In the complex religious world of the Middle East, there’s a lot of gospel progress happening in Egypt. More than 5 percent of the population is Christian, in a land where Christianity has been present since the first century. This has allowed for more churches, pastors, and even seminaries than most other Middle Eastern and northern African countries. But persecution has also been on the rise.
Over the past 20 years, the Christian minority in Egypt has been subjected to a “jihad of the womb.” Christian women and girls are targeted by a systematic Islamization process, usually through a forced disappearance or through being tricked or coerced into a relationship with a Muslim man.
This leads to a complete separation from their Christian families and a forced conversion into Islam. Very few women succeed in escaping, with the police either unable or unwilling to find the perpetrators.
Many of these women were already married and had children with their Christian husbands. According to Islamic Sharia law, if a woman converts to Islam and has children from her Christian husband, she and her new Muslim husband have the right to take the children and convert them to Islam.
Ways to pray:
- Praise for Christians in Egypt who have understood the gospel, and for those who have labored to produce resources in Arabic
- For the ending of this horrendous practice, and for the victims, that the Lord may allow them to escape or to witness to the power of the gospel
- For local churches, pastors, and women’s ministries to be equipped in sound biblical resources, so that they might minister to the women caught in these situations
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:14–15
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