Egyptian Christians hope and dream of a Christmas where they don't have to worry about becoming victims of terrorist attacks. So says church leader Thomas, whom I met recently. He has personally experienced death threats and an assassination attempt by Muslim extremists.
However, it seems that there are radical Islamist circles that want to take the hope of Christmas peace away from Christians. A media outlet with close ties to the Islamic State is calling on Muslims in Egypt to blow up Christians' churches and kill their priests and to show no mercy to any Christian.
The call refers to previous terrorist attacks on Egyptian churches by Islamic State supporters and encourages Egyptian Muslims to "revive" these attacks.
Pray for Egypt's Christians especially this Christmas - and remember that Christmas in Egypt is celebrated according to the Coptic calendar. Christmas night for them is therefore the night between January 6 and 7. The New Year is also a time to pray for Christians in Egypt, because a few years ago there was a major terrorist attack on a church in Alexandria where the congregation had gathered to give thanks for the old year and pray for the new.
