Pioneers and perseverance: the cost of bearing the First Fruits of God’s Mission

I recently returned from a trip to Cairo, Egypt where I was invited to teach a DACB workshop for biography writers focused on the legacy of Egyptian Christian forebears at St. Athanasius Theological Seminary. St. Athanasius is one of a number of schools that are part of the Alexandria School of Theology in the newly created Anglican Diocese of North Africa. While there I had many conversations with the students— an irenic group of Coptic, Evangelical / Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Christians living in a Muslim-majority country. I was deeply touched by their stories— their hopes, their challenges and above all, their resilience.