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| Pray for the safety of Egyptian families. Photo: Flickr / flat.luxury (cc) |
Police complacency toward the kidnapping of Coptic Christians in Egypt has fostered a climate of impunity, according to an undisclosed source. The phenomenon of kidnapping Coptic Christians for ransom has spread in Minya province, the latest of which occurred last month. (Copts are the indigenous people of Egypt, the true descendants of the Pharaohs. At the time of Arab invasion in the 7th century, an overwhelming number of Copts, literal Egyptians, were Christians.)
An extremist group kidnapped a five-year-old boy, Kastor Amir Bushra, from Dafash village in Upper Egypt on the morning of October 21st. The kidnappers scaled the rear wall of the home owned by his father, Amir Bushra, and broke into the apartment on the second floor. They then went to the child's bedroom where he shared a room with his 12-year-old sister and 9-year-old brother.
Taking the boy, they left a mobile phone on his bed and fled the house. The kidnappers later contacted the child's father via the mobile phone, demanding a ransom of 200,000 EGP (approximately $33,000 CAD) in exchange for his son. After the family pooled all of their resources, the kidnappers agreed to a negotiated fee of 45,000 EGP. We are sharing in this family's great joy over the good news that little Kastor has since been safely returned! Not all such cases are as successful, even when ransom is paid.
Let us join this family in praising our Almighty God for the protection and safe return of their young son, Kastor. May this child be healed of any trauma that has resulted from the kidnapping; and may his family remain firm in their Christian faith despite the ordeal they've experienced. Please pray that the Egyptian authorities will operate with wisdom and great dedication in their attempts to rescue others who've been abducted for their faith and are still being held in captivity. May stringent measures also be made to: 1) prevent further kidnappings from taking place, and 2) enforce stricter penalties for those who carry out such calculated crimes against Egypt's innocent and vulnerable citizens. (Another report relating to the kidnapping of Christians is available here.)
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