News from the Episcopal Diocese of Egypt

Celebrating Orthodox Christmas (7 January)

At the invitation of His Holiness, Pope Shenouda III, a delegation from the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt attended the celebration of Orthodox Christmas at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. The delegation included Bishop Mouneer Anis, Canon Gabriel Yanni, Rev. Faraj Ibrahim, Rev. Drew Schmotzer and Bishop Mouneer's guest: The Rev. Canon Andrew Tremlett from Westminster Abbey.

Visit of The Rev. Canon Andrew Tremlett

Diocese of Egypt was delighted to welcome The Revd Canon Andrew Tremlett, the Canon of Westminster Abbey and Rector of St Margaret's Church, London

Sudanese Congregation Growing

Rev. Yousif Abu Jalha had a rough year in 2011. In the first three months of the year, many of his congregation were unable to attend church because of the unstable situation in Egypt. As most of the congregation travels 45 minutes across Cairo to get to church, they were too scared to travel. However, since April, when the congregation felt safe to attend again, the congregation has grown.

The Sudanese congregation of Rev. Yousif is part of St Michael.s and All Angel's Church in Heliopolis. In 2011, the average congregation each week grew from 153 to 183 adults, and from 66 to 88 children. Rev. Yousif has created his own problem, as now there are too many people to fit into the church!

Giving at St Michael’s

All of the congregations of St Michael's (Arabic, English and Sudanese) strive to be outward focused. As well caring for those in their own congregations, they recently raised money to build two new churches in Gambella, Ethiopia.

Serving the People of Gambella

Gambella is a region in the west of Ethiopia that borders with Sudan. The work of the Anglican Church began in Gambella in 1996 in refugee camps in the region. Since then, through building relationships with indigenous peoples, churches have been established amongst the three major tribes, the Nuer, the Annuak and the Opo. There are now 56 churches in the Gambella Regional State that are part of the Episcopal Area of the Horn of Africa. As well as planting churches, the Anglican Church is involved in development work.

Health and Hygiene Community Project

Many of the health problems of people living in Gambella are a result of a lack of basic knowledge about hygiene and a lack of facilities.

Through the "Health and Hygiene Community Project" 7,200 households in Gambella received education on health and hygiene in 2011.

Community Library at the Gambella Anglican Centre

For many students in Gambella it is difficult to get access to the needed text books for their education. The local library is not sufficiently funded and is closed most of the time.

In November 2010, the Gambella Anglican Centre was opened. This centre include a library and education facilities, as well as a guest house, an office block, a training room, a refectory, and sports facilities. The library provides a quiet, clean reading space, computers, stationery and support from librarians. Since the library opened, over 2000 students have been issued with library cards.

In June 2011, sports facilities were opened at the centre... There are also games to encourage children's development such as meccano, Lego and other constructions kits available.

Pilgrimage to Carthage

By The Rt. Rev. Dr. Bill Musk

Eighty pilgrims from St George’s Anglican Church, Tunis descended on the car park of a large supermarket outside the city centre early one Saturday morning in January. Leaving our cars we clambered aboard two buses for a five-hour visit to some of the early Christian sites in Carthage.

St George's Tunis website (http://www.stgeorgetunis.com) which will shortly feature a document offering a "Christian pilgrimage" perspective on visiting the ancient archaeological sites in Carthage.

Bishop Mouneer’s visit to CMS Australia

From 10-22 January 2012, Bishop Mouneer travelled to Australia and spoke at some of the Summer Conferences of CMS Australia which were held in Adelaide, Melbourne, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Bishop Mouneer was asked to speak on the following topics:

1. Reaching out to Muslims

2. The Current Situation facing Christians in the Middle East

3. A Biblical & Historical Perspective on Per-secution

At one of the conferences, Bishop Mouneer gave the Shield of the Diocese to Canon Dr. John Thew, the former Director of CMS Australia who has recently retired after many years of faithful ministry. Canon John enriched the relationship between the CMS Australia and the Diocese of Egypt over the years. We are grateful to him and to CMS.

Bishop Mouneer’s visit to Tasmania

Bishop Mouneer shared on Reaching Muslims, Biblical & Historical Perspectives on Perse-cution, and The Causes & Consequences of The Arab Spring. In Bishop Mouneer.s con-cluding statement he said,

We need to continue to love people even if they do not convert to Christianity. Remember it is not us, but the Holy Spirit who converts people to Christ.

Bishop John Harrower of the Diocese of Tasmania said that by hosting Bishop Mouneer to discuss his experiences, it would personalise the issues for people in Tasmania

See the full article: "Bishop spreads a message of peace"

Partners in Prayer

January marked the anniversary of the revo-lutions in Tunisia and Egypt. The Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa is so encouraged and thankful for the many people in churches around the world that are praying for the countries that faced turmoil in 2011, and continue to face an uncertain and difficult situation.

The Diocese Welcomes...

Mr. David Ghan will be living and working in Menouf for the next three years. David has been sent by the Mennonite Central Committee, and he will be teaching English and working with Mrs. Mona at the Community Service Centre.

Mr. Peter and Mrs. Jane Nott are from CMS-UK. They have come from Nazareth, Palestine where they were working with different community projects with various partners. They will be in Cairo for the next six months, where they are enjoying teaching English at the Episcopal Training Centre (ETC).

The Diocese Farewells...

Mr. Jonathan and Mrs. Helen Lee served at Refuge Egypt over the past three years. Jonathan was the director of Refuge Egypt, and Helen served in many different aspects of the ministry. Under Jonathan‟s leadership, the ministry grew and developed. The Well Baby and Well Child clinics were opened, and a new medical clinic was opened in a hospital in Cairo. He built good relations with UNHCR, and with other NGOs that work with refugees in Egypt.

Read more on these stories and other news from Egypt