Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
Egyptian Christians (2011)
Praying for Peace
On New Year’s Day 2011, Egyptian Christians gathered at a church in Alexandria to pray for a happy and peaceful year ahead. The service had only just finished when their hopeful start to 2011 was violently shattered. A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the church as worshippers were leaving; 21 Christians were killed. It was a scene of total carnage, with blood and bodies everywhere. As Christian mothers frantically searched for their children, Muslims were seen coming out of a nearby mosque chanting “Allahu Akbar”, which means “god is great”.
A senior Egyptian Church leader said, “Men, women, children and the elderly gathered together in prayer for a happy and peaceful new year. Instead, they became the innocent victims of a most horrific, callous and cowardly act of terror and violence.”
The attack came two weeks after an Al-Qaeda front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, posted a statement on its website calling for militants to bomb Egyptian churches during Christmas celebrations.
O God, our refuge and strength, who art a very present help in time of trouble: have mercy upon thy Church in its hour of persecution from tyranny and oppression; save them from the dangers that beset them; and restore to them the blessings of freedom and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.