"Boys need to pay around 5,000 Egyptian pounds or maybe up to £15,000 plus furniture for their brides. In a poor village some men can't afford to get married, and a girl can be forced to marry her cousin. Girls then go to live with their in-laws and work hard all day, taking care of the house, the family and the cattle.
"It is very hard to get these Christian girls to attend our empowerment events. We have to visit each one personally and try to persuade their parents that it will be safe and that we will look after them.
"At the events we talk about taboo subjects like sex, as well as giving them spiritual lessons. We play learning games such as getting a girl to walk on a thin beam with the other girls on either side encouraging her all the time and catching her if she falls. This helps them to understand the importance of encouraging each other during the difficult times in life.
"We also hold events at the villages over a ten-week period and teach them sewing, craftwork, cooking and hairdressing skills. This really helps them feel good about themselves and also enables them to run their own small business using these skills if they wish. Only a few set up their own businesses but those who do make a great success of it, and we help them sell their products. It will perhaps take time before this really catches on.
"It often takes a long time before the girls can receive God's love and respond to the gospel message; but at other times, the Lord's presence is very strong and many receive the Lord. The girls have often experienced so much abuse that they need lots of inner healing. It is almost unheard of for girls to talk about the abuse they endure at home, but many will confide in us as time goes by."
Martha is part of a team of eight full-time workers bringing the love and healing of Christ to these downtrodden and forgotten village women.
Those working in the other areas of ministry such as children's work, evangelism and leadership training face equally challenging situations with opposition from religious leaders in Muslim and sometimes even Coptic Orthodox traditions. However, just as the earthly life of Jesus was protected (in caves in Assiut, in central Egypt, one tradition says) from those intent on murdering him, so the body of Christ today continues to grow despite opposition.
Author and speaker Debra Green was a participant on the Egypt trip and will be co-hosting an Open Doors event on Saturday 29 September 2007, alongside Andy Hawthorne of the Message Trust with speaker Brother Andrew (author of God's Smuggler) and singer/songwriter Andy Flannagan, which will enable Christians in the UK to stand alongside suffering fellow believers throughout the world.
Event partners include fellow Persecuted Church agencies, CSW, Jubilee Campaign and Release International. To find out more or book a place, go to: www.opendoorsuk.org/unite
*pseudonym used for security reasons
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Open Doors is an international charity serving persecuted Christians, working in 60 countries worldwide with 20 development offices.
