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.
Matta is a significant leader working across denominations in Egypt. His steadfast devotion to the Lord inspired me. He personally knows the constant pressure that the church is under. The day before we arrived, 41 Christians were killed in a fire in a Cairo church. While the media reports quickly label it as an accident caused by an electrical fault, Matta said that local Christians fear there is more behind it and that the incident was an attack.
With a mix of brutal honesty and everyday composure, Matta spoke about the expectation of suffering. He quoted 2 Timothy 3:12, saying persecution is the normal expectation of godly living and that the church has been under pressure from the book of Acts onwards. He said,
“the bible says it; don’t complain about it.”
I felt rebuked. If I’m honest, it’s easy to complain about the circumstances within which I find myself.
Don’t mishear what Matta was communicating; he’s not glamorising persecution. Far from it. He said that believers agonise over it and grieve every time a brother or sister suffers for the sake of Christ. He says emphatically,
“we’re not here to sell persecution; we’re here to talk about the victory in Christ.”
Victory in Christ – what a wonderful perspective! It’s the perspective of the Apostle Paul when he writes from prison (Philippians 3:10, 20). It’s the perspective of the exiled Apostle John when he writes to persecuted believers at the end of the first century (Revelation 1:17-18). And it’s the type of perspective that equips all believers throughout the ages to deal with whatever adversity lay before us.
*Name changed for security purposes.
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Read the rest of the series here.