Young Egyptian Woman Killed for Converting to Christianity

A young Egyptian woman, Marwa Ahmed, 26, has reportedly been killed by her family after converting to Christianity and marrying a man from Fayoum, Egypt.

According to al-Tahrir, Marwa had moved to Alexandria from the town of Tamiyyah with her Coptic Christian partner three years ago. Since then, she had given birth to a boy and girl.

Eshhad, an online platform that collates reports of alleged religious persecution and sectarian attacks in Egypt, reports that Marwa was killed nearly two weeks ago by her uncle and cousins when they learned of her short visit back to Tamiyyah.

Marwa had gone back to Tamiyyah to visit her husband’s family, where, knowing of threats against her life, she was taken by her father to her brother’s home for 10 days for her protection.

However, Marwa’s uncle eventually found out where she was staying and kidnapped her. Eshhad reports that the uncle then forced Marwa’s youngest sister to “kill her to ‘punish’ her for her conversion [to Christianity].”

Al-Masry Al-Youm, however, reports that it was the uncle that killed Marwa.

Following the murder, Marwa’s father went to the police to inform them of the murder.

Meanwhile, according to  Al-Masry Al-Youm, a ‘reconciliation’ settlement between the family of the Christian husband and Marwa’s family has resulted in the deportation of the Christian family to another city in order to avoid any possible sectarian clashes as a result of the murder.

Sectarian tension between Muslims and Christians has been rife in the past decade, with frequent clashes in rural Egyptian cities.

• Pray for the families involved with this case, for healing, forgiveness and reconciliation to be found.
• Pray for Christian families in Egypt caught up in the sectarian violence, especially in rural areas. Pray for protection on them and for peace in their communities.
• Pray for Christians across Egypt, as they face growing pressure against them. Pray that they will stand firm in their faith and witness to the grace and love of Jesus.
• Pray for peace in this nation, and for Godly government that will allow freedom of worship and belief without fear.

Matthew 10 vs 28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Source: http://www.egyptianstreets.com, http://www.persecution.org