Hidden behind Moqattam Mountain in Cairo is the world of the zabaleen, or rubbish collectors. Here, 30,000 people live by collecting 60,000 tonnes of Cairo's rubbish per day and recycling it in their homes.
Long seen as the most dangerous, poorest and filthiest part of the capital, "Garbage Village" has undergone a renaissance that is being attributed to the work of the Coptic Church, which is supported by Alliance member agency Bible Society.
The zabaleen are Christians. There are 7 million Christians in Egypt, making up somewhere between 8 and 16 per cent of the population. The church in Garbage Village is the largest in Egypt, seating 15,000 people and with a regular congregation of 3-4,000. It's built into the mountainside with inscriptions carved into the rock saying, "You will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory", and "If they keep silent, the rocks will cry out".
It's been a remarkable journey that has seen Garbage Village come to this point and its church feature alongside the pyramids in the itineraries of foreign tourists.
Beginnings
In 1974 a man who lived here asked a friend of his called Farahat to explain the Gospel to him. Farahat was initially reluctant because of the dangerous reputation the area had, but in the end his friend persuaded him, and Farahat led what became a series of Bible studies in the man's home.
Farahat felt called to evangelise the area. He was trained by the Orthodox Church and has worked in the community ever since, going under the name Father Simon.
Today, Garbage Village is a radically different place to the one that Father Simon entered more than 30 years ago. People live in brick houses. Schools and hospitals have been built. Now, a zabaleen is very likely to have been to college or university.
"The change in Garbage Village has been remarkable," says Ramez Atallah, General Secretary of Bible Society in Egypt. "It was a den of thieves. It was a very rough place where criminals would hide. People didn't know about religion; they were very violent. It was dangerous. But as Father Simon preached, people became Christians and wanted to change their environment, wanted education for their kids, wanted sanitation and electricity. The change took place because of Bible teaching. The vision and work was the people's. The Bible Society just provided the raw material."
Those raw materials amount to 600 resources, many of which are audio-visual. Written Arabic is much more difficult than the spoken language, so the culture as a whole is not drawn to reading. As a result, Bible Society Egypt produces a wide range of tapes and videos for the village instead.
During the summer, Bible Society staff members help run a camp in the village for up to 1,500 children. Here, Kingo the friendly lion tells biblical stories and is a big hit with the kids.
Bible Society has also started running an annual camp for disabled young people and adults who would normally never be able to leave the village due to their health or disabilities. They spend several days on the shore of the Bitter Lakes by the Suez Canal, learning about God's love for them.
Transformations
Ramez Atallah is quick to say that the transformational work in the area is God's, not Bible Society's, and that the hard graft belongs to the local people who have remained faithful for two decades. But he knows that without the Bible and the other literature produced by Bible Society it would have been much harder for Garbage Village to have been transformed.
Transformed from a place of violence to one of hope
"When we provided things in colloquial Arabic it was far easier for people, they could see what the Bible meant," says Ramez. "The change in the village was phenomenal. Now it's one of the safest places in the country. People are moving there from other parts of Cairo.
"Now the challenge is to make sure that we don't use methods that were appropriate for a destitute situation, because it's so different now. People who live in garbage village today are lower middle class and have much more confidence about themselves. They are no longer ashamed."
Father Simon still ministers in the village. He says, "Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have seen the conversion of many people. But the preaching of the Gospel has other consequences. Now we have running water and electricity. In some places a drain system has been installed. When Jesus appears somewhere, that changes the whole society."
