t might surprise you to know that there have been Christians in Egypt since pre-Islamic times. They are known as Coptic Christians or Copts and they live in pockets vacuum cleaners within the Muslim communities. Many might be deemed as ‘nominal Christians’ by some, with little or no knowledge of the gospel; they simply take pride that they are descended from the Christians who were the original Egyptians before the Muslims took over. Yet they are often prepared to face persecution and insult for the bearing the name ‘Christian’. Other Copts, however, describe themselves as ‘Christian Background Believers’ – committed believers who are leading the way in evangelism within their Coptic communities.I travelled down to the rural laminate flooring south where I met a pastor and his wife who have an outreach to young Coptic girls. Many of these girls have joined the youth group, studied the Bible and turned to Christ. However, many of these girls have suffered abuse from family members, and the couple have struggled to show the girls how loved they are by God because of this. Persecution may also start for these Coptic girls when they have a life-changing bamboo flooring encounter with Christ and begin living out their newly discovered faith, as this can sometimes anger the Muslim community. Some are raped by Muslim men so that they are considered ‘soiled’ and then forcibly married to Muslim boys. Some have been kidnapped by Muslim men. Others have been offered a financially comfortable life if they convert to Islam and marry a Muslim, escaping the poverty which most Coptic Christians endure.