Letter from Ramez and Rebecca Atallah, The Bible Society Cairo. January 2010
The International Cairo Bookfair: 28 January –13 February, 2010
Dear friends,
Pioneering the Way.
17 years ago, the Bible Society of Egypt placed their booths at the Cairo International Bookfair with the goal of making God's Word accessible to the masses, most of whom would never attend church. Over the years we have encouraged and assisted many Christian publishers to seize this opportunity to reach out to the new market.
The International Cairo Bookfair 2010 is now upon us, and again, the Bible Society of Egypt would like to pioneer the way for many.
Courage to Care 2009 in Egypt has seen the unusual economic strains, increased denominational tensions, an extremely unstable academic year due to fears of H1N1 etc.
Many Egyptian Christians are fearful. Without belittling the very real pressures, our desire as the Bible Society, is to somehow encourage and inspire Christians to "count their blessings" and to look outward with concern. We want to remind ourselves of just how much we have in comparison to others, instead of contemplating our own problems and internal issues. Moreover, that we would reach out to the world around us in love and sacrifice.
We Need Your Prayers
Please pray for us, that as the Bible Society presence at the Cairo International Bookfair has inspired many others to be there as well, that we might again be used to provide a catalyst in these times of pressure when many Egyptian Christians are tempted to feel defeated or discouraged.
Please pray, not only for the Bible Society, but for all the various Christian publishers and groups represented at the Bookfair. Pray that our collective presence, literature and materials, would be used by God to meet each individual need.
Please pray that there will be good attendance. We have three booths at the Bookfair this year, and two of them are out doors, which is a positive and desirable location for those uneasy about H1N1 germs! As always, please pray for the sales team, for wisdom and discernment, and for security.
I look forward to updating you in the days to come!
With warm greetings, Sincerely, Ramez
Letter from Ramez and Rebecca Atallah, The Bible Society Cairo. Sept 2009
Egypt - the most Religious Country in the World!
A Gallup Poll, posted Feb 2009, compiled findings about the importance of faith to individuals in 143 countries. Egypt was listed as the Most Religious Country in the world! When people were asked "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" Egypt registered in at 100%.
As the Bible provider for Egypt, the Bible Society of Egypt (BSOE) is fortunate to work with such religious people! A major problem of Bible publishers in many other countries, and especially the "Christian West," is the lack of interest in the Scriptures, with one of their main tasks being to convince people of the relevance of the Bible.
BIBLES IN DEMAND
Not a problem in Egypt! Scripture products are constantly in demand by all, gratefully received and valued, and the Church is essentially overwhelmed and unable to keep up with the needs. Operating at full capacity, the Churches in Egypt are only able to serve 20 – 30% of the total Christian population (10-12 million).
The Gallup article states, "Obviously, these data only compare the importance of religion in people's lives -- they say nothing about what being highly religious means in different parts of the world and among different faiths".
EGYPTIAN RELIGIOSITY
For many in Egypt, being "Christian" simply means being baptized, married and buried in the Church, and there is great security in that. Many are culturally Christian, very passionate about their religion, simply because they are intensely non-Muslim. While many would desire the blessings of attending church or reading/hearing the Scriptures, the pressures of life and difficult economic situation leaves little time or energy for this. Many in fact, have no church in their vicinity at all.
Coptic Christian festivals in honor of a variety of saints are a good example of Egyptian religiosity. Held annually at many traditional sites where Jesus passed through Egypt as a small child, festivals last from 5 days to 2 weeks. A very festive atmosphere, vendors of every sort sell food and drink, literature, music, clothes, make-up, toys, etc. from their makeshift booths and tents. Children swarm about small carnival-type rides. Families save throughout the year in order to make this annual visit, camping out for days, making do with crowded and less-than-adequate facilities. Children are baptized, and many receive the customary cross tattoo on the inside of the wrist.
KEY OPPORTUNITIES TO DISTRIBUTE SCRIPTURE
The attendance at these occasions is in the thousands, even millions. Poor and illiterate people attend particularly, even some Muslims, in order to seek healing or blessing from the saints. The vast majority are unable to read the Bible or understand the classical Arabic used in Church, have little Biblical knowledge, and are steeped in folk religion and superstition.
Such large gatherings provide a key opportunity to increase awareness and availability of the Scriptures. Bible Society representatives set up booths alongside the others, pointing people to the Scriptures in daily discussions with many, pleading and urging these religious Christians to seek protection and peace in God's Word.
POVERTY – BOTH PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL
Along with the tragic spiritual need, there is heart-breaking physical need. Many in Egypt, both old and young, suffer from poor vision. One family came to the booth several times, their attention focused on the large-print Bible. An expensive item, sold at a discounted price, still cost too much. The staff offered the Bible, originally priced at 200 LE, to them for just 25 LE ($5). Emptying their pockets and purses, they came up with 23 LE, which the staff accepted. On afterthought, the salesman asked the family if they had money for return transportation to their village, which they did not. Some money was then returned to the family for travel fare.
Through these festivals, the Bible Society is reaching masses of religious Christians who might not access the Scriptures otherwise. The Coptic Orthodox Church approves BSOE materials and is very supportive of our efforts to provide them with the "source texts" of the Faith.
BEING HIGHLY RELIGIOUS
Please pray for the millions of people who have received God's Word through all these past years of Bible Work in Egypt. Pray that for many, "being highly religious" would come to mean a close and personal relationship with Christ through His Holy Word.
Grateful for your prayers and support,
Please remember that if you would like to contribute to the Bible Work in Egypt, an easy way to do that is through our Ten-Bibles-a-Month Club. Americans can receive tax-deductible receipt, and there is a way for Canadians to receive the same if you contact us at: admin@bsoe.org
Ramez Atallah
General Director, The Bible Society of Egypt, 1 Aly Fahmy El-Zanaty St. PO Box 5277, Heliopolis West 11771, Cairo, Egypt
Phone: +202-26361980, Fax: +202-26363979, Email: admin@bsoe.org, Website:www.bsoe.org
Letter from Ramez and Rebecca Atallah, The Bible Society Cairo. June 2009
Dear friends,
The girls and women tearfully gathered around me, each with Egyptian Pounds (LE) 10 (about $1.75) in her hand. With genuine repentance, each one expressed how sorry she was to have stolen the fruit. I accepted their money, reminding them that God had provided a way for forgiveness, through the death of Jesus on the cross for them.
This was the last night of the last of the 5 camps for the Garbage People, for which many of you wrote to say you were praying. These are the girls and women of the Vocational Training program of the Garbage Village School, at which I have volunteered for almost 27 years now. We had taken them to a different center than the usual one, a piece of land in the desert which had been donated to the Church at the Village and which is being developed into both a farm and a retreat center. We had almost 50 campers, plus 58 children, at this camp! The pastor who is responsible for our school spoke to the adults and I coordinated the Children’s Program. I had heard that there had been a lot of spiritual response on the part of the adults, but this night I saw the proof.
There are apricot, mango and apple trees on the farm, and the campers had been told they could eat from the trees but not to take fruit home. Nonetheless, that afternoon our teachers (also all from the Village) had seen them sneaking in to their rooms with bags of fruit! The teachers were very upset by this and encouraged me to take a stand on it.
So that evening, at the start of our usual, last-night party, three of us spoke to them, explaining that this was stealing in God’s sight and also a very bad example to their children. We then told them to make things right they must confess their sin to God, pay at least L.E. 10 for the fruit and write to the pastor (who runs the farm) asking his forgiveness. After leading them in a prayer of confession, we cancelled the party and gave them the chance to ‘pay-up”. We were very encouraged that—out of the estimated 18 who had stolen—14 came to me with their money. This seemed to us to be proof of their repentance, as this was a fairly hefty sum for them. The next day we helped them to make a lovely poster for the pastor, for most of these girls and women are not very literate.
Usually in my camp letters, I write about the wonderful times experienced in the camps for the Disabled and Handicapped. (The next part of this report is from a Canadian-Egyptian volunteer, Mina, expressing some of his feelings about those camps.) However, this time I wanted to tell you about this camp for these girls and women, thanking you who prayed for what I feel was a very significant time spiritually. These are some of the very poor of the Village, many of whom were married and had children while still teenagers. Quite a number are new in our school so have perhaps never heard the Gospel presented clearly before.
Mina writes:
“The handicapped boys’ camp was wonderful. The servants (volunteers) were exceptional and loving. From the first day in the camp, I made friends with most of them. All of them gave the camp a hundred percent of their energy, and cared dearly for the boys… These boys came to the camp not only for fun and games, but to be loved…I personally went in not expecting to make any friends, but I ended up making friends with a lot of the boys…
The handicapped girls’ camp and the deaf boys’ and girls’ camps were together. I was given the responsibility to serve the deaf. Most of them were in their late teens and early twenties. This small age-gap gave me the opportunity to get close to most of them and to learn more about their lives and what they do. I also learned a bit of sign language so I can communicate with them…
Before I went to the camps, I just had one goal, and that was to do what I was asked to do and try my best not to do any mistakes. As it turned out, those camps were physically and mentally demanding, but they were also fun, lots of fun….I learned a valuable lesson, and that is Love is a universal language. I was not well trained to deal with the handicapped or the deaf, but love gave me more than just serving them, it gave me new friends.”
So thanks again, dear friends, for praying! Without your prayers, I would never feel able to hold such difficult and even dangerous camps! Once again, we have proved that “with God ALL THINGS are possible!
Rebecca Atallah
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