Source: INcontext International, July 11, 2019
A presidential committee tasked with rectifying the status of unlicensed Christian places of worship, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, approved on Monday [1 July] legalizing 127 churches and service buildings that used to be operating without permits. This brings to 1,021 the total number of unlicensed Christian places of worship and service buildings that have been granted legal status so far [since 2016]
After 160 years of tight restrictions on building churches in Egypt, these legalizations are not only ground-breaking in legal terms but also revolutionary within a Middle Eastern Christian framework.
» Full story explains why strengthening Egyptian Christian communities is vital for reaching the region and how we can pray. Some of their data comes from an interesting, undated article Minority Report: Christian Persecution in Muslim Majority Countries (Fuller Studio).
» In Egypt Approves 127 Churches, International Christian Concern reports that the government has faced heavy criticism for moving so slowly in this matter, as thousands of churches await legalization. A related article from CBN calls the July 1 decision “sweeping approval” and “a promising start.”
» Also from East Africa, see Revival in the Western Nuba Mountains (Reaching Africa’s Unreached).