[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]VOM-USA Prayer Update for November 23, 2012
Egypt--Latest Egyptian Female Kidnap Victim is Fourteen
Sources: World Evangelical Alliance, VOM Contacts
Psalm 77:1-3
Sarah Abdelmalek, 14, is the latest victim of a common practice of kidnapping Coptic Christian girls and forcing them to marry their Muslim kidnappers. Sarah was last seen Sept. 30, 2012, entering a paper shop near her school. A VOM worker says that at least 24 girls have been kidnapped recently, ranging in age from 14 to 21 years old. Sarah is the youngest. Even if Sarah wanted to marry voluntarily, under Egyptian law, she would have to wait until she turned 18. After Sarah's father filed a missing persons report, he received a phone call telling him he would never see his daughter again. According to a school friend, the 27-year-old paper shop owner, a member of an extremist Sunni Muslim group called the Salafists, had been pursuing Sarah for a while. On Oct. 28, a Salafist organization issued a statement saying that Sarah converted to Islam freely and married a Muslim man. Fundamentalist Muslims are encouraged to kidnap Christian girls and marry them as part of a strategy to limit and intimidate the Christian population in Egypt. The kidnappers insist that the girls convert to Islam of their own will, ensuring that the girls will not be returned to their families. Pray for comfort for this family, and pray that the government will defend the Copts in Egypt.
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Egypt--Latest Egyptian Female Kidnap Victim is Fourteen
Sources: World Evangelical Alliance, VOM Contacts
Psalm 77:1-3
Sarah Abdelmalek, 14, is the latest victim of a common practice of kidnapping Coptic Christian girls and forcing them to marry their Muslim kidnappers. Sarah was last seen Sept. 30, 2012, entering a paper shop near her school. A VOM worker says that at least 24 girls have been kidnapped recently, ranging in age from 14 to 21 years old. Sarah is the youngest. Even if Sarah wanted to marry voluntarily, under Egyptian law, she would have to wait until she turned 18. After Sarah's father filed a missing persons report, he received a phone call telling him he would never see his daughter again. According to a school friend, the 27-year-old paper shop owner, a member of an extremist Sunni Muslim group called the Salafists, had been pursuing Sarah for a while. On Oct. 28, a Salafist organization issued a statement saying that Sarah converted to Islam freely and married a Muslim man. Fundamentalist Muslims are encouraged to kidnap Christian girls and marry them as part of a strategy to limit and intimidate the Christian population in Egypt. The kidnappers insist that the girls convert to Islam of their own will, ensuring that the girls will not be returned to their families. Pray for comfort for this family, and pray that the government will defend the Copts in Egypt.
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