Newsline Convert Endures Life at a Standstill


EGYPT—The apartment where an Egyptian convert from Islam to Christianity was living in hiding with his teen- age daughter is across the street from a mosque that reg- ularly broadcast anti-Christian messages. “Do not shake their hands. Do not go into their homes,” an imam shouted through the minaret loud- speakers as 57-year-old Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary looked through his window and grimaced. For nearly two years, El- Gohary and his daughter have been forced to hide after he sought to change the religious designation on his national ID card to “Christian.” He taped over the locks of his apart- ment, as well as taping shut the inside of windows and doors,


to guard against eavesdroppers and intruders. He taped over all the drain holes of the sinks to keep anyone from pumping in natural gas at night. Unable to obtain work because of his quest, El-Gohary has to rely on the kind- ness of other Christians to bring him food and water and the occasional donation.


Possibly the worst part for him is watching the suffering of his daughter, Dina, a reflective 16-year-old whose life should be filled with friends, freedom, and self-discovery; she is instead confined between four walls. She cannot go to school or attend church. Now she and her father fear she could be beaten, kidnapped and forcibly converted, or simply killed. One afternoon recently, as she was walking to a market with her


ALLIANCE CALLING FOR UNITED PRAYER The United States is now the third-largest mission field in the world, and a generation is growing up with little understand- ing of absolute truth. In response to our nation’s need, the Awakening America Alliance is calling for extraordinary, united prayer. From September 5 to12, the alliance is calling for “Eight Days of Awakening!” On Sat- urday, September 11, Christians across the nation will gather on courthouse steps for one hour of prayer for a spiri- tual awakening in the land.


The Church of God Prayer Office is encouraging your participation in this event. Check out the alliance’s website


(www.awakeningamerica.us), and if there is no representative listed for your area, you can volunteer to take that role. For more information, contact Doug Small at 704-938-9111 or dsmall@ awakeningamerica.us.


father, El-Gohary noticed smoke and vapors coming off her jacket. The canvas was sizzling and dissolving—someone had poured acid over the jacket. El-Gohary ripped it off her and threw it away.


“I don’t understand why I am being treated this way,” Dina said. “I believe in something— Christianity. I chose the religion because I love it. So why should I be treated this way?” —Compass Direct News


By the Numbers Source: The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life


DAILY PRAYER • 41% of millennials (born in 1981 or later) pray daily.


• 42% of gen-Xers (born between 1965-80) prayed daily in the late 1990s.


• 54% of gen-Xers pray daily now.


• 47% of boomers (born beween 1946-64) prayed daily in the early 1980s.


View from El-Gohary’s former apartment


30 EVANGEL • AUG 2010 • 62% of boomers pray daily now.


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