Thousands gather to pray and worship in Egypt. Photo: Open Doors USA

During the first weekend in October, 10,000 young people gathered in the desert 100 kilometres north of Cairo to sing and pray and to worship the Lord. The youth gathering was followed up on October 25-28 with an even larger event at the same location -- a Christian rally which drew approximately 45,000 people. The focus of the event was to present the message of salvation and call people to give their lives to Jesus. The rally was especially timely as Christians in Egypt are facing increased persecution since the June election of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi.

An estimated 25,000 people gave their lives to Jesus, with 8,000 cards filled out by people who requested follow-up visits by churches. Two to three million people followed the rally on two Christian satellite channels broadcasted live each day to North America, Australia and the Middle East.

A Christian leader wrote that Egyptian Christians "want to thank all our Christian brothers and sisters worldwide who have faithfully been praying with us and for us as we stood back and watched what mighty things God has done in the lives of many people. We are grateful to Him for His great work among us and for you as our partners in the Kingdom of God."

Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in Egypt. Pray for the thousands who heard the message and responded. Pray that they will have the opportunity to receive effective discipleship. Pray these new believers will never be ashamed of the gospel because God's power brings salvation through it (Romans 1:16).

To learn more about the difficult reality for our Christian family in Egypt, go to the Egypt Country Report.