Seven families in Egypt strive to remain faithful to Christ, whether in freedom or in prison

Egypt (MNN) – Seven church planters with Unknown ministries have been in prison for months. No formal criminal charges have been filed, but Erik Ouimette of Uncharted Ministries says the men were imprisoned for sharing the gospel with Muslims.

Egypt’s government in general does not recognize conversions from Islam to another religion. If you are born a Muslim, you will always remain a Muslim for the state. The constitution grants the right to freedom of belief and the right for followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism to practice their faith. However, resistance from Family And communities towards Christians is pronounced and sometimes violent. (More about Egypt Here.)

“My team is constantly helping me say, ‘The goal of this is not to release these guys. The goal here is for these guys to be faithful where they are, and if that means being faithful in prison, then they are called to be faithful there,” Ouimette said.

“I’m constantly checking myself and have to move away a little from my Western sense of justice. Instead, I realize that the Lord has put people in prison throughout the Scriptures. Paul was in prison when he wrote parts of the New Testament. Like all of us, I can imagine that the gospel is very, very needed in an Egyptian prison.”

A beautiful part of this story is that some of these men are not even Egyptian. They accepted Christ in refugee camps in Egypt.

“I can only imagine what the Lord is like [was] put all of this into action [was] I think, ‘Oh, I’m going to do something really great here by taking in a refugee, showing him the truth in Egypt and then allowing him to spread the gospel,'” Ouimette says. “Whether in jail or out of jail, that’s what these guys do.”

It is impossible to say how long these seven men will remain in prison. But in the meantime, believers in Egypt are stepping forward to help their wives and children who remain behind. If God led you, would you support your families?

And of course, pray for them.

“One way to pray for someone on the other side of the world who we have never met is to be specific. These seven families and their husband will have dinner tonight [or] “Father won’t be with them,” Ouimette says, inviting us to imagine what our own families would be like if someone were missing tonight.

“Pray for these women who have to do extra work and take extra care of the family, but do it alone. Pray for these children.”

A donation to Uncharted Ministries labeled “Egypt” will help support the families. Contact the team at unchartedministries.com.

The header photo of Cairo Wan, Ash Shamashargi, Egypt is a representative stock photo courtesy of Sophia Valkova on Unsplash.