At the end of June, almost 30 million Egyptians went out on the streets asking the Muslim Brotherhood president to step down. They wanted the Egyptian Army to help them get rid of a regime that appointed Muslim Brotherhood members in all official posts: ministries, governorates and local councils.
In response, the Islamist fundamentalists started sit-ins on one of the main squares in Cairo. These sit-ins continued for more than 6 weeks and most Cairo residents were suffering as a result.
On Wednesday the 14th of August, during the dispersal of the Raba’ sit-in, a mass grave of about 25 bodies was discovered; in addition to the previously discovered cases of torture in such locations. Just a few hours after the dispersal of the sit-ins, Muslim fundamentalists went on a rampage of violence and started setting Egypt on fire: Over 40 churches were looted, demolished, then burnt. Some Christian schools, hostels and Bible Society bookshops were also burnt. Furthermore, over 50 Christian houses, shops, and vehicles were also set on fire. More than 16 police stations were attacked and burnt; in one of these stations, all the police officers who were inside the station were killed and their bodies were mutilated. More than 6 court buildings were burnt and some security directorates attacked and burnt.
The Muslim fundamentalists caused the complete burning and destruction of the Bible Society’s bookshops in Assiut & Minia (the largest cities in Southern Egypt). The attackers demolished the metal doors protecting the bookshops, broke the store windows behind them and set the bookshops on fire. They did the same to many stores on those streets as well as demolishing many parked cars.
Please pray for :
- Wisdom for our local ministry leadership team during this hard time and wisdom in making the necessary decisions on time
- Protection of Christians and of our staff
- Opportunities to bring real hope and peace into people’s lives amidst this turmoil
Praise God for:
- The Egyptian Army promised to reconstruct, and restore all the damaged churches at their own cost.
- All our national staff are safe and accounted for