Arab Christians try new ways to sustain spirit
Pastor Dale Morgan
Arab Christians try new ways to sustain spirit*
By Will Rasmussen
Reuters
Sunday, December 9, 2007; 7:22 PM
CAIRO (Reuters) - Organizers billed it as one of the largest events of
its kind in the Arab world.
On a November weekend, over 10,000 Arab Christians, mostly from Egypt,
boarded hundreds of buses headed to a desert camp outside Cairo for
three days of non-traditional worship.
Under the hot sun, participants helped each other scramble over climbing
walls, danced at a live performance of Christian rap, and shared
religious testimony at a BMX-biking show.
"We wanted to come over here and give some hope to what can be a dark
world for Christians," said Catherine Swaffar, a 24-year old Texan, as
she helped Egyptian teenagers climb a 10-metre (30-foot) rock wall set
up on the desert sand.
She was one of a team of volunteers from around the world, many from the
evangelical Luis Palau Association of Portland, Oregon, who journeyed to
Cairo to help stage the same events that have drawn hundreds of
thousands to festivals in the United States.
As members of a religious minority in the mostly Muslim Arab world, many
Arab Christian groups are turning to evangelical styles of worship,
often borrowed from America, to energize communities they say are
threatened by emigration.
"We've never seen anything like this here in Egypt," said Karim Tadros,
22, after watching a team of visiting American skateboarders mix stunts
with stories about religious conversions. "I like the environment here
and how people treat each other. That is what God is all about."
Human rights and church groups say violence and insecurity have helped
drive Christians out of some Middle East countries, such as Iraq,
Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Egyptian Christian groups
complain of harassment or arrest by police.
A sense that Islamist ideologies are spreading is also encouraging
Christians, many of whom have family in Western countries, to emigrate,
said Michel Nseir, Middle East program executive for the World Council
of Churches.
"With the rise of fundamentalism, extremism and intolerance, Christians
are easy targets of acts of violence, very often identified with
occupying or oppressing powers," he said. "These acts are often
exaggerated or amplified by the media, creating a general feeling of
fear that pushes more Christians to leave."
DECLINING FREEDOMS
At the desert festival, volunteers milled through the crowds, offering
to talk about their faith, as music from Van Halen and the Chemical
Brothers played over loudspeakers.
It was a way to reach Egyptians who might be bored or disillusioned with
more traditional styles of worship practiced by the Coptic Orthodox
Church which is dominant in the country, Organizers said.
"We want to reach people who've never been to a church, and if you
invited them to a church they wouldn't be interested," said organizer
Ramez Sami Barnaba. "Here they will participate in activities and have
fun and hear the word of God at the same time."
Egypt's roughly 7 million Christians account for up to 10 percent of the
population and belong mostly to the Coptic Orthodox church which gives
allegiance to its own Pope in Egypt, Pope Shenouda III.
They have long complained that Egyptian law discriminates against
Christians in matters of personal status and in the repair and building
of churches. Some say they also face discrimination at work or in their
professions.
A U.S. government report said in September Egypt had seen a marked
decline in religious freedom and that while Egypt's constitution
provided for freedom of belief, the government in practice restricted
those rights.
"We have less freedom than before," said pastor Sameh Maurice Tawfik,
54, whose sermons each night at the festival drew nearly 1,000 people
and were broadcast around the Arab world on a Christian satellite
channel. "If you want to know why, you have to ask the police."
Egyptian police detained three members of a Christian rights group in
November without cause, the group said. They detained two other members
of the same group in August who had helped a man who converted from
Islam to Christianity.
Emigration by Christians is challenging churches to come up with new
ways to attract members, festival Organizers said.
LZ7, a Christian rap and fusion band from Manchester in Britain that
works with the Palau Association, had a crowd of a few hundred waving
their hands and dancing on chairs to songs such as "Cross I Carry."
"The Holy Spirit is really moving in there," said Nabil Shalaby, 24,
after emerging from the concert tent.
(Editing by Sara Ledwith)