Dear Friends,
This week, please pray with us for Dr. Ayman S. Ibrahim from Egypt.
Located at the juncture of northeast Africa and southwest Asia, Egypt is the most populous Arab country with nearly 108 million people, half of whom live in urban centers along the Nile. Islam is the state religion, and just over 90% of Egyptians are Muslims (mostly Sunni). Around 10% are Christians, with nine in ten Egyptian Christians belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Pray for our Egyptian sisters and brothers in Christ as they share God’s love and truth, even while facing discrimination and hostility. Pray for our Egyptian neighbors as economic crisis multiplies worries and hardships.
Ayman earned two PhDs in Islamic Studies, one from Fuller Theological Seminary (USA) and the other from University of Haifa (Israel). His research focused on the impact of the first-century Muslim conquests on Christianity in the Middle East and North Africa. Ayman has taught at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (a client of the Vital Sustainability Initiative) in Beirut, Lebanon and currently directs the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (USA). Check out Ayman’s recent publications and his 2014 Global Insights: “Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?”
Ayman shares the following message:
Please pray for the economic situation in my homeland, Egypt. Since March 2022, the Egyptian pound has lost over 60% in value against the US dollar, leaving underprivileged people in more suffering and shortage of life necessities.
Please pray for efforts to raise support for the underprivileged in Egypt and the MENA region. Muslims and Christians in Egypt are all burdened, but the Church is helping, both socially and evangelistically. The Church is proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in these tough days and meeting people’s material needs in many places.
In December, I will be taking a group of American and international students to Egypt, in order to help them see how Christians live and serve in a Muslim-majority country. We will visit Coptic Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical churches. We will also travel to Upper Egypt to encounter firsthand the needs of many underprivileged people (mostly Christians) in places far from Cairo.
The situation in Egypt is not much different from those in other MENA countries. In particular, pray for Lebanon, as it has been sinking under tremendous economic pressure in recent years.
Please also pray for my Lebanon educational mission trip. In May, I will be taking a group of nine American and international students to Lebanon. We will be serving alongside three local churches (in Beirut and Zahle) and one parachurch – all focusing on mission work among Muslims. My goal is to help all of us learn how Lebanese Christians are serving and proclaiming the Gospel in these tough circumstances. We want to understand the multifaceted dimensions of life as a Christian in Lebanon, as well as the unique sectarian divisions in Lebanon that affect political and denominational decisions.
Please pray that God would place a genuine burden on the hearts of Christians worldwide to support the work of God in Muslim-majority countries, both theologically and financially.
Gratefully,
Ayman S. Ibrahim