From CT international correspondent Jill Nelson: Reporting in an Arab country often unfolds through long conversations shared over drinks or a meal. In Egypt, my interviews took place over chicken shawarma in a church, an array of cold drinks in one safe house, and an assortment of dried fruits and homemade juices at another. The hospitality extended beyond interviews. An Egyptian friend invited me to a large family dinner—a feast of Egyptian dishes accompanied by conversations with Christians who, like the Jewish exiles in Babylon, are actively seeking "the welfare of the city" in which they live (Jer. 29:7, ESV).

One Egyptian Christian spoke of her earlier plans to move abroad for an easier life. After a season of prayer, she decided to stay and continue her ministry work. Others shared about their conversions. At a safe house, a former Muslim from Lebanon described how he began asking questions about God after his friend died in a motorcycle accident. "The Quran didn’t have hope, and I was searching for hope," he said. A quest to find a Bible—and Christians who could help him understand it—led to his conversion three years later. Now he and his wife minister to persecuted Christians in Egypt.