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Dear friends,
First of all, we wish all our Christian friends a blessed Easter, which was celebrated in Western churches this past Sunday and will be observed in the Coptic Orthodox Church this coming Sunday.
We were very encouraged by the first contributions and emails received in response to our mail asking you for support to keep our IT developer Hosam Dergham and English editor/intern coordinator Jenna Ferrecchia on board with Arab-West Report.
We have thus far received 320 Euro donations through Paypal. We still have a way to go before we reach the needed 10,000 Euro.
We would like to share with you the responses of some of our friends:
Len McGrane (New Zealand):
Good idea, Kees! Just sent a small donation. Keep up your GOOD work!
Julian (United States):
I remember well how much you helped and supported me when I was in Egypt that one particular summer in early 2000 . . . so I'm more than happy to help - how could I not! You and your family welcomed me into your home that summer and I'm eternally grateful for your kindness and goodwill. May the Lord bless you.
Aziz Abu Sarah, columnist with Al Quds newspaper, has also recently written in www.972mag.com about our work. That resulted in several very nice responses to our work from those interested in Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt.
We do need all members of our team to continue our valuable work and thus would much appreciate those who have not yet contributed to our work to make a donation, as well. It does not need to be large. Many small contributions will make it possible to keep both Hosam and Jenna on board.
Please also continue to spread the word about Arab-West Report to your friends. Show them that Egypt is different from what many negative reports, unfortunately, want us to believe!
In addition, Coptic Orthodox Bishop Thomas has offered us space this summer in Anafura, a Coptic Orthodox retreat center. Coptic Orthodox priest father Yo’annis and Salafi sheikh Hamdi from Qufada are willing to show us this summer how they cooperate together to combat poverty in the village of Qufada, Maghagha. With their great offers we have made a very low-cost offer to visit Egypt. For more information, click here.
The purpose of this trip is that you go home with a complicated, but realistic, image of Egypt. Things are right now very difficult for all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians. Stories that portray all Muslims persecuting Christians in general are simply not true.
This trip is still in its very early stages, but we would like to know how many of you would be interested in joining. Please email us back if you are interested in participating in such a trip, and we will keep informed of the details.
With best wishes,
Kees Hulsman,
Founder and general director of CIDT
Hany Labib
Managing director of CIDT
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