Egypt: God's Faithfulness in the Face of Opposition

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." - John 10:10 NLT

I never expected that within a few short months of joining FCCI that I would be teaching (in partnership with International Leadership Institute) a group of young leaders in Egypt about Spiritual Leadership while the Muslim call to prayer blared from loudspeakers outside of the windows of our little meeting room.

It happened. But it almost didn’t.

Satan's Opposition

Satan had plans to steal my ability to make this trip just as it was beginning.

Prior to departing for Egypt, I had travelled from Denver and spent 3 days in Atlanta with some of our FCCI family as we remembered and celebrated the beautiful life of our beloved Sue Mitchell. It was a rich time of tears, laughter, and everything in between as we saw the fruit of a life well-lived for God. 

I had rented a car to get around Atlanta during my time there. I was now on the way to the Atlanta airport to return that car and catch my flight from Atlanta to Cairo. I stopped at a gas station alongside the highway to fuel up before returning the vehicle and was very anxious and excited to get to the airport.

As I was standing outside the rear passenger’s side of my vehicle putting fuel in, a car pulled up to the pump behind me. It stayed there for a few seconds, then abruptly pulled up alongside the driver’s side of my vehicle.

A man jumped out of the passenger’s seat of the car, opened the driver’s door of my vehicle, and jumped inside!

He intended to steal my car.

So, there I am watching this stranger with ill intentions in the driver’s seat of my car, frantically trying to start it. 

All the news stories we see about carjackings, shootings, etc. flashed in my mind.

My mind raced as I reached down and patted the outside of my pants pocket, and to my relief discovered the keys were there. The man had no way to start the car. 

And he was beginning to realize that was the case. 

Instead of waiting for him to try to get the keys from me, I instinctively replaced the fuel hose back into its holder (not sure why I took the time to do that, your mind can do funny things under stress) and walked quickly into the station. I shouted to the attendant to call 911. 

By the time I turned around, the man had run on foot to the car he arrived in, which had been waiting and watching from a distance on the street. 

I was safe.

But as I watched that car speed off, I thought “Oh no!” 

My phone and my laptop bag were both in my vehicle, in plain sight. Because I had my back to him when he fled, I had no idea if he took those with him or not. 

Then, I realized that my passport was in my laptop bag. 

No passport. No trip to Egypt. 

And my flight was leaving in 2 hours.

After waiting with the gas station owner for a minute to make sure the coast was clear, I anxiously went back to my car. I prayed that I would find my possessions still in the vehicle.

I looked on the passenger’s seat where I had left my phone sitting in plain sight. 

It was gone.

I looked in the back seat where I left my laptop bag sitting out in the open...

It was STILL THERE.

“Thank you, Lord!” I thought as a let out a sigh of relief. Somehow, the man didn’t see it, or had become too scared to spend the time to grab it on his way out of my vehicle. I looked through the bag. My passport, computer and teaching materials were all still inside.

I believe God protected me and preserved my ability to travel to Egypt for His purposes. While not having a phone was an inconvenience, it wasn’t “mission critical” like my passport, computer and teaching materials were.

Because of God’s protection, I believe we see the beginnings of abundant life.

Satan stole. Jesus still brings life.

I was shaken. But not deterred. 

I returned the rental car and made it to the airport with time to spare. As I waited to board the flight, I thought that God must have big things in store for Satan to try so hard to stop me.

I was right.

God's Faithfulness

This time in Egypt was one of the most spiritually enriching of my entire life. Seeing the love & joy of Jesus on the faces of so many believers, young and old, has blessed me beyond words. And to hear what God is doing in their lives, their occupations and businesses, their churches, and their communities as they pursue Him in faith has me full of hope for the future.

These are the people that we get to serve.

What a privilege.

One of the volunteer faculty for ILI here in Egypt shared about losing her daughter in a car accident when her daughter was 16 years old. In her mourning, she felt God leading her to orphan girls around the same age as her daughter. From that tragedy and grief came a wonderful ministry to orphan girls suffering abuse at the hands of orphanage workers. 

This volunteer’s stories of rescue, healing and unconditional love caused several of the young women in attendance to seek ministry from this volunteer and began a road to healing from the abuse they have experienced in their lives.

Satan killed. God still brings life.

On this trip, God has brought me into relationship with a couple who owns an engineering business in Cairo. They shared with me on the last day of our trip that they feel led by God to help FCCI launch here in Egypt. They are willing to translate materials into Arabic and arrange Zoom meetings to get us off the ground here.

And, God arranged a meeting with the Pastor of the largest Arabic speaking Evangelical church in the world, Pastor Sameh Maurice. Pastor Sameh looked me in the eye and said, "If you want to start something here in Egypt, we'll get the businesspeople there." 

We were also able to connect with two other local "business as mission" organizations who expressed the desire for the greater community and connection that FCCI could help bring to Egypt.

Praise God.

That was followed by a 2 hour meeting with a small group of business leaders who stated "they have been trying to organize something like this for years." 

God's timing is perfect.

There is a hunger for the truth of Jesus Christ among these leaders. Hearing that you can operate a business as a platform for ministry speaks to their hearts and brings excitement and hope, even as Egypt’s economy suffers recession and has brought these businesses into some difficult times.

Satan destroys. God still brings life.

What's Next?

Please pray that the seeds planted on this trip will grow into FCCI Egypt, if that is God's will. We know that the enemy will try to steal and kill and destroy. But we believe Jesus will bring rich and satisfying life through this effort.

None of this would have happened if it weren’t for your prayers, your work and your support of FCCI. Thank you for making FCCI a global movement of servant leaders helping each other lead companies for Christ.

In Faith,

Ryan Dickinson
Executive Director, FCCI

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