Egypt, Middle East

EGY02a - Women's Discipleship Programme

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Key Partnership Information:

• Partnership Ref.: EGY02a

• Commenced: 25/11/2022

• Funding Status: No Current Donor

• Partnership Type: Humanitarian

• Funding Size: $0 - $2,999

• Annual Budget: US$ 2,200

• Connected To: EGY02

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Current Partnership Impact:

• 320 families are being assisted

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Other Partnership Information:

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Partnership Overview

In the early 2000's MM and her husband started a Bible study for women. They were asked to go to a Christian family’s home to pray for the daughter who had converted to Islam. While there, a neighbour came and asked them to pray, then all the neighbours came, and a Bible study began. For the past 20+ years more than 200 women have been meeting weekly.  

Every Monday afternoon and evening they run a meeting for the women. The women are mainly very poor, and many are illiterate. They live in tiny, rented apartments they cannot afford, many are ill, and many are widows. Those who are married have husbands who are daily labourers who often don’t get work or are too old to work. They depend on churches to survive. Many have children they cannot afford to send to school and have no regular income. 

The M’s help the women get to the meetings with transport funds if they need it. Every month they give them a food supplement pack as they have resources, and the ladies are given an extra gift on Mother's Day and at Easter and Christmas. If they can, they also assist with school bags and materials at the beginning of the school year. 

Some of the women come from quite a distance, Hekr, Masara and around Helwan City. They meet at the evangelical church that the M's attend in Helwan. They concentrate on Bible study and discipleship. Church members lead several small groups. The M's prepare study material for them to use, and each group does the same study. 

They fund the programme by asking the leaders to tithe their incomes and their two daughters in the USA also send funds. It is entirely a faith work; they have no supporters apart from this. There are eight leaders involved (five women and three men) and they carry on even if the M's are not available. There are good leaders in place to carry on the work. 

The impact of Covid and other economic pressures have collapsed the local economy and put many out of work. The middle class in Egypt is disappearing and there is a huge shortage of raw materials. Many factories have had to cut back, and some have closed. This has placed strain on this ministry which they see as vital for these women.  

History of Partnership

BHW has been partnering with the M's daughter and son-in-law since 2015 in their ministry as they seek to support an incredibly poor group of people who were previously rubbish collectors living in a rubbish city (EGY02). BHW's New Partnership Facilitator heard about this family through Harry Kuijian, our Armenian partner (ARM01), who was born in Egypt and on a visit back there connected with S and P and subsequently recommended them to us. 

As we have visited S and P over the intervening years, a relationship has subsequently developed with P's parents, who in fact initially started the work in rubbish city back in 1998. 

During a visit to Egypt in October 2022, BHW's Egypt Partnership Facilitator met with S and P and the needs of this discipleship programme were discussed.  

Beneficiaries

The 200 women who are being discipled by the M's and their team will benefit both spiritually and physically as they attend these meetings and are provided with food and school materials for their children.  

What We Like About The Partnership

The ministry is focussed on some of the most vulnerable people in Egypt, aged and sick Christian women.

The programme has been going for several years without support, so they are well established. The change in the economic situation means that its continued activity is threatened. 

They are caring for both the souls and the bodies of those involved, it's a holistic ministry. 

The people leading are simply wonderful and they are asking for nothing. Others have asked on their behalf. 

 

Key People

Leadership Profile

Mr and Mrs M are "young people" in their 70's. They are very active in ministry. Mrs M was a schoolteacher much of her life and Mr M worked for the government. They have always been Christian activists. They were involved in advocating for a group of people living beside a cement factory and the government allocated land for all these people to shift to. This is where our partnership, EGY02, now operates. Mr M is a Bible student and teacher and still travels around the Cairo area and into Upper Egypt to speak in churches and at conferences. 

They have three daughters, two of them live in the USA and then, P lives nearby with her husband S. We have visited the M's home several times, stayed there on occasions and had many meals with them. They are wonderful, godly, generous people. 

 

Vision And Annual Strategy

In reality, the only strategy here is to encourage and help as many people as they are able. Most are unable to work and just need someone to love them. As long as they are able, they will carry on doing this. They do also have other people working with them so the work will carry on into the future once the M's are not able to continue because of age or ill health.