http://continentalnews.net/christian-news/egypt-christian-news/christians-fall-victim-to-chaos-in-egypt-who-will-help-them-5754.html Christians fall victim to chaos in Egypt: Who will help them?
Published on January 31, 2011 by Michael Ireland · 1 Comment
As Egypt descends into deeper unrest with a seventh day of protests (Monday, Jan.31), the country’s Christians are falling victim to the chaos as their shops are looted and essential supplies start to run out.
According to one Christian organization working in the region, Egypt’s beleaguered Christian minority is on red alert today.
Barnabas Aid (
www.barnabasfund.org ) the majority of Egyptian Christians already live in extreme poverty, and as the demonstrations paralyze daily life, their struggle to make ends meet has become harder. While many shops are being attacked and looted, Christian shops have been particularly targeted.
Barnabas Aid says Christian gatherings and church meetings have been cancelled, while some church minsters are sleeping in their church buildings to protect them from attack. A Barnabas Aid contact said that believers were staying in their homes, where they are “praying hard” and “trusting God” amid the tumult.
Barnabas Aid goes on to say that Egypt’s Christian community was already feeling under threat following targeted attacks, most notably the suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Day that killed at least 21 worshippers. Now they find themselves caught up in an escalating political crisis that could have worrying implications for their future.
In a post on its website, Barnabas Aid says: “Though the unrest is essentially fuelled by economic, social and political grievances, there are growing fears that radical Islamists may capitalize on it to seize power. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is backing influential opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, is the only large, organized opposition group.”
Barnabas Aid quotes Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton who warned this weekend that Egypt’s ancient Christian minority could become increasingly endangered should President Hosni Mubarak be ousted.
He said: “It is really legitimate for the (Christians) to be worried that instability (will) follow Mubarak’s fall and his replacement with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
In addition to the targeted, violent attacks, Egyptian Christians face discrimination in many areas of life, such as in education and employment. Conditions for them would only worsen under an Islamic regime.
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, said: “Christians in Egypt need our immediate practical help and prayer support as they find themselves embroiled in this unfolding crisis. We must also pray that as Egyptian citizens seek freedom from an autocratic leader, they will not fall into the hands of a strict Islamic regime that will only further oppress its people, especially Christians.”
Barnabas Aid supports Egyptian Christians through a variety of projects. In this time of crisis, many of the poorest and most vulnerable Christians are in need of food and other basics.
Egypt unrest signals danger for Christians
In analysis of the situation in North Africa, Barnabas Aid says on its website that as growing unrest in Egypt leaves the country on the brink of revolution, there are fears that radical Islamists may capitalize on the crisis to seize power — signaling danger for the beleaguered Christian community.
Barnabas Aid says that protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime have been gathering momentum throughout this week, and off the back of the Tunisian uprising, which resulted in the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, there is the mood and momentum for radical change in Egypt.
Barnabas Aid says: “The unrest gained new impetus when the largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would back demonstrations on Friday (January 28). The banned Islamist group demanded that Mubarak dissolve the nation’s recently formed parliament and hold a new election, threatening in a statement on its website that if the Egyptian government ‘does not move fast and shoulder responsibility to start a serious reform process, stability might not last for long.’
According to the Barnabas Aid website, Egypt is 90 percent Muslim, and the Brotherhood, which lost all 88 of its parliamentary seats in last November’s election, appears to be trying to harness the political, economic and social unrest that sparked the riots to gather support for its Islamist agenda.
On its website, The Muslim Brotherhood wrote: “The events in Tunisia are a cornerstone for the rest of the people of the Arab and Islamic world. It is a message to all the despotic leaders and the corrupt regimes that they are not safe and they are living on the tip of a volcano of people’s anger and God’s wrath.”
Barnabas Aid says that many commentators have warned of a ‘domino effect’ from Tunisia across the Arab world, as instability grows in Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen and Jordan. If Egypt were to be taken over by Islamists, the consequences for the region could be very serious.
Global intelligence analyst George Friedman of Stratfor (which has a global team of intelligence professionals providing an audience of decision-makers and sophisticated news consumers in the U.S. and around the world with unique insights into political, economic, and military developments), has warned: “An Islamist Egypt would give dramatic impetus to radical Islam throughout the Arab world… The transformation of Egypt into an Islamist country would be the single most significant event we could imagine in the Islamic world, beyond an Iranian bomb.”
Barnabas Aid explains that the protests in Egypt follow targeted attacks against the country’s Christians, most notably the suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Day that killed at least 21 worshippers.
It says Christians took to the streets in protest over the lack of protection and justice for their community. Their insecurity could only be increased under an Islamist regime, and in the worst case they could even be forced to flee the country en masse.
In addition, Barnabas Aid says, Egyptian Christians are already second-class citizens in their own country.
“They suffer severe discrimination in many areas of life, such as in education and employment. And if the Muslim Brotherhood were to seize power, they could rapidly be subjected to a raft of even more humiliating regulations, designed to exclude and degrade them further,” the organization says on its website.
All Christian gatherings and church meetings have been cancelled for the third day in a row; a Barnabas Aid contact said believers were staying in their homes, adding that they were “praying hard” and “trusting God.”
Please Pray:
**That stability will soon be restored in Egypt and that the outcome of the current crisis will bring greater fairness, freedom and peace for every Egyptian citizen.
**For all those whose businesses have been looted or damaged in the riots, that their families will be provided for.
**That Egyptian Christians will know the Lord’s protection, presence, peace and provision during this tumultuous time.
Topic: Christians fear in Egypt (Read 821 times)