Report from BHW Egypt Partnership Facilitator Following Visit in March

Over a period of two weeks, we spent many hours with N and S and we visited all of the ministries we are partnering with them in (EGY01, EGY05, 05a, 05b and 05c). EGY01 is registered with the Ministry of Social Work so there can be no spiritual work in that programme. All the others have been registered under the Evangelical Association as Barnabas Ministries.

We travelled in a rented van to the site of the refugee ministry with several of the Barnabas team. We spent some time at the refugee centre operated by the Coming Generation NGO in 6th of October City, about an hour from N’s office in Cairo. P and M run the programme and they are very impressive people with a great team. We met with P and some of the leaders for a few minutes and talked with them and they told us some stories. I then spoke to those who wanted to listen, about 30 people, mainly women. It is Mother’s Day here tomorrow, so I spoke about mothers. We then talked to some of them, handed out food parcels to about 50 families and then headed back. 

Recent Events

Activities

N and S use the funds to directly support about 80 refugee families. They do it through three channels; Coming Generation where they support 25 families, another pastor of a Baptist church, and in another area called 4 KM where large numbers of Sudanese refugees are based.

Because of the timing it was difficult to visit the three locations as they schedule monthly visits, and we were only there for a week. At the second location they gather the people in a church hall where there is a pastor with a vision to assist refugees, and at the third location they meet in a public building where a group who has a burden for refugees operates. In both these locations it would not be appropriate or even safe to go there as a group of Westerners. The government has a lot of security around gatherings of refugees as they have issues with extremists amongst the refugees. A friend works with these families who are mainly Muslims from Syria, Sudan and Yemen and there are a few Sudanese Christians as well. They visit monthly and talk with them, listen to their stories, tell them the gospel, pray with them and help with some daily needs, food, sometimes cash and other household requirements. 

Coming Generation has a well-established work going in 6th of October city with an established operations base. They are keenly Christian and have seen many people come to faith. Their purpose is the show the love of Jesus to refugees. This city is designated as a refugee area and the UN base for refugees is here.

The team explained some of the programmes and stories.
- They serve around 4,000 families who come through their centre regularly. This is about 25,000 people.
- They run several development programmes, English language, computer training, various vocational training courses, job training to help people with interviews etc, training in men’s and women’s hairdressing and a sewing shop from which they sell products and out of which several women have got employment in garment factories.
- They have a very successful home nurse training programme and several have established little basic health care businesses and clinics.
- They have a clinic which was on site when we last visited but which has now been shifted to another location.
- They run a Friday soccer academy for 150 kids. An Argentinian missionary coaches them and they hire an adjacent football pitch to hold this.
- They have summer and winter vacation programmes for about 4,000 children.

They have a team of 11 full-time staff and 30 volunteers.  

Other Leaders

N and S’s eldest son has come into the Barnabas ministry. He is 32 years old. He graduated in 2014 from the faculty of petroleum engineering, and since then has worked in the petroleum sector until 2023. In 2023 he began to get involved and help in the ministry. In October 2023 he got married and his wife also comes from a strong Christian background - they knew each other from church.

He helps in many aspects in the ministry, the micro-loan projects, addiction centre and refugees, but one of his main roles is doing all the finance tracking and reporting. He is also in charge of the training centre in order to reach more people by doing more useful courses and market the place as much as possible.

Personal Stories

Mary*

There was a young lady named Mary who accepted Jesus. She was about 23 years old. She lived in a room without electricity and when she wanted to read the Bible, she opened the door and read by the outside light. One day a neighbour saw her reading the Bible and he grabbed the Bible from her and started shouting to all the people that this lady has become a Christian. The people started shouting and beating her and tried to kill her. She lost consciousness and went into a coma.

About this time her cousin came to visit her and saw what had happened. He took her to a hospital, and she disappeared. The team couldn’t find her. For two months they searched as she didn’t come to the discipleship class, but it was difficult because they didn’t know what had happened or where to search and had to be careful as it might be dangerous for them and for her. 

After two months she came to the office and told them that in the hospital the cousin had made an agreement with a corrupt doctor, and they took some of the organs from her body. She stayed in the ICU for about a month and when she came, she told the story. She showed them the scars and said she had a scan and only had one kidney. 

They thought that she had come to tell them she was giving up on faith and returning to Islam, but she surprised them by asking them to train her how to do evangelism. She wanted to share more about Jesus because the whole time she was in ICU Jesus was in the room with her. “He didn’t leave me; I believe even more than before that Jesus is alive. I want to share with people about Jesus, so teach me?” They began to train her how to do evangelism, how to protect herself, and how to deal with security. Now she is actively out there doing evangelism and is fearless. 

Mike* 

We met one young man who is fully involved on the staff at Coming Generation. He is a large guy with a large personality. He helps wherever he is asked and is the Treasurer. He is also a missionary involved with an online Christian work across the Middle East. In some cases, he tries to help people from the centre connect with other Christians. They get up to 2 million hits a year on their website and try to guide people to faith or other believers. 

*names changed for safety reasons

Partnership's Influence within the Community

They are registered and because of this have a good relationship with the local authorities and also the UN people. This is important for their security. 

Last summer they ran a successful summer camp for 480 people to listen to their stories and where they presented the gospel. This has opened up many opportunities to visit people in their homes. Over 8 years, about 30 families have accepted Christ, the people are very open to listen. The leader’s wife co-ordinates the visitation programme and they visit around 15–20 families per month with their team. 

Plans for the Future

Coming Generation summer camp this year. They are planning for the summer youth and children’s programmes for about 4,000 kids. Otherwise, it’s day after day hard work. 

Current Issues and Challenges

It is hard to get Christian people to become volunteers. Most churches do not like or encourage people to step outside the church building, especially to move towards Muslims. They have a fortress mentality and are just preserving what they have got, unsuccessfully apart from biological growth.

There is the constant challenge of more and more refugees. The needs are huge and not diminishing. So far, they have seen very few Palestinians as Egypt and the UN are not encouraging them to come here.  

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That N and S have a heart of the refugees and see them in their need. And that they have good people to partner with.
2) That their son is strongly involved in this aspect of the work.
3) That Coming Generation can care for so many people and have favour with the authorities.
4) They do need more people to join their volunteer team.
5) That the people are so open and willing to allow the team to pray with them.
6) For the camp they are planning for the summer.
7) Pray for Mary and her evangelism.

Comments

It was unfortunate that we could not get to visit the 80 families. However, the Coming Generation work they support is outstanding. These are the people who need help, the poorest of the poor and they need to hear the good news. I recommend that our financial support remain the same here.