Local Egyptian Christians Pray For Peace
MIRAMAR (CBS4) – The 5 p.m. service at St. John The Baptist Coptic Orthodox Church in Miramar offered prayers Sunday night for the people back home in Egypt.
It has been almost a week since the people of that North African country took to the streets to demand the end of the 30-regime of Hosni Mubarak.
Father Timothy Soliman is one of many praying for a peaceful solution in his homeland.
"I hope what happened will bring freedom to the oppressed," Fr. Soliman said.
Violence between protestors and the authorities have left nearly 100 dead across the nation.
Soliman shares his hope for peace with his congregation.
"I'm heartbroken because I see so much pain in people's faces," said Michael Gayed, a church member. "There's so much heartbreak and so many problems. It's not really helping too much. It's just constant issues that aren't being fixed."
The people are protesting because of issues that have remained broken for so many years, they say. They have said they are fed up with unemployment, poverty, rising food prices and torture at the hands of their government, they said.
Sunday people across Cairo ignored a curfew and braved the streets as military jets threatened from the sky.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on Face The Nation Sunday and was careful not to take sides.
"What we are focused on now is a transition that will meet the needs of the Egyptian people and that will truly establish democracy," she said.
Meanwhile reports of violent protests from the port city of Suez are making investors nervous as the Suez Canal is a vital route for the transport of goods, including Middle East oil to the Western world.
Closer to home, Fr. Soliman has faith things will turn out the way they are intended.
"We believe that all things work together for good, for those who are called by God and those who are loved by God," he said.
