His Holiness Pope Tawadros has started a project to train 1000 church leaders in order to empower them to teach and lead the congregation. They were trained to use the Bible, liturgy, church history, the writings of church fathers and church laws. The training included topics like Coptic identity and Coptic art. The project is divided into three levels to be implemented over three years ending in 2019. The first level started at Mary Land in Shorouk city from September 23 to October 14, 2016. Five groups from all over Egypt received training over topics like the Holy Trinity, Church unity, the priesthood, and the Coptic identity.

I took a taxi in Alexandria and the driver was talking very proudly about Mona, the lady of Alexandria who was recently honored by the president for her struggle to provide for her family. The driver told me that people in Alexandria love Mona and talk about her hard work and struggle. She carries bags of food and delivers them to shops. She is an example of great Egyptian women.

Two friends were walking near the mountains when they saw a black animal from a far. One of them said: Friend, do you see that crow over the mountain? His friend replied: Yes, but it's not a crow but a goat. Couple of minutes later, the animal flew. One said: See, I told you it is a crow. The other replied: it’s a goat even if flew!

Modern methods of education include many concepts like lecture, story, examples, argument, dialogue, representation, educational situations, practical methods and development of critical thinking. However, these modern methods are not very new as Jesus Christ used them hundreds of years ago. In her article entitled “thinking skills and education" Dr. Aida Nassif tells us about the importance of development of thinking of students from the very begging instead of what is called indoctrination education! Development of thinking abilities is a bridge to flee ignorance. Therefore, our students should learn how to develop their thinking abilities in all stages.

Egypt's participation this year in the United Nations General Assembly is different from the previous years since Egypt is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Furthermore, President al-Sisi is president of the African Council for peace and Security. This means that Egypt is representing countries in Africa and the Middle East. This means we have to support the president in his mission. It’s known that the Coptic church has always been a national one. Thus, Pope Tawadros decided to support the president in his visit to the UN. This is not new to the Pope who called the Copts in America to support the president.

I do not think that any president in Egypt has ruled Egypt with so many problems and crises like what we have today. During the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fascist religious regime that does not realize patriotism or belonging to the nation, Egypt was approaching a civil war that would divide the nation and destroy the rest of it.

There is a special relationship between the Holy Virgin Mary and our countries Egypt. St. Mary indeed loves our country and there are many historical evidence that proves it. His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria in his article "The Virgin Mary and Egypt" talks about three historical accounts that emphasize the close relationship between the Virgin Mary and Egypt. The first story happened in the first century when the angel said to Joseph: "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you” The trip was very tedious because of transportation. It took more than three years and the holy family blessed the land of Egypt!

Archdeacon Habib Girgis is a well known name in the Coptic Orthodox Church for his great influence and he led educational renaissance in the Coptic Orthodox Church and worked hard for the ministry.

"I sell myself” is the beginning of a poem from the movie Morgan Ahmed Morgan of the comedian Adel Imam. I used to laugh when watching the part when the poet sadly sells his poem. I remembered this movie when I heard about selling the Egyptian citizenship to non-Egyptians in exchange for their deposits and investments. I live in America, a country that welcomes immigration from all over the world. This big country has a population of about 320 million people, of whom only 2% of Indians or indigenous Americans. Nearly all Americans came from other countries like Europe hoping for better life. They obtain the American citizenship through several steps. The first get the temporary residence then permanent residence through the green card and eventually they obtain the citizenship. They apply for the American citizenship by marrying an American, work, asylum or investment. It takes from 3 to 10 years to obtain the American citizenship depending on the situation and circumstances of each person.

Copts have been waiting for long time to have a law for building and renovation of churches instead of the Ottoman Hamayouni decree issued in the mid-nineteenth century that made it very hard to build and renovate a church. Finally, Coptic churches and the government agreed on the draft of the law. Unfortunately, the law only targeted churches instead of a unified law for houses of worship including mosques. Article No. 64 of the Egyptian Constitution states that freedom of belief and worship are granted and building houses of worship is right for Muslims, Christians and Jews.

This article is not to discuss the football game between the Egyptian and Nigerian teams. This article will rather talk about the date of the match which was changed by Egyptian police at the last minute, which sent a message that Egypt is not safe to tourists who plan to visits it at the anniversary of the dispersal of Rabaa Adawia and Nahda sit-ins. This came after Britain partially lifted the ban to visit Egypt along with Turkey and Russia.

Egypt is experiencing such a critical moment and facing terrorism and bad situation. Thus, it needs the unity among its people to overcome the plans that aim to divide such unity. President Abdel Fattah Sisi received Pope Tawadros and his accompanying delegation days ago at the presidential Palace in Heliopolis. During the meeting, they discussed the increasing Coptic wrath after the escalating sectarian attacks against the Copts.

We have many lawsuits filed before Egyptian courts, but we don’t know if judiciary will do justice to the oppressed. Therefore, I decided to write my supplications before God that he may do justice to us. Earning one’s living became one of the most important issues of concern to every citizen in need. Earning their living became harder and feeding the starving children became a dilemma. The Egyptians demonstrated against corruption to bring another one that is bigger. Terrorism joined corruption and destroyed lives of more and more people. Therefore, we offer our Supplications before God that He may do justice to us and put an end to poverty, corruption and terrorism.

Since Islam arrived to Egypt, successive regimes have been trying follow the Pact of Umar 1300 years ago as well as the Hamayouni Decree set by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majid I. However those documents contradict with Human Rights and the charters and resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, the modern governments insist to follow them more than constitution and law. In fact, they give the fanatics a license to attack the Copts under the auspices of police and teachings of Islamic scholars. The Egyptian Constitution is full of bugs that were added over the years including the articles added by President Sadat who declared that he was a Muslim President of a Muslim country. He announced in 1965 that he will eliminate Christians out of Egypt in ten years. However he couldn’t fulfill such promise, he gave another license to the fanatics to attack Christians.

Egyptian Christians were not at their best before January 2011 revolution. They only had second degree citizenship. The Mubarak regime tried to change such feeling in vain. The Western countries headed by America are trying to pressure on other countries in case they need it. The Copts are not appointed as head of public universities though many of them deserve such position. Furthermore, police allow fanatics to attack them. Many people tried to invest such cases abroad; however, the majority of Christens in Egypt refuse such interference. In fact, Mubarak regime could have fixed many problems with few decisions and actions. Yet, it decided not to, which made the Coptic Christians think this regime was responsible for the implementation of the bombing at the Saints Church in Alexandria. It was such a strange accusation that was denied later and proven to be not true.

June 30, 2013, was such a wonderful day in Egypt when millions of the Egyptian people demonstrated against the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that fooled the naïve people in the name of religion and infiltrated their minds for years in order to be able to rule Egypt. The demonstration started by agreement among parties, political forces and national movements supported by Media. Then, a wonderful revolt youth movement emerged and was supported by millions of Egyptians who also participated in the revolution of June 30. I remember that day when Muslims and Christians, young and elderly, men and women, left-wing and right-wing, poor and rich, disabled and sound people demonstrated full of hope in a better future. They were not divided like they are today since they were only seeking truth, freedom and dignity.

In the past, the family house in Egypt was a big house that consists of several apartments for the grandfather and the sons. The big family had social links and love. The leader of the family used to solve problems of the families within the family house. Now, Muslim and Christian clergy started a project under the supervision of the state and under the auspices of the church and Al-Azhar. This came after they supported the resolution of June 30 aiming to achieve equality and social justice. In fact, I was so happy to find Christens and Muslim fasting together on July 26, 2013 at my initiation.

Jesus Christ said to His disciples “I am sending you like lambs among wolves” in order to show them that the way won’t be easy. However, He promised them that enduring such hardships will lead them to the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, all of his disciples and followers should evangelize His love and teachings. Father John Nassif, priest of St. Mary Church in Chicago said in his article "lambs among wolves," that God promised to protect us from the wolves. However, children of God should take heed unless they face the danger of those wolves. Jesus Christ also warned against the wolves who claim to be lambs. Thus, he calls his lambs to be wise enough to differentiate between true and fake lambs.

There are many sectarian attacks against the Copts, but the state is not able to protect them and solve the problem. In fact, every body works to provide palliative treatment and not an actual treatment for this cancer. The solution should be from the very beginning since prevention is better than cure. We really need a cure against hatred and intolerance. Moreover, we need to support belonging to the nation and acceptance of others. This will only be achieved through genuine political will by the government and the presidency.

After two revolutions in Egypt, the situation is too bad. As the president is working hard to renew the religious discourse, fanatics are stripping off old Coptic woman and attacking the Copts and their houses claiming they have no permission to pray. It’s noticeable that accidents of burning churches are increasing as well. The Egyptian people demonstrated against the Muslim Brotherhood and supported the armed forces to topple the Islamic regime. However, they are still fighting terrorism in Sinai, several governors and security leaders are still supporting terrorism and religious discrimination.

As the Coptic church is still celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we will talk about a verse that reveals the deep relationship between Christians and Jesus Christ. The bible says: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10) Father Benjamin Muharraqi in his book "I know the power of His resurrection” said that we should know God and develop such knowledge every single day with our faith.