Cairo, Egypt - 2009

Sheri Wilson

God opened our heart/eyes to suffering and abandoned children in Cairo, Egypt and has placed a huge burden in our hearts for them. Due to extreme poverty, death of a parent, divorce, outright abandonment, and/or common law marriages, there are 2,000,000 children living in orphanages and on the streets. The tiny minority of these precious children live in orphanages and are mostly Christian. The overwhelming majority are Muslim and live on the streets, fending for themselves and struggling to survive. Called "street children" by Egyptian society, they are despised by parents, the police, and business owners.

It is so difficult to describe the beauty, the ugliness, the light and the dark and really give it all justice. Egypt is a beautiful land full of beautiful people - many of whom live in a dark/ugly world.

We have no idea how blessed we are. We can freely practice religion, we can freely go out at any time of the day, we can dress as we feel, etc. Women in Egypt have no freedoms. They cannot go out after 9 pm without a husband or they risk their lives/well-being. The name of Jesus cannot be said on the streets without risk of persecution. Evangelical Christians cannot worship openly – their churches meet in people's homes. If a Muslim turns Christian they can be imprisoned for life, tortured, starved or killed. If they turn and run, their families hunt them down and try to bring them back. If they refuse they can be killed on the spot. Family members go to all lengths to get their family members to come back to Islam. They torture, beat, pour boiling water on them, promise riches and more. We met a woman who had been on the run since she was 6 years old. She has given it all for the opportunity to know Jesus. Through it all she would rather run, hide and have endured the ugliness to have the love of Christ instead of returning to Islam. To this day she is still in hiding from her family. Would we do that for a relationship with Christ and the promise of Heaven?

The streets in many areas are dirty and full of trash. The city air is totally polluted and some days the haze is so heavy from burning of trash, etc. Children are forced to beg and rummage through the trash for food. In the middle of the city some people live in makeshift homes with cloth for walls. Their bathroom is across the courtyard and is a hole dug in the ground. Several families sometimes live in the same courtyard.

The Muslim call to prayer is issued 5 times a day over loud speakers at the tops of the prayer tower on each mosque. It is loud and they say things like “God has no son” and “kill your enemy”. Our hosts would not translate all that they said because it was too horrible to tell. They say that they are a peaceful people, but that does not sound peaceful. There is nothing taught about a loving god, but they are taught to fear Allah. The thing is that they do not realize how brainwashed they are or how dead they are inside. You can see the dead/blank looks on their faces. There is no joy in their eyes.

With all that said - Egypt truly is a beautiful place. However, the people we met and the children are truly beautiful. They are hungry for the Word of God. They are thirsty for the living water offered by Jesus. The children that we met in many orphanages (approximately 20) were just like our children. They wanted to see you smile, sing songs, hug and kiss them. In return they laughed, tickled you, hugged back, sang in Arabic and more. We fell in love with the people and hope that you will share that love.

They did not ask to be born into a culture that finds them to be of no value or into a family so poor that their parents send them out into the streets to find their own shelter and food. They do want to be loved. We can all do that through our prayers. Please pray for the children.

They do not need us to come over and make Egypt a little America. They need to be Egypt, but they need to know the love of Christ. God made a promise to Egypt in Isaiah 19:18-25. I really think that us being there was part of God fulfilling his promises to Egypt. He is present in the land and in the people. There are many Jesus lights shining in the land, but there need to be more. They want our prayers. The want our help in teaching and showing people what love is. It really broke my heart!!! It almost takes your breath away.