Pray For the Christians in Egypt

In Egypt, 9% of the population are Coptic Christians. They need our prayers. Hundreds of Christians in the U.K. took part in a day of prayer for believers in Egypt last Saturday. Bishop Angaelos, the General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain said Christians have a "duty" to fill Egypt with light as he spoke of their determination to stay.

"As a church we've been there for 2,000 years. We're a resilient bunch. We're not going anywhere. We're the indigenous people of Egypt and we're staying in Egypt and people need to realize that. I do not mean that provocatively but defiantly," he said.

There is a history of persecution of the church in Egypt and in the last few years there has been an alarming escalation in discrimination and violence against Christians. According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide there have been 53 incidents of sectarian violence from 2008 to 2010.

So far the violence in Egypt seems to center on a change in government. However, as the unrest continues, the target is shifting to include a religious overtone.

What can we do? We can pray. I can only speak for myself, but sometimes I get so bogged down in praying for what's going on in my world, that I fail to pray for what's going on in the world. It is important for us to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe. Many of them face persecution every single day of their lives. They live in circumstances that you and I can't even imagine.

I'm not telling you to give up praying for your family, your friends, neighbors, the prayer requests you read about on other blogs. Indeed, we must keep praying for all of them. But we need to take time to remember to pray for fellow Christians in other countries. And right now, today, the Christians in Egypt are in need of our prayer support.