When you
read this I shall probably be somewhere in Egypt. For on Sunday June 1 I fly out to Cairo
where, for three weeks, I am based at one of the flats which form part of the
Anglican Cathedral complex in the centre of Cairo. That is my base, and from there I am planning to visit places of
interest in Egypt, but especially to get some sense of the history of the
Christian church there. For in the
year 269 St Antony, at the age of about 18 or 19, gave away all his possessions
in response to the Gospel and went to live in the desert. Later, after many years of solitude, in 305
AD, he formed a group of monks under a rule. He died at the extraordinary age
of 105! Today, monks still live in
monasteries in the desert, and I am hoping to visit one or two of these near
Cairo.
Antony’s
simple rule was the basis of the Benedictine rule which was drawn up in the
early 6th century, and had a profound influence on the history of the church
through many troubled times. In Egypt the ancient Coptic church was, according
to the historian Eusebius, founded by St Mark, and Alexandria, was, with Rome
and Antioch, one of the three most important Bishoprics in the early church.
Today
about 10 per cent of the population of Egypt is Christian, and most of those
are in the Coptic church. However,
since the 1920s, there has been an Anglican Diocese of Egypt, which grew out of
the missionary work of the Church Missionary Society. The Anglican church still works to promote understanding between
Christian denominations. The Diocese of Egypt includes Algeria, Libya, Tunisia,
Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. It is
part of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.
So, if
you add to that the fact that Mount Sinai is in Egypt and the numerous mentions
of Egypt in the Bible you get a sense of how important it is as a place of
pilgrimage for us as Christians. And
that, in one sense, is what I am making: a pilgrimage to a place where so many
of those who have gone before us in the faith struggled and rejoiced to walk
the Christian way. And if you add to
that my own sense of fascination with the stories of faith which come from
desert and mountain you get the beginnings of the answer to the question: ‘Why
are you going?’
To be
truthful, I go willing to discover things, see where the Spirit leads me and
expect to be challenged and changed. I
plan to write a journal of my time and experiences and, at the end of my
sabbatical three months, to share some of that with you.
Meanwhile,
the church in Egypt asks us to pray for the completion of new projects which it
is involved in: extending the Harpur Memorial Hospital, completion of a church
building at Menouf and the new building for Menara School for children with
special needs. They are also looking to
appoint a new chaplain for the English-speaking congregation at All Saints
Cathedral in Cairo and ask us to join with the whole church in praying for
Archbishop Rowan and the forthcoming Lambeth Conference of Bishops in July and
August.
The
Cathedral and Guest House in Cairo have a special ministry of welcome. The manager of the Guest House, Mike Potter,
was recently badly injured in a road accident. He and his wife Anne and family
are now back in New Zealand after Mike’s surgery on his back in Paris. So prayers are asked for them.
At the
Cathedral a new Sunday school has just started. On Fridays the congregation has recently been joined by embassy
staff from African countries. Meanwhile Sudanese refugees are beginning to
return home, some reluctantly until the war and violence in Southern Sudan
gives way to peace. In addition, there are now 10,000 Iraqi refugees in Egypt
seeking help.
I hope
that my pilgrimage to Egypt will give me a clearer picture of the world in
which we all live, and a deeper relationship with God. I shall be praying for you and looking
forward to telling you more about that in September.
With
love and prayers.
Martin