“Death” is not an easy concept for my Egyptian students. A "living death" is an even harder one to grasp.
In a year-end video message from the Rev. Hunter Farrell, director of Presbyterian World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he says, “In 50 countries around the world, and in your community as well, Presbyterians are gathering hope—bearing witness to the hope we have in Jesus Christ.”
“In Her Place,” a 15-minute video created by international award-winning film director Maggie Morgan, shares the true stories of the sexual assault of four women and girls, one as young as 5 years old. These stories are heartbreaking, true and representative of the treatment of women and children in all cultures of violence. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt’s Council of Services and Development (CSD) commissioned the video. CSD, one of 12 councils in the Synod of the Nile, promotes development services and ministries of compassion and justice in Egypt’s eight presbyteries.
Families are coming together at different locations in the city of Sheikh Zaid and other communities in Egypt to pray for the future church, including the necessary finances to build new church buildings on 14 parcels of land donated to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Egypt (EPCE) by the Egyptian government.
His first name, Atef, means “kindness” in Arabic. Those who know him well say is a perfect fit for a man whose passion is equipping leaders for ministry and mission in Egypt and throughout the Arab world.
“Serving and transforming church members is not a more important responsibility than serving and transforming the community,” says Atef Gendy, PhD, president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC). “When people experience kindness, mercy, love, and kingdom values, they think differently about the rule and reign of God over their lives.”
Jim Davis, a member of Miami Shores Presbyterian Church in Florida, and a long-time supporter of Presbyterian World Mission, has given $1 million to support church growth in Egypt. The gift will be split between new church development and pastoral training.
Nuestros corazones están afligidos al unirnos con el resto del mundo en el duelo por los cristianos egipcios decapitados en un video publicado el domingo por el Estado Islámico en Libia. Los veintiún cristianos coptos, que forma parte de la mayor concentración de cristianos en el Medio Oriente, habían sido tomados como rehenes. Nuestras más profundas condolencias están con la Iglesia Ortodoxa Copta de Alejandría. Con igual horror e indignación, también condenamos estos asesinatos sin sentido y hacemos un llamado a la comunidad ecuménica e interreligiosa mundial a levantar la voz por la paz, la justicia y el fin inmediato …
Christian and Muslim Egyptians are deeply grieving the death of 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians beheaded by the Islamic State in Libya on Sunday. Their witness is the ultimate act of faith.
미국 장로교는 이집트의 콥틱 그리스도인들의 죽음을 애도하여 그 일을 자행한 자들을 비난한다
이집트의 그리스도인들이 리비아에서 IS에 의해 참수 당한 비디오가 지난 주일에 공개되었다. 세상과 함께 그들의 죽음을 애도하고 있는 우리의 마음은 참담하기 그지없다. 중동에서 가장 크게 밀집되어 있는 그리스도인들의 일부분인 21명의 콥틱 그리스도인들이 인질로 잡혔다가 그러한 비극을 맞이한 것이다. 우리는 알렉산드리아의 콥트 정교회에 큰 위로가 있기를 바란다. 우리는 또한 떨림과 분노를 가지고 이러한 인사불성의 살인을 비난하며, 온 세상의 에큐메니칼 및 타 종교 공동체에게 평화와 정의를 위해 그리고 이렇게 무자비한 폭력의 즉각적 중단을 위해 큰 소리를 발해줄 것을 요청한다.
그래디 파슨스, 미국 장로교 정서기