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Egypt, Middle East

EGY02a - Women's Discipleship Programme

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Report Date: April 4, 2024

Report from BHW Egypt Partnership Facilitator Following Visit in March

On Friday 22nd of March 2024, we travelled by Uber to Helwan and spent the day with S, P and P's parents (Mr and Mrs M) at their home. During our time with them we talked for significant periods about the work that is going on at Helwan Evangelical Church.

Recent Events

Activities

The work has grown over the last year from around 250 families to more than 320. They have developed a team of leaders to work with them.

The M’s go to US from time to time to stay with their two daughters and the ministry carries on with the leaders they have developed. Every second Monday evening they have a meeting with the poor and about 320 people come. These people are divided into groups, about 10 groups with a leader in each group. They register their names and IDs and have a very clear picture of who attends. Every week a small packet of sugar, tea and macaroni is passed out to each person. Two other people help them make all the arrangements from week to week. These women come from the poorest places in Helwan. Nobody from Rubbish Mountain (EGY02) is involved in this programme.

Every second Saturday they have a meeting for evangelism and many people come. Most of the people who are born and who call themselves Christians are just nominal, and they frequently see people becoming true believers.

During both these meetings they pray with many people for healing, for release from demonic oppression, and for their financial needs; the spiritual aspect of this work is very important. During these meetings they also run a kid's programme at the same time. Some people from the church organise this. Other people from the church come to help with music and singing.

The people are brought into the gatherings by bus and the costs are met from the programme. These women are very poor, and the funds are used in various ways. Some is used for shoes and clothing, and for school supplies and school bags. In a few cases they have helped pay school fees and at Christmas and Easter they get some extra food as a gift. When they have funds available, they have helped with medical costs, extra food parcels and sometimes transport of people who cannot get to appointments. They have a large store of clothes and food boxes stacked around their house and garden. 

Each meeting they have an offering and sometimes people might bring a small amount of sugar or oil. Some friends give a little money from time to time to help and each of the leaders tithe their money to support the work as well as the BHW support.

50 families take around EGP250 per month (US$5) to help with food supplements and other costs.

 

Personal Stories

Almost everyday people from this ministry come to the M's house for help and emergencies. They have nowhere else to turn. They told us several stories of people which we have written here:

1) Yesterday a woman came to the house. The husband regularly beats the wife and children and yesterday had kicked them out of the house. There are three daughters and a son. In the morning yesterday he tried to strangle his wife and she came with a very sore neck. The family had no food all day and they stayed with the Ms overnight.

Mrs M rang him, and he agreed for them to go home, however the kids were not allowed to sleep inside the house. The man uses all the money for himself often getting drunk. Last month the son ran away for two weeks. This is not an unusual case, there are many, and many are much worse than this. The M's were in tears when telling us the story and are very concerned about the family and the safety of the wife and children. 

2) Two ladies bought one of the women from the group to their house last week. The woman could not speak, and the ladies told them that she had lost her 3-month-old daughter. The mother and the baby have terrible anaemia. She gave the baby a piece of a sandwich and then the baby wet herself. She picked her up and took her to wash her and as she was washing the baby it died in her arms. The mother is very thin and malnourished and completely traumatised. The husband has no work, they are both illiterate and casual workers and there is very little work during wintertime.

3) While we were there another lady came to the house with a child who had terrible anaemia. The daughter had fainted, and the mother brought her to them. She explained that this happens frequently and that she often faints too. The child is four or five years old, they don't know as they have no papers.

 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

This is very hard to ascertain as we were not able to be there during a programme. Of course, as leaders they say it is a wonderful programme but next visit, we do need to be there on a Monday to see how it actually operates and talk to some of the people.

Several women have husbands that are in jail.

Many times they have tried to help people develop small businesses or projects but none of them have worked. 

 

Ideas for the Future

They have several ideas but the reality of finance limits this. They would love to take the women away from time to time on day trips to encourage them and to have a conference away from their homes for three or four days.

 

Current Issues and Challenges

The needs are so great that they cannot help as much as they want to.

Lack of food and illnesses because of the lack of nutrition cause major issues.

People have no money so frequently cannot get to medical appointments and even if they do, they cannot afford the treatments. 

The poverty is overwhelming and the issues these people face are very complicated and largely unresolvable. They often go visiting in peoples’ houses and frequently find there is no furniture in the house, not even a bed or a mattress.

 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That this couple have such a concern for the people that they have decided to do something about it. They are saints! 

2) The needs are overwhelming and largely unresolvable. All they can do is help people and love them.  

 

Comments

This couple are literally like Christ walking. They are generous and caring and have given themselves to help. I do not know how they sustain it and have the energy to get out of bed every day to be faced by this level of desperation.