There are huge numbers of Syrian and Sudanese refugees still in Egypt. The longer they stay, the less likely it is that they will return back to their home countries. Many of them are located in a small city near Cairo called 6th of October. They still have great needs. The majority of them are widows with children. They do not receive any support from the government and still live in very difficult situations. They are not registered with the UN and get no benefits. They strive daily to survive and very few of the children go to school as they do not have the correct paperwork.
The team is visiting them regularly and try to support some of their needs as much as they can. The needs are so large that it is impossible to fully support them. Before COVID-19 they would meet with them and spend time encouraging them but currently it not possible to spend much time with them so they have short meetings, hand them the things they have brought and follow them up by phone.
They also visit a refugee camp from time to time as they have contacts there.
R is a Syrian refugee. She lives in 6th of October, Giza. She has a 10 year old son and a 7 year old daughter. She came to Egypt three years ago after a long dangerous journey through the Sudanese border. She and her family faced death many times. Finally they came to Egypt. Both, she and her husband have no work and therefore no income which makes life difficult for the whole family. They regularly support this family with money and a bag of food.
W is a Syrian refugee that also lives in 6th of October, Giza. She came to Egypt four years ago. Her husband is psychologically disturbed because of what happened in their beloved country of Syria. He cannot work because of his illness. W desn’t work because she takes care of her husband all the time. She also takes care of her husband’s brother’s children since he is dead. She receives regular financial support and food.
They want to be able to assist many more refugee families and as more resources progressively become available this will happen. COVID-19 has made these poor people even poorer.
The ability to keep ministering among this group. It is not easy as there is suspicion and sometimes opposition.
They pray that they will see more fruit and more opening to the Word of God. They have to be very sensitive about how they go about talking to people.
The virus is very aggressive at present and there is no hope of getting the vaccine in the near future. Egypt has only received 300,000 doses, enough for 150,000 people in a country of 100 million people.
Prayer and Praise PointsThey are thankful that through helping these families they can show the love of God in practical ways because most of them are people of another faith.
For more breakthroughs. Once they have built a trust relationship they are able to share more openly. Every time they meet they pray with the people. One specific lady told S that she believes in Jesus, reads the Bible and shares with her family and friends.
This partnership should carry on as planned. These are desperate people. Some of the team have been infected with COVID through their contact with people.