leaders stand in the street outside of Keough’s house in Beni Adi in 1968. The house uniquely was on both sides of the street linked by a bridging section.
Looking Back
The Power of Real Christianity George and Mary-Ann Keough’s incarnational ministry
GEORGE AND MARY-ANN KEOUGH
George Keough was born in Scotland and raised in Northern Ireland. Mary-Ann was from Yorkshire, England. Both regions are known for producing people who were strongminded and willful. They would need stubbornness and self-belief in their assignment. George Keough quickly grasped (as he later recalled) that Adventist mission work in Egypt “was only for expatriates with no influence on the local people.”* On arriving, he was told not to learn Arabic—that there was no point, because local people could not be won. Deciding to speak to them in their own language, Keough did learn Arabic. He was eventually able to both speak and write it fluently; he also learned the form of Arabic spoken by the fellahin, the peasants who made up 90 percent of Egypt’s population. Fervently desiring to find a way to connect with them, in 1911 the Keoughs left Cairo and moved deep into Upper Egypt. Their new home was Asyut, 250 miles up the Nile. This was a huge step for Keough and his family (a son had been born in 1909). Very few Europeans lived in Asyut. In fact, because it lacked archaeological remains, Europeans rarely visited the region. The Keoughs were exceptionally isolated. REACHING OUT
Evangelistic opportunities were limited. Proselytizing Muslims was against the law, and witnessing to native Coptic Christians was difficult because of their tightly knit communities. In 1912, however, God intervened. Keough was contacted by Yacoub Bishai Yacoub, a Christian and an important figure in his village of Beni Adi. Convicted by the fourth commandment, Yacoub and his family had started keeping Photos: Provided by Author
