Ministry Update: Teen Ministry (Egypt)

The ministry reaches teenagers and young adults from one of Cairo’s most dangerous areas—full of Muslim fanatics, criminals, and extreme poverty.

After two years of on-and-off meetings with boys, the boys’ ministry officially launched last year, and now about 20 boys come every week. The director is the only male leader, as everyone else has declined to work with these boys, fearing that it is too dangerous. The director is trusting the Lord to raise a couple of the boys to help him lead.

According to Teen Ministry’s director, the boys are in “very, very bad shape.” Most are either drug addicts or drug dealers, and some have just been released from prison. Some live in the streets, and one boy lived in the cemeteries for three years. The ministry tries to help them deal with the cumulative damage from years of neglect and abuse, and some are starting to quit drugs. The cost of sending them all to rehab is extremely prohibitive, so the ministry is pursuing relational discipleship, even though it will be a slower process.

One young man, from a background of very high drug use, had been living on the streets for three years after his parents kicked him out of the house. During the second meeting he attended, he ran out as soon as worship started. The director ran after him and brought him inside to sit beside him, and he eventually joined in the worship. Several months later, while on a day trip with several of the boys and girls, he came to the director and his wife, expressing that he now feels like he belongs to a family, with them as his parents.

At least five of the 20 boys meeting regularly have come to faith and confessed Christ as believers. Teen Ministry’s director is encouraged by the growth he is witnessing and has begun training them for possible future leadership.