“Garbage villages” filled with love for God through church-planting efforts

Since 1992, Rev. John Said has planted three churches, one of which (the Manshiet Naser church) is located in Cairo’s “garbage villages.” The villages are populated by approximately 30,000 to 50,000 garbage collectors who, as a group of people, are looked down upon by Egyptian society. However, many garbage collectors are filled with love for God, and the villages have been changed into hopeful communities. Although the villages are disease-prone and poverty-stricken, many schools, health clinics and churches have been developed in the vibrant Christian community, including the largest church in the Middle East called the Cave Church with a vital ministry to 15,000 members and the surrounding community.

Two of Rev. John’s church plants, the Manshiet Naser church and the Madeenet El-Salam church in a developing poor area around Cairo, were started in 1992 and 1995, respectively. Both churches are considered recognized churches and are members of the Cairo Presbytery. The churches have their own buildings for meetings for various groups of people, including ladies, families, youth, college age and Sunday school. The third church plant, El-Haggana church, was started within the last year in one of Cairo’s shanty towns and has a large building that they hope will become an even larger ministry than the other two churches. Plans for the future include starting a carpentry shop to train youth and provide church income.

The three church plants also offer worship for all age groups, as well as help for the poor in the area through financial support, medical outreach, literacy education, a leaders’ training school and other social services. Rev. John serves as pastor of the three church plants and leads teams of church leaders who minister in the garbage village area, including students from his alma mater, the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC), Egypt. Rev. John also serves as the Missions Pastor of Heliopolis Evangelical Church of Cairo, one of the biggest churches in the city.