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.
Rewind to a story I first heard about in 2015. Twenty-one foreign workers – 20 men from Egypt and one from Ghana – were working in Libya. Terrorists kidnapped these men because they identified as followers of Christ. Forced into a camp for three weeks, each day, they were urged to deny Christ and turn away from their faith. As the three weeks went on, the pressure grew more intense. But all 21 of these men stood firm in Christ, refusing to deny their allegiance to their Lord and Saviour.
Consequently, in January 2015, they were marched out onto a Libyan beach in orange overalls and executed at the hands of extremists. This act of brutality was filmed and then broadcast around the world.
I still remember the horror of learning this story when the news broke in 2015 but also inspired by the immediate and reflexive words of love, grace, and gospel confidence from the Pastor of many of the Egyptian men martyred,
“From the Egyptian church to ISIS: we love you and have pity on you, and pray that God may open your eyes so that you can see the true light in Jesus Christ […] We’re not intimidated by your threats. Death is a vanquished enemy for us, vanquished by the power of The Christ in His resurrection from the dead. We are not armed, and we’re not militant, but our prayers are stronger than all your weapons.”
What a response! These people believe in the resurrection of the dead, knowing that death is not the end for those who belong to Jesus.
It was a solemn moment hearing Bishoi retell the martyrdom of those 21 faithful men and the otherworldy response of their Christian community in the face of adversity.
I could end this blog post here, and I trust you’d be heartened to learn this story of faith.
But there was more to come as the reality of this experience was about to outweigh my pre-existing expectations.
Before we went into Martyr’s Hall, I expected to see 21 monuments for the 21 courageous men martyred on that Libyan beach.
The reality? There was so much more to see.
Yes, we saw the monuments of those 21 men; unsurprisingly, there were a further 29 monuments for those killed in the bomb blast next door at El-Botroseya, but more than that, there were multiple rooms with hundreds of monuments!
Hundreds of ordinary people with portraits on the wall, a quote about their life, and a box with some keepsakes.
It was haunting to walk past monument after monument.
The image that remained most vividly etched in my memory that day was discovering a whole line of empty monument boxes.
Why were they empty? They know that there is more blood to be shed! The boxes will be filled.
The expectation for followers of Jesus in Australia is that, hopefully, following Jesus won’t interrupt my schedule or bring about too much discomfort.
The expectation for followers of Jesus in Egypt is that one day your picture and plaque may be displayed above one of those boxes.
Mike Gore called this my penny drop moment on the trip when I really grasped the reality of life and death in the persecuted church. And it’s true; I can’t get the image of those empty boxes out of my mind.
One of my favourite bible verses that I’ve already shared in part 2 of this series is Philippians 1:21
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (ESV)
The persecuted church in Egypt can teach us to live for Christ, to die for Christ, and to know that even premature death and departure from this life is gain. Gain because we get more of Christ. Gain because we will see his face. Gain because it is worth giving up everything for the sake of the One who gave up everything for us.
The persecuted church around the world can teach us to hold fast to Christ amid the threat of martyrdom, knowing that death is not the end for those who trust Him. Jesus is victorious over the grave, and our tombs will also be empty on the last day.
Father God, thank you for the love and mercy shown to me and all people through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection of your Son. May your Spirit give me strength to hold loosely to the things of this world, helping me to believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Amen.
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Read the rest of the series here.