History in the making #2:
"Blessed be Egypt my people"
~ Isaiah 19:25
As I flicked onto my homepage, I saw the news report flash up from BBC News & I admit, I did a double-take. Having followed the story over the last few weeks to finally see the people who refused to back down find their demands being answered in full. Amazing. This follows on from the church circular earlier in the day, from our mission partners. The question which they posed & which is being asked across the nation, across the world: how will the transfer of power now unfold?
You're the God of Cairo-city;
You're the King of those people;
You're the Lord of the nation: You are.
Greater things are yet to come &
greater things are still to be done here.
_______________
Dear friends
You've seen the images, and now a superficial normality has returned, and we're back at work part of the time at least. While unrest continues to spread, curfews (8pm now) are variable and widely ignored, and the crowds in the central square and elsewhere grow and make their point. Counter-demonstrations are also mounted, and Christians are on all sides of the debate as well as involved in some impressive witness.
Tonight, as we send you this, we realise everything could change again as we wait for President Mubarak to address the nation. But that's how it's been every day, so at the risk of being out of date within minutes, we'll send it anyway.
Church-wise, it has been a great privilege to be here, staying, praying quietly and steadily each day, watching and waiting and looking after one another. Now people are coming back to work, we're pausing at 12noon local time, ringing the Cathedral bell (founded in Loughborough, Helen's home town, and dated 1886), and praying earnestly for the country in Arabic & English - such moving, heartfelt prayers. English-speaking congregations have so far had the advantage of daytime service times, so we've been meeting in multiple languages to include the others. A lot of our congregation have left for the time being, but we hope they'll be back soon; it'll take a while to build things up again.
Thank you for your calls, many messages and one-liners, all very much appreciated. Bishop Mouneer has received thousands more; we're trusting that so much focussed prayer from all over the world will indeed leave doors more open to the Gospel and to people making their own, unpressured, choices than before. As we've prayed and watched and waited each day, Scripture has constantly reminded us that God is Lord of every nation, that he is at work, and that no-one who trusts him need be afraid even though seismic shifts and rumours overwhelm them.
Mike & Helen