Love, Forgiveness, and Joy for Women Worldwide

With Your Gospel gift, You Empower Struggling Women Like Those in Egypt

Entering the small town in Southern Egypt feels like traveling back in time. Teenage boys in ragged clothes steering donkey carts across dusty, unpaved roads. Motorized traffic seeming to be a rarity. The occasional cars parked at the roadside are dirty, covered with a thick layer of dust, most of them broken.

The town lies on the narrow stretch of fertile land between the west bank of the Nile and the vast emptiness of the Western Desert. Occassional men in light blue djellabas (hooded cloaks with wide sleeves) and turbans on their heads would come into town from their farms, their donkeys with massive bundles of green harvest stacked on the back.

From the doorsteps of the dull, grey-brown homes, veiled ladies would watch the day go by. The state of decay of some of the houses and shops was so poor, they look as though they've suffered through a war.

Colorful Headscarves

The local Church is barely noticable among a row of buildings, all in varying states of disrepair and surrounded by rubbish. With temperatures at the time being about 12°C, it was cold for the women in Upper Egypt who are used to summer heat reaching nearly 50°C. Inside the unheated church, they were bundled in warm wrappings.

Their appearance was traditional: colorful headscarves and long, wide gowns. They sat on old wooden church benches on three sides of a large, square table, where they were praying.

These ladies were members of a group that started as a Bible-based Literacy class and continued as a discipleship group under the leadership of Nahed, a lady of around 40. She was the only one without a headscarf and wearing pants.

Inferior Position

Having enjoyed the benefits of education herself, Nahed took pity on these women who never learned to read and write. The position of women in Southern Egypt’s traditional culture is inferior to men. A woman needs to know the skills of cooking, cleaning, and looking after her children. More schooling is deemed unessary by their fathers and husbands.

On top of this, most families simply can’t afford to send their children to school, and if there is some money, the boys go first. As a result, thousands of adult ladies in Egypt’s rural areas can’t write their own names. In the past two years, Nahed has taken the ladies in her group through the literacy course, which teaches reading and writing skills using Bible-based text.

“We have finished all the booklets, so today, we won’t discuss any new lessons,” Nahed announced. “We are coming together to enjoy the fellowship with each other.”

Encouraged by Nahed, they shared about what had stood out to them in their group.

Forgiveness

“My name is Reda, and I am 55 years old. I have attended the class since the Bible-based Literacy program started here. In the fifth lesson, we learned about love,” Reda recalled. “I learned how Jesus was crucified because He loved me, and that’s why I must love others, too. Even if I have conflicts with others, I must love them.”

Reda said she used to be an angry person who couldn’t forgive. While going through the program, she felt her character changing.

“Through the Bible study, I understood that the basis of forgiveness is love,” she continued. “When I learned how Jesus asked for forgiveness for the soldiers who crucified Him, I realised that I should go and ask forgiveness rather than seek conflict with anyone. Jesus forgave me!” she cried out, still amazed by that discovery.

Excitedly, Reda added, “We also memorise verses. I participated in a memory competition in church and won the first prize with 23 Scripture verses! My most beloved Bible verse is Matthew 18:22, where Jesus said, ‘I do not say to you, (forgive) up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”

A Gentle Grandmother

Nabila is the oldest in the group, and she had the attitude of a grandmother gently overseeing her offspring.

“Our teacher, Nahed, has taught us to love each other and to care for each other,” Nabila pointed out. “Every time we gather, we pray for each other’s needs. I feel totally at ease here.”

Nabila had gone through a series of three stomach surgeries in the past two years. One time, she spent five days in the ICU, and the doctors were concerned she wouldn’t make it.

“Our group kept praying for me to come back,” the elderly lady said, “and God answered their prayers. I am here now!” The others passionately murmured their agreement. Nabila continued, “I remember many Bible verses we learned here, especially Psalm 23!”

The Lord is my Shepherd

She started reciting the Psalm, and one by one, the other ladies chimed in and finished it in one voice. Despite their hardships in life, they acknowledged, “I shall not want, (…) my cup runs over.”

Life in Southern Egypt is not easy. Unemployment forces the men to seek jobs elsewhere, either in the country’s larger cities or abroad, and many women run their families on their own.

All the group members grew up in traditional Christian families. That doesn’t imply a personal relationship with the Lord, though. Going to church is often simply a custom. At church, they hear the Gospel being read in an ancient version of Arabic they hardly understand. Bibles are few, and Bible study materials were nowhere to be found. They wouldn’t be able to read these, anyway.

Another lady, Nadia was her name, provided more insight into that. “I was a nominal Christian,” she said. “I didn’t take faith seriously. However, as I learned more about Jesus in this class, I felt my relationship with God deepened. We pray in the group, but now, I also pray at home, which I didn’t do before.”

Dream

It was only two years ago that these women were unable to read verses from the Bible on their own. Its easy to see how much God’s Word has impacted these women - the intense, almost childlike joy they show as they read is testament to that.

Here's what 70-year-old Nabila said about the role God’s Word had taken in her life:

“My dream was to hold a Bible and read it. It was just a dream, but because of this program, it became true! My grandchildren, who live in my home, sometimes participate in Bible contests at church. I can read now, so I search with them for the answers in the Bible!”

Your Support Brings the Light of the Gospel

Thanks to poeple like you, these women have a new purpose and hope in Jesus.
“We pray to God to extend this program so that it will reach more people in our area,” they said. “We were illiterate, and we didn’t know anything. But now, we have learned so many impactful things about God.”

Like Nabila, who once dreamed of reading the Bible with her grandchildren, countless women are waiting for this same gift. With your support of $120, you can make that dream come true. This gift is available in Bible League’s Gift Catalogue — a way to bless people in need while also giving meaningful gifts to those you love this Christmas.

Give the gift of literacy this Christmas 🎁

Support global Bible-based Literacy