I travelled down to the rural south where I met a pastor and his wife who have an outreach to young Coptic girls. Many of these girls have joined the youth group, studied the Bible and turned to Christ. However, many of these girls have suffered abuse from family members, and the couple have struggled to show the girls how loved they are by God because of this. Persecution may also start for these Coptic girls vacuum cleaners when they have a life-changing encounter with Christ and begin living out their newly discovered faith, as this can sometimes anger laminate flooring the Muslim community. Some are raped by Muslim men so that they are considered ‘soiled’ and then forcibly married to Muslim boys. Some have been kidnapped by Muslim men. Others have been offered a financially comfortable life if they convert to Islam and marry a Muslim, escaping the poverty which most Coptic Christians endure.The programme to help these young girls is bamboo flooring supported with the help of Open Doors. The pastor and his wife take in as many of these Coptic girls as possible, and aim to take them through a course of inner healing. Prayer is needed to support this ministry given the numbers who require inner healing and the opposition to this ministry from both Coptic and Muslim men.
I travelled down to the rural south where I met a pastor and his wife who have an outreach to young Coptic girls. Many of these girls have joined the youth group, studied the Bible and turned to Christ. However, many of these girls have suffered abuse from family members, and the couple have struggled to show the girls how loved they are by God because of this. Persecution may also start for these Coptic girls vacuum cleaners when they have a life-changing encounter with Christ and begin living out their newly discovered faith, as this can sometimes anger laminate flooring the Muslim community. Some are raped by Muslim men so that they are considered ‘soiled’ and then forcibly married to Muslim boys. Some have been kidnapped by Muslim men. Others have been offered a financially comfortable life if they convert to Islam and marry a Muslim, escaping the poverty which most Coptic Christians endure.The programme to help these young girls is bamboo flooring supported with the help of Open Doors. The pastor and his wife take in as many of these Coptic girls as possible, and aim to take them through a course of inner healing. Prayer is needed to support this ministry given the numbers who require inner healing and the opposition to this ministry from both Coptic and Muslim men.