Egypt (MNN) — What does it take for a refugee to regain stability?
Christians from Kasr El-Dobara Evangelical Church (KDEC) in Egypt say it looks like this: a journey from fear, to hope, to overcoming barriers, and then to living in strength. Sounds clear cut, but the process takes years of receiving Christ’s love and practical care.
Marihan with KDEC says that on this journey with refugees, “One of the ways we find very helpful is not just to feed them, but to equip them.”
The church equips women in particular through a vocational training center, in partnership with another congregation in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. They have started not only this vocational center but also a school for children. (More on the school here.)
“We are teaching them small skills — sewing skills, macrame skills, how to do like a fashion thing or any handmade work, so they can have income,” says Marihan. “After some time, we can teach them as well how to start their own business, their own shop, their own whatever, so they can have sustainable income.”
(Photo courtesy of KDEC)
Egypt hosts more than 1 million refugees, according to December 2025 data from the United Nations Refugee Agency. Many come from Sudan and Syria. Even before families and individuals realize they aren’t going home anytime soon, they face serious barriers “with the language, with culture, with the identity itself, with everything around them,” says Marihan, “even with the people who sometimes treat them as if [the refugees] are the enemy, [as if] they are taking their food.”
Marihan says it might take three to five years for refugees to begin to thrive. “It depends on the person himself — and the situation in their country, by the way. If the situation in their country is going bad every day, it affects them.”
But showing the love of Christ opens the way to share His message. Please pray for God’s blessing and strength for believers in Egypt engaged in loving and caring for displaced families.
“Pray for the grace that God is giving us with the government to continue. We got permission from the government to establish the education center and to serve those people,” Marihan explains.
Header photo courtesy of Wadi Lissa via Unsplash.
