Focus on the Family Middle East eyes housing, blankets for refugees IRBIL, Iraq — Here in a church courtyard, about 30 refugees gather around Egyptian volunteers who have come to help them find what so many in this region have lost – homes. As Sami Yacoub and his 20-year-old son,Read More

ASSUIT, Egypt — The Bible Society of Egypt has reopened a Christian bookstore in Upper Egypt that was destroyed last year by Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers. On August 14, vandals — angry about the dispersion of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo’s Tahrir Square — broke down the Bible Society Bookshop’s heavy metalRead More

Across Egypt, Christians met violence with mercy Cairo – By September 2013, sympathizers to Mohammed Morsi’s ousted Muslim Brotherhood government had decided if they couldn’t control Egypt, they’d burn it. Churches were high on their list of targets. Kasr el Dobara, the largest evangelical church in the Middle East, hadRead More

Before, during and after Egypt’s revolution, a movement of prayer and Christian unity is having an unprecedented impact. STORIES NEW – ‘We thought you hated us’: Across Egypt, Christians met violence with mercy Equipping ‘workplace theologians’: Entrepreneur wants everyday Christians to live, share faith 25 languages, millions of people: RightRead More

When other businesspeople were fleeing during Egypt’s 2011 revolution, Sami Yacoub did something revolutionary himself. He planted trees. Forty-five of them, to be exact. They’re still standing outside his Allux Printing building in the Nasr City free economic zone in east Cairo – a forest of concrete with scarce greenRead More

Entrepreneur wants everyday Christians to live, share faith The smells and sounds of ink hitting paper permeate Sami Yacoub’s Allux Printing plant in east Cairo. Though he’s a publisher, the 58-year-old entrepreneur and former pastor prefers to think of himself as a baker, offering food to fuel his twin passions:Read More

Right Choices Bible project spans globe Sami Yacoub thinks in big numbers – thousands of books, millions of potential readers. Even with that mindset, the 58-year-old printer/publisher just smiles and shakes his head when he thinks about the numbers associated with his latest big project, “The Right Choices Bible” byRead More

Bible Society meets demands without flouting Egyptian law Cairo — Under Egyptian law, a Christian organization usually can’t give away written or recorded materials because that’s considered proselytizing. So the Bible Society sells Bibles from its bookshops, or at fairs, often for one Egyptian pound – about 14 U.S. cents.Read More

Bible Society director sees challenges ahead as culture shifts Cairo — Amid post-revolution hope in Egypt comes a concern: that newfound freedoms will exact a spiritual price. If that sounds counterintuitive, meet Ramez Atallah, general director of the Bible Society of Egypt for the past 24 years. Atallah, 68, lived 18Read More

CAIRO — Isolation. Rejection. Death. For 19-year-old Khadim, a recent convert to Christianity, those fears have become real possibilities. Since his decision to follow Christ late last year, Khadim (not his real name) has had to monitor himself closely, especially around his Sunni Muslim parents. They’ve noticed changes — likeRead More