May 4, 2005

When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you…
Isaiah 43:2-5

Greetings from Cairo in Christ!

Whoever said "the only constant thing in life is change" seems to have been a prophet speaking about our times. We are living through times of massive changes—in our own nation, in the politics of nations around the world, in the population and state of the environment worldwide. Some generations fear change, while others (including us "Gen X-ers") seem to accept change as a normal state of life.

Changes are sweeping the region of the Middle East where I am currently serving. Countries once closed to the outside world are becoming more open. "Experiments in democracy" are emerging in the long troubled nations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Israelis and Palestinians are slowly making their way back to the negotiating table. Peace talks have begun in Sudan, and confidence is so high that some refugees have begun returning home. There are many reasons to be hopeful in the light of such positive changes.

But for those who live in the Middle East, hopes are easily built up and even more easily dashed. So many generations in this part of the world have seen hopes collapse, promises betrayed, and generosity withdrawn with disturbing consistency. For them, change is the enemy, because it brings with it the possibility of something even worse emerging.

Another, less-promising change has been the return of terrorist violence to Egypt after a hiatus from late 1997 until late 2004, when the Hilton hotel in Taba was bombed. In the last two weeks there have been four terrorist attacks resulting in at least four fatalities, besides the terrorists themselves. While all signs indicate that these recent events are isolated (all the terrorists from this month were apparently part of the same extended family), the actions remind us that terrorism and extremism are still alive and well on Egyptian soil despite the efforts of the Egyptian government to eradicate them.

How do Christians deal with all these changes? It is my belief that our call is not to fear change, or to avoid it, but rather to view it through the lens of God's project for the world in Jesus Christ. We cannot ignore the troubling changes taking place in the world, but we can use our faith in God's ultimate victory to encourage us as we adapt to the changes and move forward in the mission God has entrusted to us. As Isaiah reminds us in the passage above, we serve a God who loves us and gives us strength to confront change head on, to pass through rivers and fire and carry on in His grace.

Using the lens of faith, we see many positive changes in Egypt. Egyptian Christians are enjoying levels of freedom they have not known for the last 10 centuries. External and internal political pressures have led to greater recognition of the place of Christians in Egyptian society and their rights as full citizens. Permissions to build and repair churches are more easily obtained than before. Non-Christians are asking questions in more open and fearless ways and coming to faith in Christ in amazing ways. Believers are beginning to lose the fears they have lived with for so many generations and to move out into the new territories that are opening up in their own country and abroad.

For members of the Body of Christ, there is no need to fear change because we worship the God who created change. We firmly believe that the changes and tribulations of life, however great and unexpected, are ultimately under the authority of our Lord, and he is fully capable of using them to accomplish his plan. Let us move boldly into those changes!

In Christ,

Brice Rogers

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 160