At least 12 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded on May 7, when several hundred ultraconservative Salafist Muslims attacked two churches and surrounding Christian-owned homes and businesses in the Imbaba district, a poor section of Cairo.
The Muslims gathered outside the Coptic St. Mena Church, protesting over the allegation that a Christian woman was being held there against her will because she had married a Muslim man and converted to Islam. In attempts to dispel the rumor, head clergymen of St. Mina allowed a group of Islamic imams into the church to search for the woman. Violence erupted though, according to witnesses at the scene, the imams declared to the gathering Muslims that the woman wasn't in the building.
After unsuccessfully trying to push through barricades the
Christians had managed to erect, the rioters went to the nearby Virgin Mary Church and set it and other homes ablaze.
Sources: BBC News and Compass Direct News
Photo: Compass Direct News
Please pray for the volatile situation in Egypt. Pray for members of the church that was burned and those who were injured in the attacks. Pray that God will comfort the families of those slain. Pray also that God would block the Muslim Brotherhood from coming into power and raise up God-fearing men and women to govern Egypt.
"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." 1 Peter 5:10
VOM assists Christians in Egypt through its Family of Prisoners Fund, Christian radio broadcasts and discipleship training for Muslim converts.
May 18th, 2011
A Voice of the Martyrs Volunteer
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