Category: culture

Guest Post by Elly Lloyd

We departed from Cairo on Thursday morning to explore more of Egypt and connect with more persecuted believers. Our first stop was East Samalut in the Minya Governate – a popular stopover for Christians on the Holy Family Pilgrimage. While we can’t be sure about the specific locations that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus visited while in exile, it is interesting to imagine Jesus spending time in Egypt as an infant. Many Christians live in and around the Monastery of the Virgin Mary – they were very kind to us and had a tangible devotion to the Lord. They were so kind that one mother entrusted her newborn daughter to my care for a few minutes – a precious memory.

After a delicious lunch that included some of the most incredible dips we’ve had so far (Dave certainly enjoyed the dips, singlehandedly cleaning out all the dip plates), we met in a secret upper room with some local Christians involved in discipleship ministry throughout the governate.

Continue reading “// DON’T ESCAPE FROM THE PAIN // Egypt Travel Blog 07”

After we visited El-Botroseya, our Wednesday continued next door at a massive church: St Mark’s Coptic Cathedral. We learnt about the history of St Mark’s and the gospel’s spread in first-century Egypt through the church’s namesake: Mark the Evangelist and author of Mark’s Gospel in the bible.

Now the Italians claim that Mark the evangelist is buried at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. At the same time, the Egyptians claim that his head is in Alexandria and that parts of his body are here at this church in Cairo. We didn’t get a chance to do any DNA tests to prove Mark’s identity while visiting his shrine, but either way, Mark is a big deal for his pioneering gospel work in response to Jesus’ great commission.

After learning about St Mark, we made our way through a maze of stairs, up a lift, and into a backroom of the cathedral for a confronting and solemn experience visiting the Martyrs Hall.

This was the moment I had been waiting for since learning about our travel itinerary.

Continue reading “// THE EMPTY MONUMENTS // Egypt Travel Blog 06”

It’s strange to think that a morning in the desert learning about the Desert Fathers (including one of my church history heroes, Athanasius, who spent formative time away in monastic communities), visiting the 4th-century Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great, having a modern-day Monk sing a beautiful trinitarian hymn to us acapella, seeing what are claimed to be the relics of Elisha and John the Baptist from the Bible, observing Mohammed Salah billboards up and down the desert highways, and enjoying the centring peace and calming quiet of the desert… was NOT the highlight of our Wednesday.

It’s only our second full day, and I’m reasonably sure all seven members of our Open Doors team are falling in love with Bishoi. What a man of contagious joy and with a super-power for telling remarkable stories. One of the things that Bishoi has encouraged us to do is to experience Egypt. The invitation was that we would not just see the beauty of an ancient building still standing, but we would see the hands of the skilled men and women who built it so that we would understand their circumstances and know their stories.

The day’s highlight was the opportunity to experience two stories from 2015 and 2016. These were two stories that moved me when I first heard about them and stories I have shared previously in conversations and sermons.

The contrast from the contemplative morning in the desert to the afternoon back in the hustle and bustle of downtown Cairo couldn’t be starker.

We arrived through heavy security at El-Botroseya Church with the scorching mid-afternoon heat on our backs and the constant honking of horns around the perimeter of the church compound.

I didn’t realise just how close we were about to get to these familiar stories.

In a matter of seconds, we were retracing the steps of a suicide bomber.

Continue reading “// IN THE STEPS OF A SUICIDE BOMBER // Egypt Travel Blog 05”

After meeting with Matta, our first full day continued with an introduction to Bishoi*. Bishoi is our tour guide for the week. He’s a trained archaeologist, brilliant storyteller, and lover of Jesus. Our first trip out from the hotel is to Old Islamic Cairo to learn more about when Islam first came to Egypt.

The highlight of the ancient buildings and bazaars we visited was spending time in the beautiful eleventh-century Al-Hakim mosque. While seated in the inner courtyard of the mosque, Bishoi quietly told us the story of how Al-Hakim became Caliph. He was a brutal leader known by some as the “mad Caliph” or “Nero of Islam”. Al-Hakim was fixated on destroying Christianity.

Continue reading “// AND YET HERE WE ARE // Egypt Travel Blog 04”

Waking up to our first full day in Cairo, the smog was out, our hearts were open, and we were ready to hit the ground running. When Gabe and Mike (CEO of Open Doors Australia) prepared our itinerary, they try to squeeze in as much as possible while we are on the ground in Egypt. It is a privilege to be here, and we want to maximise the time meeting with persecuted believers from the moment we touch down until the moment we take off.

Following a hotel breakfast by the Nile and a brief time in God’s word and prayer, we were ready for our first meeting. Straight away, there was an element of secrecy and danger involved as we met with Matta*. Our group split up into two’s, and we arrived at staggered times at the hotel room. This was to avoid the constant surveillance of authorities (and nosey hotel housekeepers!). While there was a slight risk for our team, there was a significant risk for Matta in associating with us. He later told us that government officials would have interrogated him if they knew the nature of our meetings.

Continue reading “// WE’RE NOT HERE TO SELL PERSECUTION // Egypt Travel Blog 03”