Remember the Persecuted in Egypt

By a CFI co-worker in Egypt

CAIRO, EGYPT —
This past February, there was brief, worldwide attention on the plight of minority Christians in Egypt as ISIS militants brutally beheaded 20 Egyptian Christians (and one from Ghana). The Egyptian victims were Copts, members of Egypt’s ancient Christian church that traces its roots to the apostle Mark, centuries before Islam entered the country.

The violence against Christians in Egypt is an ever-present, daily reality for millions of defenseless men, women, and children. And it is getting worse.

The Copts are an early Christian denomination that began in Alexandria and survived the rise of Islam in Egypt starting in the 7th century. Today they are a highly persecuted minority in Egypt but still constitute the largest single Christian community in the Middle East. The Egyptian government estimates about 5 million Copts, but the Coptic Orthodox Church says 15-18 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, reliable numbers are hard to find but estimates suggest they make up somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population. Most Copts are Egyptian, although there are significant pockets of them in Syria, Libya, Jordan and other countries, including in the West.

The persecution of Coptic Christians is on the increase. Kidnappings for ransom and murder of Christians is on the rise. The following is a listing of just a few of the many ongoing and growing atrocities targeting Christians in Egypt:

• On Tuesday, April 21, security agencies in Minya Governorate, Upper Egypt, found a Coptic Christian woman named Gamila Basilius, a 48-year-old housewife, killed by several stab wounds in the chest and neck, and dumped in Ibrahimia Canal in Minya City.

• Last week, a Christian girl named Marian Nagy Sobhy, 21, a student in the Faculty of Commerce, from Tahta City belonging to Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt was kidnapped. After her kidnapping, her family went to the police station of Tahta City and filled a formal complaint number 461.

• Most recently, five Muslim men on motorcycles kidnapped a two-year-old Christian child named Shenouda Salah Sidhom from the front of his home which is located in Ezbet Tanios belonging to the village of Taha El-Emdah, the center of Samalout, Minya Governorate (Upper Egypt). After kidnapping him, the kidnappers contacted his family demanding a ransom of 250,000 Egyptian Pounds (approximately $33,000) in exchange for his return. After some negotiations between the father and the kidnappers, they came to an agreement to pay an amount less than the required ransom. After the kidnappers had received the ransom from the child’s father, they threw the child, alive, into a well — its depth 140 meters. Afterward, they threw stones on him, killing him.

The list goes on and on. As Islamic militants spread their reign of terror throughout the Middle East and elsewhere, minority Christians in Egypt ask that they not be forgotten. They ask for our prayers. Please remember the persecuted in Egypt.