Charisma News has received an eyewitness report of the crisis in Egypt. The report came to Charisma magazine from Rafik Guindi, who sent the message to Bill Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.
The following is the text of the letter:
I am writing this to you as a witness to what is going on from the streets of Cairo over the last few days. Rania my wife and I have been following the developments since January 25th, which started with a large group of Egyptian youth taking to Tahrir square in an anti-government protest with specific demands. I know some of these people who were in that group and I talked with them. What is happening now has nothing to do with this original protest! What is happening right now is a conspiracy to topple Mubarak from outside the country!!
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but let me tell you what I have personally witnessed on the streets of Cairo.
I want to share first what the LORD told me on Friday morning.
I went to the LORD in prayer on Thursday evening, praying like many others for protection and for the restoration of peace and security in my land. I told the LORD: "Father, answer my prayers with rain," which He has several times before. I went to sleep. I woke up on Friday morning and went directly to prayer. Immediately, I sensed a strong urgency from the LORD saying: "As the people of Egypt presented their requests to Mubarak, I am calling on My people to rise up before me and present their requests to me for their nation."
I went on to hear the LORD: "Let the Holy Council assemble." I didn't understand who this Council was, but I knew in my heart that the LORD meant that there are people in my land that are called by the LORD to stand before him as His Holy Council with authority to make declaration over the land, to establish the Kingdom in the land.
My demands to the LORD were not political in nature. I prayed for "good news to the poor, freedom for the oppressed, healing for the brokenhearted, and the acceptable year of the LORD" as the Holy Spirit gave guidance. The LORD spoke to me the words "JUSTICE" and "TRUTH."
As I went to talk with Rania afterwards, she told me that she had been awake all through the night, and that IT RAINED around 12:45 a.m. It was very strong, but not for a very long time (a few minutes). I knew then that it was the LORD. The LORD spoke Psalm 97:1-2:
The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Indeed, there had been unusual clouds and very thick fog in December over Cairo, unprecedented in frequency and intensity. Again, the words TRUTH (or righteousness in the English translation) and JUSTICE resounded.
As Rania and I followed the unfolding of events including the announced change in government and president Mubarak's speech, we wondered why the international news media is focusing only on the thousands in Tahrir square who are escalating their demands and refusing dialogue. The news media is reporting this as "the people of Egypt" wanting Mubarak to leave immediately. Did they ask the "people of Egypt?" For one, they did not ask me! Where are those, like myself, that want change and reform, but accept the changes that Mubarak is proposing, and want a peaceful transition through elections in September?
We decided to take to the streets to voice our opinion. On Tuesday February 1st we went to Mustafa Mahmoud square in Mohandessin. There were about one thousand people there around 3:30 pm. (Yes, we broke the curfew.) The crowd grew to about 2,500 by 5:00 p.m. People were calling their friends over the phone telling them to come. We left at about 6:30 p.m. and returned yesterday, Wednesday, starting at 11:00 a.m.
The small group had swelled to TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE standing together with banners saying things like:
- Yes to stability, yes to Mubarak
- Give change a chance
- We are sorry, Mr. president
- We accept dialogue, we trust you
- No to ElBaradei, No to the Muslim Brotherhood (many like this one)
- We are the Egyptians, where is Al-Jazeera, let them come and see
- No to corruption, no to vandalism
- We got what we asked the president for, so why are people still in Tahrir? Who are they? What do they want?
By 2:00 p.m., the crowd had grown to SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, maybe up to a million, stretching from Sphinx square to Sudan street. We had a great sense of unity and victory. We met with people who were in the original protest in Tahrir square who decided to join us saying: we got what we asked for, and now we accept Mubarak's changes and proposals.â€
We left around 4:15 p.m. The numbers had grown even more, POSSIBLY OVER A MILLION. As we drove home we saw the same slogans on banners all over the city, on cars, on walls, on shop windows. We learned that similar demonstrations are taking place ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, IN MAY DIFFERENT CITIES. THIS IS THE CRY OF THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT THAT IS BEING TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA. Is this on purpose??!!! I am perplexed!!!
I am wondering: How come CNN, the BBC, and others are reporting ONLY the anti-government protests as the voice of the people? This is not JUSTICE, this is not TRUTH. There have been reports that these people are being paid by the government. NOT TRUE! I was there with many, many others. I SAW THE STREETS.
Now to the situation in Tahrir square. Only a few people (hundreds?) are still there from the original protesters. They have been slowly replaced by other HIGHLY ORGANIZED GROUPS. They all have the same model of cell phones. They all have the same blankets (eye witnesses). THESE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
Some witnesses claim that they don't look Egyptians, and don't sound Egyptians (different accent, different dialect). THIS IS A BIG ORGANIZED COUP TO TRY TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THROUGH THE MEDIA THAT EGYPT WANTS MUBARAK TO GO, AND THE MEDIA IS PART OF THE DECEPTION. People in Tahrir square are escalating the situation on purpose to topple President Mubarak FOR THEIR OWN HIDDEN AGENDAS. This is TYPICAL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS, AND EVERYBODY IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO KNOWS THIS. We heard people on the streets saying that the plot to take over the country is now clear.
THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS. The escalation of violence in Tahrir square is because of this. Egyptians who love Egypt, the millions that took to the streets yesterday, want this to end. They fully understand that President Mubarak is between a rock and a hard place, that he cannot quench the unrest in Tahrir through the army, so the people want to go to Tahrir to disperse the crowds there by themselves. People in Tahrir are vastly outnumbered. If Egyptians go the Tahrir square to take control of the situation, more chaos will erupt, giving a chance to the international media to blame the president even more.
If Egypt falls, then neighboring countries are going to fall one after the other. WE NEED PRAYER, WE ASK FOR TRUTH, WE ASK FOR JUSTICE, and above all LORD, in wrath, REMEMBER MERCY. Stand with us. The Lord calls Egypt "My people." He is calling on His HOLY COUNCIL in the land of Egypt to stand before Him, to make declarations in the heavenlies to establish a new 'constitution' in the land based on the principles of the Word of God, to establish a 'new foundation' for His kingdom to come. Pray for the schemes of the enemy to be annulled and voided. Pray for deception to be exposed. We humble ourselves and pray. We seek the Face of the LORD. We turn from our wicked ways. LISTEN TO US LORD, FORGIVE US, HEAL OUR LAND. In the Name of Jesus.
In Him, standing for God's purposes in Egypt,
Rafik and Rania
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MAKING UP ITS MIND
I am still trying to get more photos that are better than my lo-res ones. We also have more insight as events are unfolding but I didn't have the time to write. Today, Friday, is a VERY critical day. It is the day of gathering and prayer for Muslims. They are accustomed to go out into the streets after the mid-day prayer. Huge crowds are going to take to the streets today. Some are putting huge pressure on the president to step down immediately, they are refusing dialogue which has been accepted by most if not all of the opposition parties.
The leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are still 'making up their mind.' They are buying time and gathering bigger crowds in Tahrir square. I heard many young Egyptians saying that they were part of the original protest since January 25th up until February 1st when President Mubarak announced the reform. Now they have mostly left and are being replaced by 'other' youth that are taking advantage of the situation and want to oust Mubarak for their own purposes. Eyewitnesses have reported horrific scenes of killings in front of their eyes to create the kind of chaos that happened on February 2nd. Please stand with us in prayer to avoid clashes and bloodshed today.
"Blessed be Egypt My people"
Standing for His purposes.
-- Rafik
SUPPORTING PRESIDENT MUBARAK'S PLAN
Rania and I just came back from Mohandessin where a few thousand people were demonstrating in support of President Mubarak's current plan. The crowd was significantly smaller than Wednesday while the gatherings in Tahrir are very large. Please don't mistake my observation as meaning 'us' and 'them' because we are all Egyptian brothers and sisters. We are all for change, political reform, and social justice. We are all against the corruption, police brutality, and injustice that thrived for years. However, I am standing for the change that the LORD wants to bring about.
Jesus was expected by his followers to topple the oppressor. He had a different plan, to defeat the spirit behind the oppressor. We need wisdom and discernment from the LORD to understand the unfolding events. Jesus respected authority. The New Testament urges us to submit to the authorities. I do not think that God suddenly changed His mind and said that He's making an exception and it is 'ok' to bring Mubarak down by force.
We will gain nothing if we bring Mubarak down and let the stage be wide open for opportunists from inside and out to fill the void. Politics is a dirty game. There are strings being pulled into directions that we all don't want. There is a very important spiritual principle of authority: authority is given, it is delegated, it is never taken. David understood this very well, and was given the chance to overthrow (read: kill) King Saul more than once, but he refrained. God called Him: "a man after My own heart." Moses killed the Egyptian and fled for 40 years. This is what people are trying to do now, saying 'let us kill the Egyptian - in this case the "pharaoh." These are not God's ways. When He sends Moses, He talks to him first.
I am disturbed by the silence of the prophets in our land. The Lord does nothing before speaking to His prophets first. Where is the word of the Lord concerning this uprising? Did the Lord orchestrate it? Who among us has He anointed to speak to the pharaoh and defy his authority? Which force is moving the events in the heavenlies? Why is there so much confusion among believers?
I pray that we come out of this crisis more united, with humble hearts, seeking the LORD earnestly for the time to come. Crisis is followed by process. Even if things calm down, we have some 'restructuring' of our own to do, to usher in the changes that are on the LORD's heart. May the LORD raise up His chosen ones, appointed in the positions, and anointed for the work He has for them. We need to seek the LORD for STRATEGY in the weeks and months to come.
Regards,
-- Rafik
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