Let Churches Burn in Egypt?

The terrible violence besieging Egypt and the attacks on the nation’s Christian minority are heartbreaking. And in fact, for many of us here at Focus, we’ve been receiving daily updates about the bloody unrest from our friend, Sami Yacoub, who is the regional director of Focus on the Family Middle East, which is actually headquartered in Cairo.

Sami is a godly man whose spiritual maturity has been shaped in part by the hardships of living in a country undergoing sociopolitical turmoil. Because of this, there are times where Sami’s perspective really challenges our “comfortable” American take on life and faith.

The other day I was taking part in an event where Sami participated via Skype (video conferencing). There was one thing he said that took the breath away from everyone in the room:

“If the cost of the ushering of a new Egypt is an attack on churches, then we’re willing to give our churches up…He [God] is the One who will give us the power and wisdom to stand in the gap to witness for Christ by forgiving those who persecute us…”

Talk about an “everything for the cause” mentality. For Sami, there is no price too high to pay for the cause of Christ.

Do we feel the same way?

Please take a moment to pray for Sami and the rest of the Focus Middle East team. Pray for their safety and physical protection, and for God to be glorified during this time of upheaval. Please pray for the Christians in the area, that they would cling to the Lord and that their faith would be strengthened.

Note: In the Aug. 23 broadcast, we featured a special message from Sami. If you’d like to listen to it, I’m including it below.