Report of the Egypt Vision Tour 2013

CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA

REPORT OF THE VISION TOUR TO EGYPT An Informal Group Account Including Observations and Recommendations for Future Actions Peter Vander Meulen, Compiler 4/11/2013

Containing the Context, Description of Daily Activities and Events, Observations and Findings, Informal Recommendations, and Appendices A-D with additional detail.

Report of the Egypt Vision Tour March 8 – 20, 2013

I. Introduction and Context On Friday, March 8, the beginning of the weekend in Egypt, eleven travelers arrived at the Cairo international airport. They were a diverse group. Ten came from the Christian Reformed Church and one from the Reformed Church in America. Although many were denominational employees they ranged in age from 35 to 78 and hailed or originated from locations as local as Jenison, Michigan, and as far as Kenya and Nicaragua. We were pastors, missionaries, mayors of small towns, business people, media types, development workers, and generalists.1 And so it was an eclectic group that assembled in the heart of Cairo to support and help envision the future of this new global multi-ministry effort; an effort made possible by the presence of Christian Reformed World Missions’ newest staff member - Naji Umran along with Anne Zaki and their four children - who followed God’s call to emigrate from British Columbia back to Anne’s native Egypt in September, 2011.

This is not an easy time to establish a home or new denominational work in this part of the world. But it may well be a moment in time during which new things can be done across a wide spectrum of ministries – from mutual support in our discipleship and education efforts to active standing with people of faith who are struggling to build a new vision of a multi-faith democracy in Egypt.

Egypt is a cauldron of transformation and grace – both for individuals and for society. And Christians are all about transformation.

So our small discovery and vision group began our first day – as we would many others – with the theme of transforming grace. And as the 12 days wore on, we began looking for and finding grace and transformation in the most amazing places: in our own stories; in the high places with the Grand Imam and the Coptic Orthodox Pope; in the low places with villagers who recycle garbage for a living and those struggling to improve their lives in Minya; and especially in the Egyptian Christian community – from the Orthodox to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, our special hosts and potential partners.

Every member of the group contributed to this report. What follows is a summary of our encounters – day by day in chronological order – followed by a series of “findings” or conclusions that we’d like to pass on to you. The final section constitutes our informal commitments to ourselves and recommendations to the broader denomination and church at large.

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For more detail on the group see Appendix A containing pictures and brief biographies 1

We hope you find our report even a small bit as profitable and thought provoking as was this trip for us!

II. Chronological Summary DAY 1 Saturday, March 9, 2013 was orientation day; orientation to our trip and a basic orientation to Egypt and Cairo.

We visited two major sites: Old Coptic Cairo and the largely Christian village at Mokattam known the world over as “the garbage village with the cave churches”.

Coptic Cairo (Coptic simply means “Egyptian”) is the oldest part of one of the oldest cities in the world. Before the Islamic invasion of the 7th century Egypt and North Africa were one of the epicenters of early Christian thought and life.

The Hanging Church, so called because it is built suspended on the gatehouse towers of an old Roman fortress, is one of the oldest churches in Egypt – dating from around AD 690. An earlier church on the same site may have been there as early as the 3rd century after Christ.

Touring the church with our knowledgeable guide, Ramez Salama, was, for this traveler, like going through the looking glass into an ancient expression of early Christianity so foreign to our experience - yet so similar at a visceral level – that the only way to explain the experience is to add another dimension or two to Coptic Christianity; it is almost as if one is experiencing a world with five dimensions rather than our three.

Perhaps it is an altered sense of time; repeatedly I’ve heard Coptic Christian stories and parables that, although they happened a thousand years ago, seemed as immediate and shaping as if they had happened last year.

One lesson stands out: Egyptian identity – regardless of one’s religion – has one ancient ethnic and cultural root. Christianity came in the early centuries of the first millennium – actually earlier if you count the pilgrimage of the holy family after Jesus’ birth. The Islamic invasion (people still regularly refer to it this way) happened four or five centuries later around 640AD.

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In multiple ways – some very explicit – one gets the point that Egyptians are fundamentally one people – no matter who may be ruling them at any given time in history.2 To go from the Hanging Church and its ancient Christianity to the Zabbaleen village at Mokattam is disorienting to say the least. Yet it is in this village of garbage collectors and recyclers that the proof of Christ’s power to transform today is best seen.

The Zabbaleen3 – some 90,000 strong in and around Cairo – are ninety-percent Orthodox Christians. The community at Mokattam in central Cairo numbers between sixty to seventy thousand people.

For several generations, the Zabbaleen supported themselves by collecting trash door-to-door from the residents of Cairo for nearly no charge. They recycle almost everything – nearly 80% of what they collect. That is better than almost any municipal recycling program in the world.

Winding one’s way through the narrow streets lined by half-built 4 story apartment blocks assaults the senses of those who visit for the first time: There are mounds of neatly baled cardboard overflowing from the houses of the cardboard pickers; giant plastic bags full of plastic jugs hang from the windows of the plastic pickers; knitted items and sweaters are stacked in piles ready to be unraveled and sold as used yarn; and the pigs who eat the organic waste in backyard pens are slowly coming back after a government attempt to eliminate them because of the global swine flu epidemic in 2009.

Although we spent little time here, we are aware that Rebecca Atallah, wife of Ramez Atallah who heads the Egyptian Bible Society, is considered the “Mother Theresa” of this village. Glenn Smith, senior associate for urban mission for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization describes it this way: Father Samaan, a Coptic Orthodox priest, manages the work Rebecca is involved in.

Thirty years ago, he gave up his job in the city to become an ordained priest in the garbage village. When he began, the village had no churches, schools, electricity, water, medical care or markets. It was just garbage, people and pigs. When thousands were brought to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, the first thing they wanted to do was build a church—and Father Samaan became their priest. Today, the garbage collectors are filled with love and motivation from God. This is what changed their village. The village is a bustling, hopeful community of thirty thousand people. They still collect garbage; however, they now have three schools, a hospital and many churches.

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The list is long: The Greeks under Alexander, the Ptolemy dynasty, the Byzantines, Persians, Arab Muslims, Ottoman Turks, French, British…

3 Zabbaleen literally means “garbage collectors” 3

Our first day in Egypt and already our easy categories and assumptions were being challenged: first, Egyptian identity is not, at root, a dual identity of Muslim or Christian. It is Egyptian; second, the Egyptian Christian community (all – Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox, call themselves “Coptic Christians”) seems to see no difference between the power of the Christian narrative past and the power of Christ to change lives today. It is all the same story – just as powerful today as in the first century.

DAY 2 Sunday, March 10, turned out to be a major highlight of our trip. Through great persistence, Anne Zaki arranged for us to meet Ahmed al Tayeb, the Grand Shiek (also called the Grand Imam) at Al Ahzar University and Mosque. In the afternoon we visited an Egyptian NGO called Care with Love.

Al Azhar is the highest seat of learning and law for the world’s Sunni Muslims. The Grand Sheik heads the University and, along with the Grand Mufti, chairs the Ulema (council of elders) as well.

For many of us, the chance to listen to and question the most senior spokesperson for Sunni Islam was an amazing thing. We were prepared to be somewhat impressed. We were NOT prepared, however, to be deeply moved.

We were deeply moved – and it appeared to us that the feeling was mutual.

Here is a slightly edited account of our meeting with the Grand Shiek written by one of the members of our group: “We entered the office of the Grand Sheik of the Al-Azhar Mosque and were seated upstairs in a waiting room. Very shortly after we were greeted by the diplomatic counsel of the Sheik who waited with us and answered some questions. Anne’s father, Rev. Emile Zaki also joined us for the visit.

After a short wait we were greeted by the Grand Sheik’s assistant, Dr. Mahmoud Azab who is the counselor to the Grand Sheik in the area of inter-religious dialogue. We were then ushered into a larger meeting room where we greeted the Grand Sheik and then sat around the table to listen and to interact. Several aides and members of the press were also present.

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In his address to our delegation the Grand Sheik described Christianity as the religion of love and Islam as the religion of mercy. Neither promotes injustice or terrorism.

Extremists seek political gains rather than religious gains and that unfaithful religious leaders abuse their religion and distort its image. Human beings without religion are blind and are searching for something more than secularism or other isms.

He went on to criticize religious leaders of all faiths for falling short in delivering the true faith, and this is the reason there is animosity rather than collaboration among people of faith. (I had the feeling that in this speech the Sheik was criticizing all leaders of the various faiths including his own Muslim brothers.)

The Imam did have some very clear advice for us in the west. He urged us to speak more loudly in our secular culture in order to overcome the voices of materialism, atheism, and the Godless globalized “culture” that seems to be taking over the world. The weakness of the church in the west was causing trouble for all humanity.

He closed with this gentle admonition: You (Christians in the West) are people of the message. You are not rulers.”

What we thought would be a very short “meet-and-greet” turned into an hour of dialogue. It was clear, as he ignored notes and aides, that for some reason the Grand Imam wanted to have a serious conversation with us. Here are some of the highlights: What is the best focus for inter-religious interaction and dialogue?  Talking for the purpose of conversion is not helpful since so many conversions are in some way forced or coerced. With regards to dialogue, we can’t try to get agreement on everything or we will “destroy religion.” We need to focus not on doctrine but on the children of the doctrine (by that I think he means the people and how doctrine is played out in their lives, in other words, ethics and values). “Religion and ethics are two sides of the same coin.”  With regards to conversion we leave that to the individual – there should be no harassment or force. He teaches this principle to his Muslim leaders.

What is the proper basis for dialogue among the Abrahamic faiths?  All religions have the same father (God) but different mothers (doctrines, customs).

Dialogue is all about being respectful of each other – Islam respects Christ even if we don’t agree on the doctrine concerning Christ. He asks us to be respectful of Islam also.

Dean Koldenhoven, former mayor of Palos Heights Illinois, described the clash he was involved in when he defended Muslim’s rights to buy a former church as a mosque.  The Grand Sheik responded wryly that the Muslim group should not have tried to buy a church as a place of worship. He opined that they… “made their own trouble.” (This was NOT the response we expected but makes sense in the light of his focus on serious dialogue. Incidents like these are distractions, he seemed to say.)

Naji asked a question again focusing on inter-religious dialogue. The Sheik responded: 5

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It is important to focus on our similarities in practice and ethics. He advised both parties to read each other’s scriptures. Again he mentioned that the need to leave one’s faith is a personal conviction and not the purpose of dialogue.

The Sheik is happy with the situation between Christians and Muslims in Egypt. There is much good will that can be built on but a strategy is needed focused on the supreme examples of love and mercy. He also mentioned the “House of the Family” that was described more fully later.

He again advised us to spread this positive message in the churches of the West. He also encouraged us to show and communicate the love of Jesus free of political philosophies.

Care With Love Following Lunch we went to the offices of Care with Love – an Egyptian NGO founded and run by an amazing woman who exemplifies many of the traits we found in the people and agencies we met.

At Care with Love, Magda Iskander, radiologist by training and social entrepreneur by vocation, told us about the origins and development of Care With Love. Founded by Magda in 1996, its goals were to develop a quality home health care system in Egypt while creating jobs for unemployed and disadvantaged people.

The organization has been highly successful and is a completely self-supporting, not for profit business that has spawned many forprofit imitators.

One of the core gifts of this organization is the “values curriculum” they have developed to lay an ethical base for the transformation of attitudes and practices of those who come to be trained as home health care workers and go on to positions of management and responsibility. Magda believes that this unique curriculum, rooted in Christian faith and practice, is the key to both providing excellent and consistent care to clients and to achieving the full, God-created potential of those who provide that care.

Magda spends only a small percentage of her time now on Care With Love. It is fully self-sufficient.

But she has a new obsession: developing a respite community in the countryside where children suffering through cancer therapy – and their families – can go to recuperate physically and spiritually. The first phase is finished. The center offers peace, quiet, security from daily hassles, as well as nutrition and mental health care designed to improve long term health of the entire family.

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After this, a smaller group attended worship at Kasr El Dobarah Presbyterian Church adjacent to Tahrir Square – ground zero of the Egyptian revolution.

Tahrir Square. This is the site where a unique community of resistance – mostly young – came together with a determination even they could not have imagined. This resistance to what had seemed an invincible security apparatus, galvanized the entire country, and after 18 days of battles with government forces, resulted in the fall of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and the beginnings of an uncertain journey to democracy.

The worship we attended – literally in the heart of the public square - was moving. In the words of one of our party: “We had to skirt the square due to the presence of a small number of protesters. The church members had hospital beds set up in the courtyard in case of trouble (they minister in this way to the injured protesters.) I was very moved to see these beds and meet the medical doctor who coordinates the care. The service itself was in Arabic with headphone translation and was contemporary in style. There were lots of young people (especially men) attending and the attendance was good. The sermon addressed three different incidents in the gospels (Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the man by Bethesda) where Jesus met different needs and brought “healing and restoration.” I was personally encouraged by the sermon. There were fervent prayers said for the family of an Egyptian Christian killed in Libya.

Reformed worship in this setting gives blood and bone to the phrase “church in society”. No one brought up sphere sovereignty.

DAY 3 Monday, March 11 was our day to take in more context and history by getting to know more about ancient Islamic Cairo. We visited the Sultan Hassan Mosque and El Rifa’i Mosque as we learned the basics of Egypt’s history since the Islamic invasion in the 7th century.

Sultan Hassan Mosque, built during the Mamelukes’ rule in 1356, is unique in that it is also a madrassa – a school or seminary. It is a massive structure with an odd, egg shaped wooden dome built around a rectangular courtyard with four doors, one on each side of the rectangle. Each door leads to one of the four traditional schools of 7

jurisprudence (guidance for Islamic life and society) - Shafi, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. This is an unusual arrangement since the schools historically have keenly competed for influence and power. What kind of ruler, we wondered, wanted all four sets of Islamic scholars under one roof?

Adjacent to this old and quite unique mosque is a much newer mosque called the El Rifa’i mosque. It was built by the mother of a 19th century ruler, Khedive Isma’il Pasha, between 1869 and 1912. It is both the tomb of a venerated saint (there were many pilgrims there from all over rural Egypt) and the mausoleum for many of the later rulers of Egypt – including the last King deposed by Gamel Abdel Nassar in 1952 – King Farouk. Interestingly, this mosque also houses the body of the late Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

The history was in front of our eyes. From the Sultans of the Middle ages at the height of the Sunni empire stretching from Kurdistan to Spain to the tombs of the exiled by-products of geopolitical power-games played by the super powers in the late 20th century. Egypt has seen it all; has been central to it all - and still is.

DAY 4 Tuesday, March 12 Tuesday morning, for some group members, was a time to process experiences to date and regroup. Others took the opportunity to go to the Egyptian Museum – a rather overwhelming but completely unique experience when it comes to ancient Egypt and the tombs of the pharoahs.

In the afternoon we visited a well known Christian media center called SAT-7 and then spent a fascinating few hours digging into Egypt’s recent political and social events in a conversation with Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a major force in the resistance to Mubarak and now, to the Muslim Brotherhood.

SAT-7 Upon arrival at SAT-7’s studios and offices (near Mokkatam quite close to the cave churches and only blocks away from the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood), a member of the staff led us on a tour of the three story building housing two production studios and offices. Then Mr. Farid Samir, Director of SAT-7, presented a detailed picture of the aims and operations of SAT-7. Here are some of the sketch highlights:

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SAT-7 has two onsite studios in their headquarters. They produce 4 programs in these two studios. They also produce 3 additional sermon programs which are recorded on location in churches. (More programs are produced in other locations).

The newest studio (rebuilt after a recent fire) is called the “The Upper Room Studio.” This new studio is where they film their women’s issues program “Thread and Needle.” This program helps to empower women. The content of the program focuses on helping women overcome social taboos, learn about their rights and has a call-in component so that anyone can call-in and discuss women’s issues. This is a program that would not have been possible before the revolution.

In the next month, SAT- 7 hopes to begin filming/making 2 more new programs. Officially incorporated and registered in Egypt as Media Evangelical Studio, SAT-7 airs programming on five satellite television channels with extensive coverage of the Middle East. All SAT-7 programs are also streamed online on their websites.

SAT-7 has significant impact and even more potential impact in the region. In the Middle East – an area without cable television infrastructure – 300-500 million people have Satellite dishes.

SAT-7 believes many watch their programs because they are “the only source of uncensored information and entertainment in the region.”

Indeed, they have a wide range of programming on their channels – from current affairs to original dramas to live church services to social impact programs and films.

They are consciously ecumenical. They work with all churches – Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, etc. Their board reflects this same mix. (For details concerning coverage, response rates and other statistics see appendix A) The organization appeared well funded and the facilities were new. Both their building and work seemed to be ‘growing and in process.’ They seemed to be really thinking about what was next – e.g. new construction, new programs, new audiences, etc.

The video of the Lord’s Prayer that they showed us reflected well the organization. It was contextual for their diverse Middle Eastern audience, but it was also clearly Christian.

The organization was clearly evangelical, but also committed to being ecumenical and to being socially relevant (e.g. women’s issues, current affairs, etc.).

Clearly there is a need for contextual and relevant teenage and young adult media, produced from a Christian worldview. Right now, SAT Kids has a huge audience, but SAT – 7’s other stations attract 45+ year old viewers. There is an unreached audience in teenagers and young adults.

Ibn Khaldun Center From SAT-7 we bussed over to the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies and a much anticipated interview with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, its founder and most famous scholar.

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Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim spoke to us about the origins and work of himself and the Ibn Khaldun Center and then took questions from the group.

Dr. Saad was born in Egypt and studied at Cairo University. Then, he went to the United States and got his Masters at UCLA and Ph.D. at University of Washington, Seattle. In the December 1980 Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Dr. Saad published a sociological analysis of militant Islamists – including a then unknown group named “Al Queda”. After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, this study became extremely influential and Dr. Saad well known.

Dr. Saad’s blunt speaking of truth to power earned him the enmity of everyone of Egypt’s modern rulers from Nassar to Morsi. His punishments have ranged from exile to 3 difficult years in prison under Hosni Mubarak.

The Ibn Khuldun Centre, founded in 1988, is the oldest NGO research center in Egypt. The organization was formed for the defense of human rights and freedom of speech. But to ensure these rights and freedoms requires a sound political infrastructure – a democracy – something Egypt has not, to date, had.

The center does research, advocacy, and direct action to this end. It was voter registration and election monitoring during the Mubarak regime that earned Dr. Said his place in prison – right next to the Salafists and members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

We asked Dr. Saad about the 2011 revolution. What changed?

He responded that the revolution changed everyone. Most of all it broke the fear barrier between people. It allowed everyone to criticize everyone and everything in Egypt – and for the first time to talk openly and truthfully about politics. It made everyone interested in participating in society and social institutions.

After the revolution, Dr. Saad defended the Muslim Brotherhood, but he is disappointed in their performance.

They have not entered into dialogue – they have not listened and responded to the people. Most dangerously, they have attempted to destroy the independence of the judiciary through proposing laws that would have the effect of removing the newest and most progressive (women) members of the court.

Dr. Saad now criticizes the Muslim Brotherhood, because he believes he must “speak truth to power”, but he has hope they can change and adapt (much like the Catholic Church changed and adapted their view of democracy between the French Revolution and the early 20th century).

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Dr. Saad also strongly believes that religious communities should be involved in society. This involvement keeps religion relevant. He spoke of this involvement as the ‘secularization of religion’ and noted its positive role in civil society.

As we reflected on our conversation, we saw a need for the church to support and stand in solidarity with organizations working for human rights in post-revolution Egypt. Further, other parts of God’s global Church may be able to learn from the Egyptian Church’s model of civil engagement in post-revolutionary Egypt. Their way forward may provide new insights for Christian civil engagement apart from the Western ‘secularization of religion’ model.

DAY 5 Wednesday, March 13 One cannot visit Egypt without a pilgrimage to the pyramids of Giza, just outside Cairo – and so, half way through our visit, we did just that. Here, a few pictures may be better than words.

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We returned to our hotel late in the afternoon, but tired as many of us were, our day was not over. At 9:00PM we had an unusual appointment with Pope Tawadros, the recently selected spiritual head of the Coptic Orthodox church.

This is the description of the visit by one of our delegation: “We arrived at the large waiting hall opposite to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, just as the Pope was finishing his weekly televised Wednesday sermon, before throngs of devoted Coptic Christians. We were not the only ones hoping for an audience, as evidenced by the many other foreigners and Egyptians all crowding near the entrance to the building we were in—but we had an appointment.

After about a quarter hour’s wait, we were escorted through a large set of intricately carved wooden doors, beautifully decorated with gold and colorful reliefs of Coptic and Christian art, and symbols of ancient Eastern mysticism. We were greeted by several monks in black robes, whose sparkling eyes and broad smiles and loud cheery voices clashed with the seriousness of their unkempt silver beards, distinctive skullcaps, embroidered with crosses and longitudinally stitched together (to indicate their awareness of the devil’s schemes to devour the faith of any who are not alert).

The room was prepared for our large group, and we formed an oval of chairs directed toward the pope’s large central throne. He entered, a tall soft-spoken man; a man of humble wisdom, without pomp, a ready smile, and full of kindness. That was our first impression.

The meeting itself was uneventful, not filled with important subjects, but genuine, wherein we came to see this man (the leader of a denomination thirty times the size of the Christian Reformed church, and having the same caliber—in the eyes of his flock—as the Roman Catholic Pope) as a man who has no intent to distance himself from his past, or his people. He told us about his own life of dedication, of ministry in the Sunday Schools, and among the people of the Western desert, and his life in the monasteries, his relationship with the previous pope, the procedure and the surprise of being chosen, and his hopes for building bridges and conducting his leadership with spiritual, pastoral, and prayerful focus.

In our time for questions, he shared a little with us about the outreach and social development arms of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the possibility of ecumenical collaboration, the growing number of Coptic Orthodox congregations and monasteries around the world, and the slow and difficult, yet hopeful, work of building bridges with other local denominations and with leaders of the more moderate wing of Sunni Islam at al-Azhar.

As we left, we witnessed a moving interaction between this new Pope of the Egyptian people and our bus-driver, a simple elderly Muslim man, who had asked to come in with us “for a blessing.” All of us were lining up to shake hands and say good-bye, and when his turn came, he bent low, as he grasped the hand of the Pope—showing deference, and 12

faith, that this man represented truth, and holiness, and had something to offer that his own religion did not.”

We realized again that these meetings and this tour is full of unique and rare experiences, and that the possibility of extending the hand of ecumenical fellowship and evangelistic hope comes with many layers of potential learning and ministry.

DAY 6 Thursday, March 14, 2013 We left our hotel at 6:45 AM on our trip to Alexandria. We hoped to accomplish a number of things today: First, an in depth briefing from Naji about his and Anne’s experiences since arriving almost 18 months earlier, second, a visit to a desert monastery, and third, a site visit to Village of Hope – a model program for people with special needs.

Halfway to Alexandria is the desert monastery of St. Macarius the Great, established in the 4th century and continuously inhabited by a community of monks since that time. Like so much in this part of the world, the monastery is a wrinkle in time. It contains a fortified keep where early monks rode out attacks by nomads from the Western desert, but is surrounded by orchards and fields of that make it a major alternative agricultural enterprise.

While there, we were asked by the monk in charge of external relations for an impromptu consultation on how to communicate the core concepts of Christianity to groups of young people visiting from Europe.

Following our visit we reflected that Father Murcurius, our host at the Monastery, could be an excellent partner as we look at developing unique educational and short-term ministry programs for youth.

Alexandria’s “Village of Hope” is a long way in time from the Monastery of St. Macarius, but it is rooted in the same need to respond to the love of Christ in community. Originally this was the deep need and dream of Nada Thabet who was struggling to find help in dealing with her own mentally disabled child, Maged.

Today, the Village of Hope is not only a center for rehabilitation and development for those with mental disabilities, it is also a significant force for changing Egyptian society’s treatment of and attitudes toward those with disabilities.

We visited the village, had lunch, toured the bakery and workshops, and talked with Nada. Like Magda Iskander’s “Care with Love”, Nada Thabet and her supporters have built an effective ministry that has shown Egyptian society a new way to serve those in need through direct service that also results in changing attitudes and even laws.

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One cannot visit Alexandria without taking in the latest iteration of the ancient wonder of the world – the library at Alexandria. It is good to be reminded that for centuries when Europe and North America were hinterlands, Alexandria was the center of Christian thought, of intellectual research, and of learning. It is stunning to see the new library, finished in 2002 with room for 80,000 volumes and study space for over 2,000 scholars on 11 cascading levels.

Our visit to the library and monastery of St. Macarius, and our continued learning about early Christian thought centered in this region expanded our understanding of our own history. We trace our theological heritage to the Roman/Western traditions and Church fathers. What insights might we gain for living in today’s world if we knew more of the Eastern/North African tradition and church fathers?

DAY 7 Friday, March 15 We worshiped at Heliopolis Community Church, an international fellowship, where Anne and Naji served some years ago as youth and later as interim pastor. Naji and Anne have many deep relationships in this church and it is a source of support for them. It is also a fertile ground for networking.

Middle East Reformed Fellowship Following worship we motored to one of the Presbyterian social complex housing a church, orphanage, and medical clinic and ascended to the fifth floor offices of the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF), mission partners of the Back to God Ministries.

We visited Dr. Victor Bedros, Managing Director of MERF in Egypt. MERF has an office in Lebanon in addition to Egypt. The principal office in Cyprus is under the leadership of Rev. Victor Attallah.

MERF has a presence on radio (including internet radio), Facebook (15,000 fans), SMS, and short-wave. Instant texting has become an important medium for communication with listeners.

MERF also produces literature, including a Sunday School curriculum translated from English, and does conferences each year for pastors and leaders.

MERF partners with Back to God Ministries International and with Words of Hope.

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Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC) Our meetings with seminary President, Dr. Atef Gendy, and seminary students were some of the most informative and helpful of the visit – and so we report on them in some detail.

We should note that Anne Zaki has strong connections to ETSC in various capacities. She is a part-time instructor there and has just finished a stint helping at the development office.

Calvin Theological Seminary has also had significant contacts with ETSC in the past, sending several students for summer field education.

Dr. Gendy is a civil engineer by training. Dr. Gendy first got into theological education because of a concern for the lack of pastors in the Presbyterian churches in the villages of Upper Egypt.

ETSC dates back to 1863, only nine years after the beginning of the Presbyterian missionary effort. The seminary started from a boat on the Nile because foreigners could not own land. The converts came from the Coptic Orthodox church, since it is illegal in Egypt to evangelize Muslims. Today there are over 350 Presbyterian churches with over 500,000 members. This is out of a total of 1100 evangelical churches and about one million evangelical Christians. The total population of Egypt is 84 to 85 million.

ETSC only had 80 students in 2000. Now they have about 300. There are branch campuses in Alexandria and Mynia. The Seminary is increasingly aware the church is not about the pastors; there is an important role for lay people.

The youth are very vibrant in the Evangelical Presbyterian church, and about 55 students are in the M.Div. program. ETSC also has diplomas in theology for lay leaders. A doctors of ministry is beginning in collaboration with Palmer Seminary at Eastern College.

The newest initiative of the ETSC is the Center for Middle Eastern Christianity led by Wageeh Mikhail, a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary. ETSC senses the need to reclaim the history of the church as part of the contribution of the church in the Middle East back to the Western church. Apologetics was the strong point of the historic Alexandria church.

Dr. Gendy was very willing to answer our questions and give his views. Here are a few of the important observations he made: 

ETSC is making a major shift in the way that they teach theology. For years theology was scholastic. ETSC is interested in “market theology” – theology that relates to everyday life. One example is the doctrine of the incarnation. What does this mean for us today in our context? What does it mean to carry the cross? ETSC desires a theology for the public. This is a shift from an emphasis exclusively in sound doctrine to an emphasis on sound life and conscience. This is also a shift from an exclusive focus on pastors to recognizing the importance of lay people. What does it mean for a business 15

person to live his beliefs in the market? How can lay people practice the presence of Christ? How can the way we live be a revelation of Jesus and our faith? 

This also involves an increasingly urban emphasis as students are doing field assignments in orphanages, prisons, homes for the elderly and with street kids.

Right now religion has a bad image. This is a chance for the church to give it a different image. Today three-fourths of the students at ETSC are lay people!

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What should be the strategy of the church in the present context with an Islamist President? In the past the church has looked for instruction from the West.

Now it is the responsibility of the church of Egypt to maintain its hope through prayer and a prophetic vision. This is not a time to shrink back but to be an active player in what is happening. The church must have a prophetic voice for the poor and marginalized – whether they be Christians or Muslims. The church needs to stand for righteousness – but on behalf of the whole nation and not just Christians. Peace-building is another important role for the church.

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The West has many stereotypes in its understanding of Islam. The majority of Muslims are moderates. Many of them have defended the Christians better than the Christians have defended themselves. Common ground with the moderate Muslims is possible on many issues. A second category of Muslims are the political or fundamentalist Muslims.

These would include the salafists who want to return to the practices in the days of Mohammed. Not all salafists are violent. The third category of Muslims is the militant Muslims. They are willing to use force to gain control. Unfortunately the U.S. is negotiating with the militants who currently are in office in Egypt. The U.S. continues to support the Egyptian government financially in attempt to avert an attack on Israel and the West.

Others we met with at ESTC: 

Phil Jackson is a Calvin College graduate from Michigan who is serving as English tutor at ETSC through MCC.



John and Ann Span are partner missionary of CRWM working with the Anglican School of Theology. The Anglicans have a closer relationship with the Orthodox church than with the Presbyterians. They have Orthodox professors in their school. John described himself as an “Islamaprobe” who tries to analyze Islam based on its own words and terms. John claims that we often interpret Islam through Christian eyes.

We also sat down with four M.Div. Students from ETSC. Here are some of the common themes that emerged: 16



Each of these students came to ETSC because of a burden for their home churches in the villages of the south (Upper Egypt) which lacked pastors. They are committed to return to their home churches after completing their education. Currently, they travel back to pastor their home churches each weekend.



The students make great financial sacrifices to leave their jobs and careers and enter the Seminary. Many of them also are absent from their families during the week. One of the students, a father of three children, said he is living on only 1,300 Egyptian pounds a month (a little less than $200 American dollars) but that God had supplied all of his needs.



All of the students had a university degree before coming to ETSC. (It is one of the requirements.) The four students we talked with had degrees in telecommunications, social work, law and media.



One of our questions was how churches can be planted if it is illegal to evangelize Muslims. A church planter will go to an area in which there is no Christian church and begin visiting the Christians. The churches usually begin with a social involvement: health, education and literacy. They have even established medical clinics with mosques.

DAY 8 Saturday, March 16 Although we had already learned a great deal about the Evangelical Presbyterian Church during our visit to the seminary and our interaction with many others, today was our day to visit several Presbyterian schools and to formally meet Rev. Refat Fathy, general secretary of the Evangelical Presbyterian Synod of the Nile.

We spent a very interesting several hours with Rev. Mohsen Monir, head of Presbyterian schools in Egypt and then visited two flagship schools in the heart of Cairo: Ramses College for Girls, and New Ramses College (coeducational).

The Synod of the Nile counts 23 schools all over Egypt. They are considered to be some of the best academic institutions in the nation and many of Egypt’s social, academic, and political leaders have graduated from these schools. (Although no longer connected, the prestigious American University of Cairo is also of Presbyterian origin.) The schools are not tools for 17

proselytizing but have been highly effective in bringing Christian faith values to a wide spectrum of society through a long tradition of explicit values based education. This emphasis on ethical and spiritual formation has attracted not only Christians and nominal Muslims but also those who want a “western” education for their children without “western” materialistic/secular cultural overlays. The Presbyterian schools have found a way to incorporate strong and explicit spiritual/ethical values while at the same time leading the way in showing excellence in education.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Society There are 16 Protestant denominations in Egypt, the largest of which, by far, is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church – Synod of the Nile. For at least 100 years the Protestant denominations have had a joint representation before the Egytian government. This provides the Protestant churches a platform for active participation in nation building – or at least in resisting discrimination.

Rev. Refat Fathy is the first full-time general secretary of the Synod of the Nile and heads the “Protestant Church Group.” He serves a four-year term. He represented the Protestant churches in the ‘national dialogue’, a series of great town hall meeting-like events sponsored by the president of Egypt some months ago. Recently the Christians withdrew from this continuing conversation because they felt that President Morsi was not listening.

Rev. Fathy graduated from the seminary in 1995 and was ordained to serve as a pastor in the south. Then he served in the north, in the Delta, and was a pastor for 12 years. He also holds a master’s in Arabic literature.

The roots of the Presbyterian Church in Egypt go back to 1854. Founded by American Presbyterian missionaries, Egyptian Presbyterians were organized as a presbytery of the PC (USA) until 1959, when they became an independent church.4 In addition to the schools, there are two major hospitals officially related to the church. The church also has a very active youth ministry.

There are five youth camps scattered through Egypt. The EPC at present numbers 350 congregations as well as 150 outreach sites, which hopefully will become congregations and counts over 500,000 members.

During our meeting with Rev. Fathy we were joined by two other Presbyterian leaders: Dr. 4

For more information, visit http://globalministries.org/mee/projects/coptic-evangelicalorganization.html.

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Wageeh Mikhail, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Christianity at ETSC, and Dr. Freddy S. El-Baiady, Director of the Salam Medical Center and one of the two Presbyterians on the Shura Parliamentary Council. What follows is a composite synopsis of our conversation with them, which continued over lunch at the nearby Synod hospital: 

The Revolution began January 25, 2011. Mubarak stepped down on February 11, 2011.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church supported the revolution even while Mubarak was still in power. This was a risky but, the leadership judged, right position. After the revolution the EPC leadership was well placed to engage in the work of helping to build a new society and democracy with freedom for all and a strong civil society sector. A series of visits and exchanges with the Muslim Brotherhood resulted in documented promises for civil rights and freedoms and the establishment of a democratic state with protections for the rights of minorities. Most of these intentions have not come to pass.



One of the things the Muslim Brotherhood promised (so as to reassure the people of Egypt and the world that they were not about to simply replace one-party Mubarak rule with one-party Brotherhood rule) was that they would not offer a nominee in the first presidential elections. They reneged on this promise and many others.



At present, the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood is at rock bottom – perhaps a 25% approval rating. They have zero experience building a state, and if elections were held today they would not win.



Egypt is suffering under a significant lack of security and absence of police protection.

This is most serious and is not improving. This means there is little protection in local areas when relationships break down. For example, sometimes the Salafis (Islamic fundamentalists) will intervene to stop the building of a church, or a small local incident escalates into a major one, and we have no recourse for correcting the situation.5



We as a church will partner with anyone who is for a civil state and supports social justice, but we are concerned by the trends. The Muslim Brotherhood is trying to infiltrate and dominate every structure of society. We don’t have a parliament – we have a Shura council, (a senate of the wise) dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies.



The Revolution had some positive outcomes for us as well. For instance it gave the Christian community in Egypt the impetus to discuss things among themselves. This hadn’t happened before. We are deeply involved in nation-building insofar as we can be.

For instance, there are now two Presbyterian elders in the Shura council – one of them (Dr. Freddy) participating in this conversation.

5

This was graphically illustrated on April 7 and 8, 2013 when groups of thugs tangled at the Orthodox cathedral during funeral services. The police took 5 hours to effectively respond. By that time 5 more people were killed – including at least one Muslim.

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The popularity of the Muslim brotherhood is decreasing. They, the Brotherhood, are using religion to get power; the Salafis, in contrast, are using political power to achieve religious goals, said Dr. Freddy.



The Salafis have more than one party. They are not the same as the Muslim Brotherhood.

There are variations among Salafis. Some are more ‘liberal’. Some are not. They are all committed to “political Islam” – i.e. establishing an Islamic state.

In early March, 2013, there was a special synod gathering of all the Presbyterian pastors in the country. They wrote a statement called “A Document of Values”. It contained 12 principles or statements that the group wished to make public. Among them are: 1) The Presbyterian church is Egyptian and NOT Western); 2) We are deeply concerned with the wellbeing of our country; 3) We support religious freedom; 4) We support social justice; 5) We need a government that is committed to improving the standard of living; 6) A government that respects human dignity; 7) A government that respects the right to peaceful demonstration; 8) In short, we pray for a government will be just, wise and good.

We closed our meeting with these leaders in serious prayer for their safety, for the security and thriving of all Egyptians, and for God’s will to be done in Egypt.

DAY 9 On Sunday, March 17, we boarded our small bus for the heartland of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church – Upper Egypt and the village of Mynia.

This is not a normal trek for visitors to Egypt and for several days previous Anne had been fielding calls from various government ministries asking all kinds of questions.6 In the end, our trip was memorable for all the right reasons – and perhaps also for our siren-screaming lights-flashing fully escorted entry and exit into Menia…7 Egypt has a very long history of spurts of terror attacks on tourists – beginning with Israel’s attempt to blow up British and American institutions in Cairo in 1954 and pin the blame on the Muslim Brotherhood. But the tactic of attacking Egypt’s government by attacking Egypt’s major source of revenue, tourism, expanded during the 1980s and 90s. One of the most horrific, a 1997 attack in Luxor by Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Group") and Talaa'al al-Fateh (Vanguards of Conquest) involved the brutal execution of 62 tourists. The most recent mass bombings were in Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab on the Red Sea in 2005 and 2006. These attacks have seriously damaged Egypt’s main industry -tourism. Even though no significant terror attacks on tourists have occurred since the revolution, the government of Egypt is very, very protective of tourist groups. All organized tours are assigned an armed, plainclothes guard.

6

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After wending our way through a huge group of young people and teenagers coming off a weekend retreat at the Menia church camp/hostel, we settled into our rooms, ate a light supper, and re-boarded our bus for the short drive to one of the historic churches in Menia for their Sunday night service.

(Most churches hold services on Friday – the first day of the official weekend, and again on Sunday night, following most people’s full working day.)

The congregation was expecting us and had a wonderful spread of drinks and snacks ready before and after the service so we could mingle with them, and had rented a simultaneous translation system so that we could hear Anne’s translation of the entire proceedings through headphones. Hospitality to the stranger – the visitor – is a highly developed cultural and spiritual gift in Egypt.

The service followed a contemporary script starting with a praise and worship group leading the gathering crowd in song. There were introductions and then the sermon.

It was a special occasion. One of the most senior pastors (who still ministered in Assiut) – having over 50 years in the ministry – was preaching. Even though we had had a long day, we were looking forward to the stories and message such a man might bring – until he began by claiming his great age gave him license to preach for as long as he wanted. His introduction alone took 20 minutes… Suffice to say that it was well worth the time – and Anne held her concentration for longer than any translator should be asked to do!

The service ended with a moving communion service at which ordained members of our group joined the elders in officiating. The church was packed by that time, but there was enough bread, wine, and the miracle of God’s gracious hospitality for all and to spare!

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We have no idea what purpose the massive police escort served. The local drivers and populace completely ignored the ruckus. If we had been rushing to the hospital to give birth, it would have been faster in a taxi. It provided us a wonderful lesson in passive resistance to assumed privilege!

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DAY 10 On Monday we got to know and experience a little more in depth the daily ministries of the church in the area of Menia.

In the morning we visited projects of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) – specifically their work with the Local Community Development Association of the village of Talla.

CEOSS, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church agency and the largest Christian development organization in Egypt, has 6 program departments that work in collaboration with associations like the one we visited in Talla. There are 40 groups similar to Talla, the one we visited, in Menia. Talla has population of 70,000, with 75% Muslim and 25% Christian – so although it is technically a village based effort and many members are farmers, it has an urban feel to it.

The programs are tightly integrated, with capacity building being the main focus. CEOSS is one of the early adopters of a “rights based” approach to development – which would be interesting to dig into a little deeper since it is at the cutting edge of development and justice theory.

We listened to a series of local men, women, and teenagers – both local staff of and participants in various development programs – tell us about their programs and their personal stories. Later a smaller group of us went to visit a family who had benefited from one of CEOSS’s signature housing programs.

CEOSS emphasizes local control and partnership. They start with leadership development and invest in local efforts building local capacity and memory in programs such as housing, agriculture, health, and so on. We were privileged to meet the president of the community association, Ahmed Anwar Morsi and the CEOSS staff leader, Amgad Shehata.

The local Talla development association began officially in 1969. Activism from young people gave it significant boost in 1990, and CEOSS began partnering with them 1998. There is an annual membership meeting that elects a Board of Trustees which in turn appoints a management team.

In the course of our back and forth conversation with the staff and participants we were impressed with a number of things: 

Their agriculture program is very specifically targeted to small farmers – those with less than 7.5 hectares.



Important base principles include working with all segments of society and an emphasis on educating all citizens of their rights.

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

There are a wide variety of programs that fit into this local control/partnership model: model pre-schools, home economics, tutoring in math and reading, children’s camps, micro loans, clean water grants, agricultural development with livestock for women, composting, vet care team, medical teams for especially eye care, hepatitis C prevention, micro-business support, environment care, and housing.

CEOSS is a nation-wide, large, and sophisticated relief and development agency that works with 24,000 associations like Talla, with about 5000 actually functioning at the Talla level. CEOSS serves over 2 million poor Egyptians over the whole nation. In the Talla area they celebrate the renovation of 3 schools, 2680 women becoming literate, 2010 small farmers registered into farm co-ops, 6105 homes built/renovated since 1996 and 384 of these built for poor families through subsidization and gifts in kind.

With Local Pastors Following our visit to Talla we found our way to the quayside of the Nile river as it cuts through Menia to a floating restaurant with a history. The boat that is now a popular restaurant run by the local Evangelical Presbyterian Church was the first EPC seminary in the mid 19th century! It was fitting that we met for lunch with four Menia Pastors; Samir Sadak, Kamal Roshdy, Eid Salah Beshara, and Elia Wadie Bolis shared their journey as pastors and the nature of their current ministry.

They spoke of things common to all pastors and to themes unique to Egypt. We heard their personal stories.

We asked about church planting in Egypt and listened to stories of successful daughter churches; of starting churches as community organizations so as to gain the respect of local leaders; of beginning schools in areas where there were few and being asked to stay and be a part of the community; of evangelism as outreach services such as schools, hostels, youth clubs, inter-faith dialogue, housing programs and the like.

We ended by asking our interlocutors what we might do to help in their work. Their answer was not a-typical of many we heard: “Please ask President Obama’s administration to stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. It is a racist regime under which the Egyptian people suffer.”

DAY 11 On Tuesday, March 19, back in Cairo, we capped our visit with several significant meetings with senior leaders in the Protestant community: Dr. Andrea Zaki Stephanos, General Director of CEOSS and Vice Chair of the association of Protestant Churches in Egypt; and Dr. Ramez Atallah, long-time Director of the Bible Society of Egypt and unofficial, highly respected “mentor” of the Protestant church leaders in Egypt.

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We spent a full and very intense hour with Dr. Zaki. His message was clear and concise; our questions were direct and built on our learnings of the previous 11 days. Here are some of the important highlights: 

On evangelization and religious freedom: Christianity and Islam are both evangelistic/competing religions. So, we must talk about co-existence and religious freedom. In Egypt we can have political freedom, political change, economic development, but NOT religious freedom (in terms of the freedom to evangelize and convert). It is a big illusion that democracy will bring this kind of religious freedom.



On the Egyptian revolution: There is a big difference between the Arab spring and the western/Latin American processes of democratic revolution. After the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, Muslims were proud that Islam was capable of non-violent change – of bringing down a corrupt regime through non-violent resistance. The average Muslim took pride in their religion again after the shame of always being associated with the radical, terroristic actions of 9/11.

Dr. Andrea Zaki was personally unaware of the Tahrir protests until after they began. Ninety-nine percent of Egyptians were not expecting the demonstrations to lead to a revolution. By January 28th, he realized that something serious was happening. He felt insecure, disturbed, afraid of criminals, etc. He had one question: “What is the position of the Islamic groups in this situation?”

The position of the Iraqi Christians weighed on his mind. He knew how the American government had a hand in the destruction of the Iraqi Christian community. But he created a statement with Dr. Atef Gendy (seminary President) against Mubarak’s regime, but also proreligious freedom and pro-security. The Presbyterian Church supported the revolution; however, after Mubarak’s ouster, within a month religious discrimination and tensions began again. The tensions were based on two main issues: conversion of women between Islam and Christianity and the construction of church buildings.

The present socio-political situation:  We have political instability. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is in power and no one thought – including them – that they would gain political control so quickly. The opposition is very divided. Most want to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections, but not for strategic reasons, i.e. to make the elections illegitimate – but because they have not sorted out among themselves a common strategy of opposition and they fear one of their number gaining an advantage over others. 

Security is a major issue. The old fear of the state security apparatus is gone for the average citizen – but also for the criminal. It is a cultural issue. Old cultural norms are 24

fracturing. Things that rarely happened (thefts, muggings, etc) because the community strongly disapproved are now increasing. The increasing lack of security is not entirely an issue of not having police on the streets. 

The economic situation is declining. Egypt has lost 2/3 of its foreign currency reserves.

Foreign investment is stagnant. Egypt is moving toward bankruptcy. Poverty is growing – from 40% below the poverty line to 55% now. Unemployment rate is dramatically rising. Egypt has a history of bread riots (bread is heavily subsidized). Soon there may be a hunger based revolution.



The MB leadership is inconsistent in their message and actions which also adds to insecurity. While the MB is composed of a wide range of Egyptians, those in control of the MB are the ideologists and the people who bring money (from inside and outside of Egypt). Nevertheless, President Morsi should not be removed from office in some nondemocratic way. He was elected. He should serve his term. The problem is that Egypt has an incomplete understanding of democracy – rule of the majority. They forget that the protection of minority rights and positions is the twin pillar.

Is there hope?

Hope comes from taking a broader view and looking at the history of other countries that have gone through similar transitions. They all have been painful, have learned from wrong turns, and they all have taken time. Christians already have the paradigm of hope: the moment of the cross is a moment of no hope; but then comes the resurrection.

What can we do?  Encourage governments and citizens to understand and support a wider understanding of democracy. Democracy is not just “free and fair” elections.  Egypt needs economic aid.  When we talk about human rights in Egypt we should not simply talk about minority (Christian) rights. Talk about the necessity of a wider understanding of “Human Rights”.

Dr. Andrea Zaki, as the Director of CEOSS and the Vice Chair of the Protestant Churches in Egypt, is sought out by many – particularly those in the Foreign Policy establishment of the US and Canada. He has recently met with American Secretary of State John Kerry, with a visiting group of Senators, and the week after we visited was to be in Washington for consultations at the White House.

The Bible Society With the education and views of Dr. Zaki churning in our minds and hearts, we made the short trip to the six story building in a residential section of Cairo that is owned by and home to the Bible Society of Egypt. We toured the impressive book store operation (there are 5 Bible Society bookstores in Cairo), a unique “bible land” experience for kids, and finally sat down with the well known director, Dr. Ramez Atallah.

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Ramez’ wealthy family emigrated from Egypt in 1962 during the Nasser regime as Nassar was nationalizing industries, redistributing land, and in general, turning Egypt into a socialist society. They settled in Montreal, Canada. Ramez attended Gordon Conwell Seminary and returned to Egypt to lead the Bible Society in 1990.

The Bible Society strives to be a place where all Christians of the country feel at home. Their goal is to make Bibles accessible, affordable and understandable.

Some years ago Orthodox Pope Chenouda came to help open their new building. They have a Bible Society table outside of the Orthodox Cathedral and have close relationships with almost every other Christian denomination.

They have 15 bookstores around the country. They only sell things, instead of giving them away, since there is no restrictions on selling bibles and Christian literature. But their product is subsidized.

Most bookstore items are sold at one-half actual cost. They evangelize by selling and this is abiding by the letter of the law – if not its spirit. They are buying (rather than renting) as many stores as they can at this time since one never knows when the window of tolerance and opportunity may close.

This seems wise because Islamic law tends to respect property ownership.

During our time with Ramez, he made many of the same points made by Dr. Zaki. Here are some that deserve highlighting: 

The main problem in Egypt is Egyptians. We are in a struggle for the soul of Egypt. If Islamist rule is going to be pressed upon society, the moderate Muslims will be the first to be discriminated against, subdued, and overwhelmed. The first target group of the MB and Salafi are the moderate Muslims. The Islamists will first veil all the moderate Muslim women before they veil the Christians. Muslims (journalists, writers, artists, actors, etc.) everyday are fighting for the rights of the Christians. They are the front line fighters. Pray for the moderate Muslims. And fight for the rights of all Egyptians (or even especially moderate Muslims), not just Christians. Fight for Muslims to have religious freedom so they can choose their own kind of Islam to practice.



We are not systematically persecuted in Egypt. Do not spread this message.



The Grand Imam (Ahmed el-Tayeb) is a credible voice for moderate Muslims, but not for the MB or the Salafis. However, he will likely not be in his role much longer. The MB and Salafis are trying to force him out.

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

Egyptian Christians are panicky. But the fact that they want to leave is a sifting of their faith.8 No staff member that has left has ever said “I am more spiritually fulfilled in the West than I was in Egypt.” Living in Egypt causes you to take seriously your faith.



The solutions are there, but the government is completely incompetent. We’ve never had a time where the government was being called incompetent from every outlet – online, television, etc. This is a new reality. We will have to see how this turns out.



But we have hope. We live stories of hope daily. The bad will come before the good.

But grace and God can work to transform people and countries.

We left the Bible Society with a great deal to think about, but with a great deal of hope also. Before ending our day we visited Ms. Faith Kenoyer and the Cairo Covenant School to learn more about that Christian day school and to explore the possibilities of sending teachers.

Our trip was finished, but our real work was just beginning. What were the important lessons we had learned? What was required of us now? How could our associated groups – both within and outside of the CRC and RCA – be positioned to support and further the well-being of all Egyptians as well as the Church and work of Christ?

The next two sections of this report comprise our effort at communicating our observations and findings as well as our informal recommendations and commitments. These are the opening chapters in what we trust will be a Spirit guided, deeply rewarding engagement with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and with Egypt.

III. Observations/Findings During our time together the vision group shared morning devotions from the book “Meal from Below” on themes of being transformed – finding grace in the “low” places. Many of us came to Egypt expecting to find an embattled place deeply in need of help, healing and grace; quite to the contrary, we found a vibrant country proud of its rich heritage, deeply concerned yet actively hopeful about its future. Above all we found Egyptians – regardless of religious orientation – to be deeply hospitable and welcoming.

8

As in Christ’s warning to Peter: Luke 22: 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

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And so we found grace in Egypt – and the realization of how much we are all in need of it. We discovered that those who live in uncertain times and places know this far better than do we. We discovered that if we in the “advanced” and “secure” places are to be transformed, we have a great deal to learn from those we met and came to know in Egypt.

The following points are observations of the group as we neared the end of our visit – learnings and lessons we would like to pass on to others and to our denominations as we develop and deepen our relationships in this area of the world. They are not in any particular order of importance nor are they polished, categorized, or highly edited. They are the authentic reflections and feelings of our diverse group9 as we sat together reviewing our experiences.

A. Egypt and Egyptian society 1. We were surprised by the gracious welcome that we received from everyone –taxi drivers to Imams to pastors to school girls in hijabs - especially given the all too recent reality of European colonialism and even more recent American intervention in this area of the world.

2. We discovered that Egypt seems essentially to be a “moderate” country. Although political violence is present in its history, the overwhelming impression is one of a highly unified people whose strong Egyptian identity has historically trumped other differences.

“The Nile flows down the middle” is an old Egyptian proverb that resonates with our observations. Egyptians seem to be one in spirit.

3. Many of us were surprised and disconcerted by the clash between the North American, sensationalistic media-driven picture of violence and extremism we carried in our heads and the reality we saw and experienced in actuality. We commented that we need to get the whole truth out. We in North America know only a sliver – and the worst sliver, at that – of what is actually happening. Groups are talking, collaborating, building, arguing, agreeing, disagreeing, unifying, demonstrating, fighting, reconciling and so on – but in North America we hear they are at war with each other.

4. But this essential moderation is under threat. Most Christian leaders we talked to use the word “discrimination” when describing their reality in a word. From our North American point of view, significant discrimination is directed at women, Christians, the disabled, Shi’ites, and Jews – to name the main groups. We were encouraged to see organizations working systematically against this discrimination and hope we can be supportive of such efforts.

5. This discrimination – particularly against Christians (which is not new) – may well turn into persecution if extremists capture power and use it to impose their will on minorities.

Emigration of Christians seems still to be increasing. This is of broader concern in the entire Middle East – particularly in Iraq where the US intervention resulted in the death or emigration of two-thirds of the Christian community there. In the cradle of our Christian faith, every single country is losing indigenous Christians – this has significant implications from geo-politics to schooling for kids. We note that the Gulf states are gaining Christians from South Asia.

6. We noted a continuing deterioration in the economic arena with those living on less than two dollars a day rising from 45% to 55% in the past few years. Unemployment has also increased to around 25%. Egypt will soon need an effective and stable government 9

For a description and short bios of the Vision Tour group see Appendix A 28

capable of turning around this economic decline – or suffer disastrous social and political consequences. On the other hand, we also noted strong entrepreneurial and sustainable models of not-for-profit organizations in a number of sectors.

7. Most of our informants seemed to agree that some form of Islamic state will emerge in Egypt. What is NOT clear is whether this state will also be constitutional, reasonably democratic, and will place a priority on protecting the basic human, religious, and civil rights of all of its citizens – including minorities and women. This is the hope.

8. Much hope! But the road is very murky (like the cyclical flooding of the river Nile).

B. The Christian Church: 1. We are surprised by the size and vibrancy of the Christian population – officially 10% while the Patriarch said 15%. Some believe the figure to be as high as 30% – but this seems too high. It is clear that the minimum percentage of Christians is 10% while the real figure is more likely to be nearer 15%.

2. We are surprised by the openness with which the Christians can worship in Egypt. As Naji Umran mentioned, the discrimination and limits on the church are more in relation to the construction of new church buildings. Church bombings in the past have generally been during the Christian high holy days when Muslim friends and well-wishers will often attend Christian services. It can be argued that these bombings and shootings are often directed at Muslims attending Christian worship rather than at Christian worship per se.

3. We discovered the strength, depth, and amazing resilience of the Egyptian church. The Christian community includes the oldest (Coptic Orthodox) and newest (Evangelical Presbyterians plus many branches of Pentecostal and Anabaptist micro-denominations) expressions of the faith. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Synod of the Nile) (EPCSN) numbers around 500,000 members – about the size of the CRCNA and RCA combined.

4. There is growing unity in the Church in Egypt. This unity is newfound and seems directly a result of the revolution and of the growing presence in Egyptian society of elements of Islam which are traditionalist and political. Church leaders and lay folks alike speak of the rich experience of living in a plural society – as a minority. In 2013 the Council of Egytian Churches was formed as an umbrella group of all Christian groups in Egypt – from Orthodox to Catholic; Anglican to Protestant.

5. We were deeply impressed with the depth, commitment, and humility of the EPC-SN pastors and leaders we met. They constitute a strong core of leaders who are willing to sacrifice a lot. The leadership manages to be both deeply intellectual and pastoral at the same time. We were particularly impressed by the expressed commitment of Dr. Atef Gendy, President of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), to articulate a “market theology” for lay leaders. Dr. Gendy talked passionately about moving from what traditionally has been an exclusive focus on “sound doctrine” to a more balanced emphasis that includes “sound living.” The role of youth in the EPC-SN – indeed in society as a whole – was strongly evident. This partially reflects the demographics of Egyptian society where nearly one-third of the population is under fifteen years of age, but also reflects the strong sense of Christian and Egyptian identity in those of this age group.

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C. Muslims and Christians 1. We observed a growing investment in Christian-Muslim dialogue at all levels.

Everywhere in Egypt we were invited to stand in solidarity “to join with us in interreligious dialogue”. We heard this most strongly from senior leaders such as Ahmed alTayyeb, the Grand Imam/Sheikh of al-Azhar, Rev. Dr. Atef Gendy, President of ETSC, and Rev. Refat Fathy, General Secretary of the EPC-SN, and many others. All emphasized the necessity of a dialogue that frankly acknowledges our differences but is focused on identifying common ground through discovering a public ethic common to both Muslims and Christians. We observed that this kind of dialogue does not sit well with our traditional denominational stance of wanting to assure theological agreement before building relationships of dialogue. (This may tell us something about ourselves and our need to grow and change as a Reformed community.)

2. “Those most in need of our prayers and support are ‘moderate Muslims10’” according to Ramez Atallah, decades Director of the Egyptian Bible Society. These are faithful Muslims, but because they believe that Islam can thrive in a 21st century, pluralistic setting, they are most under pressure from those who wish to use Islam to gain power (Muslim Brotherhood) or those who see political power as a way of imposing fundamentalist Islam (Salafists). How do we strengthen and support those faithful Muslims who are struggling against being forced to return to an Islam more appropriate to the middle ages?

3. It may be that the Egyptian church will increasingly need to resist political and social developments in Egypt. Articulating a stance against the ruling majority in an atmosphere of discrimination, of decreasing rights and freedoms, and of potential persecution, is quite different from what we experience in North America. We should stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Egypt, by continuing to bolster their courage, by being present with them as much as possible, by staying current on their situation, and by praying for them continuously. But we should also be challenged to ask ourselves whether we are ready to risk paying a price for our freedom of speech as they are, and whether we are truly resisting political and social developments. Are we salt and light, or does our surrounding culture have a stronger effect on us than we have on it?

This question, too, is much related to inter-religious dialogue, because one facet of faltering Christian-Muslim relations in today’s world continues to be the question of secularism, and Christianity’s role in the West, in stemming the tide against it.

IV. Commitments, Ideas, Recommendations Leaders in the Egyptian Church are inviting us to stand with them, with the broader ecumenical Christian community, and with Moderate Muslim communities of Egypt. They are asking us to promote a more accurate awareness of the political and religious realities in Egypt in place of the common Western media-driven sensationalistic misperceptions. They are asking us to find ways to support Egypt’s economic recovery, and political transition to a stable, multi-faith (pluralistic) democracy that values and protects the rights of all – particularly women and minorities. They remind us that this is a long-term process, and the road may be difficult.

The term “moderate Muslim” is misleading. By this we do NOT mean Muslims with tepid faith and moderate zeal but rather to faithful Muslims who also stand for a multi-faith, plural, rights based society founded on a common public ethic.

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When we asked Egyptian Christians to predict the future, they often gently told us that they had no crystal ball to foretell the future. However, in the next breath they would assure us they there was one thing they did know for certain: that there is hope. They have hope, they were quick to say, because of the resurrection. Theirs’ is a ministry of reconciliation and peace-building, and they are asking us to stand in solidarity with them. The following points are a mix of personal commitments, ideas, and next steps that the Vision Group offers to the CRCNA, the RCA, and the wider community in order to move forward: A. Personal Intentions of the Vision Group members - In an effort to raise a more accurate awareness of the situation in Egypt, members of the group will: 1. Seek interviews or write op-eds for the GR press, Christian Courier, The Banner, and other media outlets. (Andy, Peter, Joel B., Greg, Robin) 2. Those of us who have access to pulpits, blogs, and discussion groups will use these opportunities to report on our findings.

3. Those who took photos commit to uploading a selection of their best photos to the Picasa album Peter has created so that they can be used in the report, media, and in various slideshows.

4. Mike and Claudia Elzinga will upload a selection of their still photos and make raw video available (on request only) to agencies and individuals who need it for reports or clips.

5. Joel Boot will bring the cause of Egypt to the upcoming prayer summit.

B. Ecclesiastical and Ecumenical action 1. Duncan Hanson will seek to arrange a meeting between the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Synod of the Nile) and the Waldensian Church in Italy for awareness and mutual support. Duncan will also report back to the RCA Ecumenical Officer, Wes GranbergMichaelson.

2. Joel Boot will report to the CRCNA’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee (EIRC) with the goals of: a. Finishing the process of establishing fraternal relations between the Synod of the Nile and the CRCNA and, b. Engaging the EIRC in an exploration of increasing involvement in inter-religious dialogue. (The group observes that this could well be done in cooperation with the RCA through the good offices of Duncan Hanson and Wes GranbergMichaelson).

3. Joel Boot will attempt to insert a segment on the Vision Tour in his report to the CRCNA synod, 2013 – as will Peter Vander Meulen in OSJ’s part of the Specialized Ministries report.

4. Patricia Duthler will report on the visit and our observations to the appropriate body of 4th United Presbyterian Church in Chicago in order to explore possible connections there.

5. Steve Kabetu will formally report on our visit to the board of CRWM at their next meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

6. Robin Basselin will contact ELIM Christian School in Palos Heights to explore possible connections with Village of Hope.

7. Peter Vander Meulen will contact the Center for World Christianity in order to explore possible connections with Egyptian institutions.

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C. Project and Agency Work Suggestions – four broad strategies: 1. Direct Education: The CRCNA’s multi-agency Salaam Project has as one of its goals the education (or re-education) of the CRCNA constituency so that we have a more authentic understanding of Islam and Muslims. This will serve as a base of forming respectful relationships in our communities and around the world. Among the many possible connections between the Salaam Project and our Egypt involvement are: a. Use CRWM staff Naji Umran as a consultant/speaker/team member for interreligious dialogue when he is home on furlough. b. Act as a clearinghouse for speakers coming to the US and Canada from Egypt so that the CRCNA/RCA can schedule educational and informational events.

2. Establish intentional relationships of mutual learning (with EPC/SON) a. With official fraternal ties in place (see point B,2,a) a regular exchange of fraternal delegates could result in high level exchanges of information, assets, and needs. Direct synod-to-synod relationships could be highly productive in correcting misapprehensions, promoting prayer, and increasing relationships. b. We encourage Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) and the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC) to re-establish student field education relationships. (Joel Boot will follow up with CTS.) c. Maintain contact with key Christian leaders in Egypt through the CRC’s Salaam project in order to take advantage of visits they make to the US and Canada. d. Provide volunteer opportunities with Egyptian organizations for young adults from the CRCNA with the purpose of service and mutual learning. Among the possibilities to be investigated further are: Ramses and New Ramses Schools, Cairo Covenant School, the children’s cancer center run by Magda Iskander and the Village of Hope for mentally disabled children founded by Nada Thabet. e. Explore establishing social, theological, and peace-building research fellowships with various institutions. f. The CRCNA should stay flexible and creative and be willing to act quickly on unplanned relationship and program ideas when they present themselves.

3. Facilitate networking for social transformation: a. Encourage/Multiply links between Egyptian organizations and individuals. b. Link Egyptian organizations and individuals to international networks. c. Begin by establishing a baseline of existing networks within the country as well as membership of Egyptian organization and individuals in international networks. (Andy Ryskamp and Joel Huyser to follow up.) d. Possible areas for network development include: Theological, Business as Mission, Human Rights, Community Development, and Media ministries.

4. Explore the early organizing of a consultation of 25-30 CRCNA/RCA ministry staff working among Muslims for mutual support, learning, and discovery. a. One such consultation could be held in Egypt with the use of Egyptian church and its rich experience as a primary resource to stimulate reflection. (Joel H. to follow-up with Andy R., Duncan H., Greg S.) 5. A smaller, manageable event with several cross cutting themes could also be linked to a public event (such as lectures or a conference for an interested segment of religious/political leaders) in Egypt or elsewhere.

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6. CRWM staff person. The presence of Naji Umran and his wife Anne Zaki in Egypt has presented unique opportunities to learn from and with the Egyptian church. As CRWM staff in Egypt, Naji Umran will be an important resource in facilitating the four broad strategies outlined in this section. The work plan that CRWM prepares with Naji will reflect both his unique talents and gifts and the opportunities presented by this report. At the same time, we acknowledge that the responsibility to follow up on these recommendations is shared by all the members of the delegation and the entities they represent.

7. Continued inter-agency and inter-denominational collaboration. One of the highlights of our experience as a delegation was the participation of representatives of several agencies of the CRCNA (World Renew, Office of Social Justice, Christian Reformed World Missions, Back to God Ministries International) as well as a representative of the Reformed Church in America. CRWM, along with the Office for Social Justice, will continue to facilitate a broad-based collaboration that responds to these recommendations in a way that is both multi-agency and inter-denominational.

D. Miscellaneous 1. The Reformed Church in America’s El Amana Centre, in Oman, has a long and distinguished history as a teaching and educational resource. We encourage both the CRCNA and the RCA – to explore how this resource could be used more broadly – particularly in conjunction with CRCNA related colleges and universities. (Peter and Duncan to follow-up.)

2. Follow up with Dr. Andrea Zaki regarding standing with the Egyptian church in his message to US politicians. (OSJ – Peter VM) 3. Establish a relationship with CEOSS to explore ways and means of mutual fellowship – ambassadorships, etc. ‘We have faith’ ambassador team. (Explore PCUSA model.)

4. We encourage the CRCNA and its related institutions to rethink our policies on travel and field security. We wonder whether we are prone to err on the side of security – thus sending a very wrong signal to members of the body of Christ in countries such as Egypt that our absolute personal safety is our top priority. The “precautionary principle” should NOT be applied in these situations.

5. Encourage financial support for worthy ministries by connecting them with resource networks and by advocating for increased and better US aid to Egypt and to NGOs within Egypt.

6. Encourage prayer for Egypt, the Middle East, and the Muslim World by including Egypt in the prayer guide and helping individuals and local CRC congregations tap into existing prayer-networks of these sorts.

7. Assist Naji in particular in establishing an effective, safe, and efficient means of electronic social media communication with friends, supporters, the denomination, and even larger circles. (CRWM)

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APPENDIX A Robin Basselin Senior Producer and Co-coordinator, International English / Spotlight Robin received her Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies with a concentration in Islamic Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2002. She has instructed traditional and online courses in the area of Islamic Studies for Trinity Christian College and Fuller Seminary and worked previously as the Program Coordinator for Fuller's Muslim-Christian Peacemaking and Dialogue Program. Robin began working with ReFrame Media (the English outreach of Back to God Ministries International) in 2008. Her primary role is senior producer and partnership cocoordinator for the program Spotlight (www.spotlightradio.net). This globally minded radio and web based program is produced for non-native English speakers and English learners using a simplified English broadcasting technique. Robin edits, writes, voices and produces programs, and is also on the Spotlight administrative team.

Robin has a wonderful husband and three beautiful and boisterous children. As a family, they enjoy cooking, traveling, camping and serving in their local congregation.

Joel Boot Rev. Joel Boot has been ordained as a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church since 1972. He has served congregations in Le Mars, Iowa; Dearborn, Michigan; Calvin CRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Ridgewood CRC in Jenison, Michigan. He was appointed to the position of Interim Executive Director of the CRCNA effective June 6, 2011. Rev. Joel Boot is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary.

Patty Duthler Patty was reared in a Christian home in Grand Rapids, attended Calvin CRC, Christian schools, and Calvin College. She then worked with CRWRC (Central America, etc.) and other nonprofits for 15 years. She served on the board of Partners Worldwide (PW) and participated in several exploratory and service trips with OSJ and PW (Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Nicaragua). She was a past member, elder, and consistory vice president of Washington, DC, CRC and Central Reformed (GR). She is currently a member of Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago.

She worked with family-owned businesses and public corporations for 25 years. Currently, she is a managing trustee of family estates and is a real estate investor.

Duncan Hansen Since October 2002, Duncan has been the RCA Supervisor for Europe and the Middle East. For the decade plus before that he was the PC (USA) Area Coordinator for Europe. Prior to that, he was a pastor in three PC (USA) congregations. Duncan lives part of the year in Berlin, Germany; 34

part of the year on the road in his region; and in between various meetings for the RCA, in Seattle, Washington.

Joel & Jeannie Huyser Joel and Jeannie Huyser have lived in Managua, Nicaragua, since 1996. Joel helped found the Nehemiah Center and now serves as Director for Transformational Network Strategies for Christian Reformed World Missions. Jeannie has her M.A. in TESOL and currently is working with God's Treasures, a ministry for special needs children and their parents. Joel and Jeannie have four adult children and 6 grandchildren.

Steve Kabetu Steve Kabetu was born and raised in Kenya, eventually leaving home for University studies in Canada. While finishing his studies in Canada, he joined a CRC church plant that was starting up close to his University, in Toronto. Steve served on the CRWM Board from 1999 to 2002. In 2005 Steve was hired as the Coordinator for the CRCNA office of Race Relations for Canada. In that capacity Steve was instrumental in developing the curriculum for racial reconciliation called Widening the Circle (WTC) for Canada, and Dance of Racial Reconciliation (DORR) for the US. In January 2012 Steve was appointed as the Canada Director for CRWM. Steve and his wife Patricia live with their three children in Toronto, Ontario.

Dean Koldenhoven Dean served as a bricklayer for 42 years, 36 of them as a mason contractor. He has been selling brick for the last 16 years. During that time he served as the Mayor of Palos Heights, Il. He received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in the year 2002 for his stand on religious tolerance. The U.S. State Dept. asked him to go to Moscow, Russia to present the Russian language version of JFK's book, "Profile in Courage. He spoke at many universities for a 10 day period and was asked to return 3 months later to speak about religious tolerance at 3 other cities in the Ural Mt. area of Russia. He also lectured at Calvin College, Dordt College, Trinity College, Dubuque U. and Harvard U. and other schools and Universities. Dean resides in Palos Heights, Il. and is married to Ruth and has 4 married children, 10 grandkids and 2 great grandkids.

Andy Ryskamp Andrew Ryskamp has been Director of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, U.S. since 1998. Andrew started working with CRWRC in 1974 as an agronomist in Bangladesh. He has served as Field Director in the Philippines and Sierra Leone, as well as serving in North America as Director of Diaconal Ministries U.S. His passion is to see lives saved and communities transformed. He encourages the church in North America not only to support strong 35

community based work in poor communities, but to use the same principles in their own communities. That way the church is an instrument of transformation while it is also being transformed. Andrew is married to Kris and the father of two adult sons, Jonathan and Michael.

Greg Sinclair Greg is the project manager for Salaam Project – a multi-agency initiative of the CRCNA to educate and inform CRC members about the Islamic faith and encourage ministry to Muslims across the denomination. With the help of the CRWM MEET Team (Missions Education and Engagement Team), they host conferences and seminars across North America. From his base in the Canada office, he also preaches and teaches about Islam in churches. He has been in this role since November 2011. He was a pastor in Iron Springs CRC, Iron Springs, Alberta from 2005 2011. He graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary with an MDiv in 2005. From 1992-2002 he was a missionary with CRWM in Mali, West Africa working among the Fulani (or Fulbe).

He has a wife, Nelly, who has been a great supporter and helper in ministry these past twenty years, and four children. His hobby is anything related to other cultures!

Peter Vander Meulen Peter Vander Meulen worked for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Central America, Asia, the Caribbean, and West Africa for over 22 years before becoming the Coordinator for Social Justice and Hunger Action of the Christian Reformed Church in 1995. As such he is responsible for leading the justice education and advocacy work of the CRCNA as well as its refugee resettlement efforts. He is past co-chair of the Micah Challenge USA and board member of Bread for the World. He presently serves on the Micah Challenge International board and as a consultant to the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ Covenanting for Justice Process. He has served on the Church World Service Refugee and Immigration Program Committee for the past 15 years. Peter and his wife, Peggi, have three grown children and presently reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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APPENDIX B More details from our daily reports Day 2 - Al Azhar. Dr. Mahmoud Azab, Grand Imam’s Counselor for Dialogue  After staying quite a bit longer than we expected the Grand Sheik excused himself and his assistant Dr. Azab took over and described more fully their program of dialogue.  Dr. Azab spoke of Al Azhar’s initiative called the “Family House”. He said that they do not call it inter-religious dialogue but just dialogue because they dialogue with all people, including atheists.  He reinforced that doctrine is not up for dialogue but rather the supreme common ethics such as truth, justice, peace, security and human dignity.  Other areas of note: mutual respect, context, study of holy books, honesty, no one had a corner on the truth, commitment to complementing one another, guarding people’s dignity.  The focus in Egypt is on three levels: one, the educated who shape the culture; two, bridging across various sects of Islam; three, multiple Christian church denominations.  Al Ahzar is open to dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, Coptic Church, influential business men among both Christians and Muslims. In meetings that have occurred they have asked: what would you like the new Egyptian state to look like?  When we asked that of him Dr. Azab noted that Al Ahzar promotes: nationalism, democracy, a constitution, i.e. a modern plural state. It does not promote a clerical state.  Through dialogue, the participants agreed on a declaration of the four basic freedoms: freedom to believe (as one chooses); freedom of speech and expression; freedom of scientific research; freedom of artistic expression – verbal and visual.  In addition, the dialogue group in Egypt expressed sympathy with the different revolutions going on in the Middle East (but that is another lecture).  They are working on a document on the rights of Egyptian women and also one on citizenship.  In terms of dialogue they are focusing first on Egypt, then the East (Eastern Christianity) and then the world.  Dialogue with the Vatican was hindered but they are hoping to again make progress with the new Pope.  They are willing to dialogue with followers of Judaism but not the extreme right in Israel.

They can’t ignore the plight of the Palestinians.  The Egyptian Family House (their major initiative) involves reforming religious speech, restoring basic values and Egyptian values in general. After 1400 years they have had no civil or religious wars. We need to study the reasons for present religious tensions.  The west also needs to change its terminology and focus on the positive.  Dr. Azab gave an example of a retreat where 20 pastors (or Imams?) came together, lived together, heard lectures on moderate religious speech. After our conversation was done we thanked him and went for lunch.

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Additional reflections on the day by our recorder:  One theme that came out in the two presentations was the need to focus on knowledge (education) and values in order to change attitudes. This applies both to Care with Love and the challenge of inter-religious dialogue.  I was impressed that the Grand Sheik took such an interest in us and gave us so much of his time. He seemed to sincerely want to improve relations with the Christian Church and spoke very positively about the potential for dialogue focused on ethics - which is encouraging for Salaam Project and our approach.  In our discussion Andy was struck by the paradox of dialogue in the morning and then the evening church message which was to cut all your old ties and begin again, distance yourself from your old self (and old friends, Muslims maybe?).  Joel noted that this is a minority church that is in a different place than our N. American church. He noted that the translator was emotional at times. There was a lot of feeling.

The Egyptian church is a vulnerable church.  Two reflections specifically for Salaam Project: focus on pastors as Al Ahzar is doing, and collaborate with the RCA on inter-religious dialogue.  One question that I am still thinking about (and was reinforced by a comment made by a Nigerian student at Dar Comboni) is the so very positive message of the Grand Sheik.

Why is this message not more widely heard and reported on? Are all the sheiks in the mosques of Cairo preaching this?  Joel Boot added the question: does his message change with each group? Obviously trust is important in these kinds of situations and our trust has been eroded by a combination of media influence and actual events in the Middle East. But we should take the Sheik’s comments as honest ones as we would want to be treated (the golden rule is in both faiths).  Joel also noted that he thought there were tears in the Grand Sheik’s eyes when we thanked him for allowing our audience.

Future Focus  Inter-religious dialogue has obviously been deemed an important priority at this time in Egypt by Al-Azhar Mosque, and this has the potential to be helpful to us in the USA and Canada. Some of the principles already learned in Egypt by Al Azhar can be applied in North America as long as it is adapted to that context. Whether the church is the majority or the minority, these principles still apply. Values and ethics cross cultures and religions well.  Care with Love and Magda obviously have a lot to offer us also in terms of what has been learned in starting and maintaining an NGO that promotes better health care, justice and human dignity. Although I was impressed, this is not my area of expertise, so I leave that to others to discern a future connection.

Day 4 - SAT-7 – Additional detail  Their programs are 79% Arabic, 13% dubbed and 8% subtitled.  In 2011, SAT-7 Arabic had 42,000 contacts (not counting Internet contacts). They also had 8,000,000 views on the web.  In 2011, SAT Kids had 358,000 contacts and 9,000,0000 views on the web.

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An independent research agency found that 1.7 million children from Morocco/Egypt/Lebanon/Jordan watch SAT Kids. 1.8 million Saudi children watch SAT Kids. And 4.1 Iraqi children watch SAT Kids. This translates into 1/10 kids in the Middle East and N. Africa watching SAT-7 with the permission of their families.

46% of their listener responses come from Facebook.

They aim to follow-up with all contacts within 48 hours. Producers respond on behalf of their particular programs or if there are specific questions, they may send materials or hand-off questions to particular ministries.

They are funded by donations from the North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Day 4 - More detail on the interview with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim  Their work led Mubarak to imprison 28 people. Dr. Saad was in prison for 3 years (2000-2003). After 3 years, the high courts condemned the regime for their imprisonment and cleared Saas of smearing Egypt’s reputation worldwide.  Dr. Saad spoke about the independence and efficiency of the Egyptian high courts.  During his imprisonment, the centre’s offices were destroyed. For many of the prisoners, there was great trauma and a long road to recovery.  Dr. Saad encountered 3 kinds of Islamists in prison 1.) the Muslim Brotherhood (including Mohamed Morsi from 200-2002), 2.) the Jihadists, and 3.) the al Jamaat al Islamiya. After prison, the Jihadist came to Dr. Saad and said they wanted to return to politics, but peacefully (partly because of their dialogue in prison and partly because of the ineffective nature of what they did before). They didn’t want to join with the Muslim Brotherhoood, so Dr. Saad suggested that they join with the secular party (headed by Naguib Sawiris – a Christian Copt). The Jihadists said they would join if the secular party would accept them. Sawiris met and dialogued with the Jihadists and was intrigued by their willingness to change and move forward. Sawiris submitted the Jihadists to the secular party for approval. The party declined the Jihadists. They did not want to split the party. However, Sawiris gave the Jihadist $1 million to start their new party.

Additional comments from CEOSS’s Andrea Zaki  Egypt ultimately needs to address these issues and create a functional government internally.  John Kerry said “We did not bring Morsi to power. But we decided to support whoever was elected to power.” Dr. Andrea mentioned to Kerry that the US does not support Ahmedinajad – a duly elected president. Kerry said nothing. The US government said that they were NOT trying to build a Sunni coalition to balance a Shiite coalition in the Middle East. The Egyptian government should NOT put hope in the American government. Egypt must put hope in an INTERNAL answer.  Dr. Andrea does not support opting out of/boycotting the election.  Conversion between Islam and Christianity in Egypt is almost non-existent. Most of what you hear is rumors. It is not a phenomena – these are very extreme and outlying examples.  Two theological strains inside of the church in Egypt about Evangelism: o Waiting for prayer or Americans or divine intervention and bring all of Egypt to Christ o Hate of MB and Islam 39

   

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Religion is more important in Egypt than wealth, politics, etc.

In response to a question about Copts in North America/Diaspora: Some are moderate and some are extremists. It depends.

The synod and local churches are concerned with hope. “How to contribute to the future of Egypt?” They are aware of their personal responsibility to walk with hope toward the future. They do not want to give false hope. They want to bring resurrection hope. They are working for this. These are ongoing acts of hope.

He is confident that he will have the same feeling of hope that he had soon after the revolution. However, now, he feels like this is the second invasion of Islam into the country. He now needs to learn from the early church and how they adapted to the first invasion of Islam. Now living in a semi-religious state (or an Islamic state), but they have to figure out what that means moving forward. They need to learn from history and also have a prophetic hope for the future.

Additional Information on the Bible Society  Serve 500,000 Christian children each year. Started by dubbing a children’s video series – Kingo (the friendly lion). 15 minute program. Links biblical characters to a particular biblical value. They also give every second-year middle school student a free Bible.  The economy is a challenge. So is reaching young adults – using new media. So, it’s an accessibility issue.  They intentionally create a nice, clean atmosphere to honor the importance of the Bible.

They find that people respect this and give generously to it.

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