Heaven’s Heartbeat - Cave Church Egypt
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord
There was no escape from the dust in Cairo.
That was especially true in Manshiyat Nasser, known to visitors as Cairo’s “Garbage City.” Passing through the tight, narrow streets, I could scarcely believe my eyes—or my sense of smell, as the stench was thick and suffocating.
Throngs of adults and children scurried about, sorting garbage in the streets, shops and homes, creating enormous, towering heaps of refuse. Crumpled plastic bottles, stacks of cardboard, rusted metal scraps, and rotting food waste—tons and tons of it—filled every conceivable space. Yet somehow, the Zabbaleen community of 70,000 mostly Coptic Christians moved through it all without a hint of the repulsion that filled my senses. For them, it was like another day at the office. Their faces, as I watched them, appeared to be varnished with a walnut patina, and their hands toughened and leathery by years of labor.
Donkey carts and trucks jostled for position as I navigated through the murky puddles of water, city block after city block. Here and there, wafting through the odors of rank garbage, I caught surprising whiffs of baking bread. But it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Zabbaleen live there. This is their home. I thought to myself, “How do they endure it. How do they exist in this place?” Yet life pulsed all around me. Children shrieked with laughter, some kicking soccer balls, others chasing each other past piles of trash. And all the while men and women worked side by side, patiently turning the city’s refuse into a livelihood.
Moving carefully through the city of waste, I climbed a hill known as Mokattam Mountain. Several hundred feet up, I reached the Monastery of Saint Simon, where the ancients had carved out massive limestone blocks for temples and pyramids.
Every Sunday, tens of thousands of people climb out of Garbage City to worship in the caves of Saint Simon. As I surveyed the seating for 20,000, I saw wheelchairs and crutches by the hundreds lined up to the side and above the seating area, obviously no longer needed. My guide Magdy explained that these were healing mementos left by people who had been miraculously made whole during worship services.
Staring at these abandoned relics, my heart leaped with joy. No TV cameras, smoke machines or high-tech sounds systems were needed in that place, just the presence of Jesus.
In my imagination, they formed a halo of healing testimonies for the glory of God. Every week, these believers make the ascent up the mountain, leaving behind the reek and misery of their daily world for a taste of heaven in community worship.
They fill the cavernous space, their voices swelling in hymns that echo Saint Simon’s message of Jesus to the powers and authorities:
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.”
I believe this 4:46-minute video will lift your vision to Jesus. The clip features an inspiring interview I had with a Deacon from the cave church, followed by a powerful worship and prayer gathering that will stir your soul. The worship portion was filmed by strongtower27:
These garbage entrepreneurs, living with extreme poverty, severe discrimination and persecution in a Muslim-majority country, are a testament to the strength of their faith in Jesus. As I pondered the stark contrasts between my own life of prosperity, wealth, and little to no persecution, their resilience hit me between the eyes.
I found myself wondering, How do they do it? What’s their secret?
By all logic one would expect despair—a disadvantaged, downtrodden people crushed by their circumstances. Instead, I witnessed a community of Christian believers bound together by a loyal fidelity to Jesus. What I witnessed that day profoundly impacted my Christian worldview.
Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that followers of Jesus feel guilty about God’s material blessings. Far from it. We need to embrace His gifts and provision with grateful, humble hearts, trusting in the living God who richly provides for our joy (1 Timothy 6:17).
And yet…I will never forget the vibrant faith of the Zabbaleen, shining even in the midst of such shocking poverty. Paul’s words about another group of believers come to mind as I remember them: “They are tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy” (2 Corinthians 8:2 NLT).
Let this inspire you! Engaging in regular life-giving worship gatherings is a wonderful way God releases healing in your body, mind, and spirit, recharging and empowering you to serve and share Jesus in a messy world.
Do Christians need to work in a literal garbage dump every day to prove their love for Jesus? Of course not! I have no desire to live like the Zabbaleen. Nor would I want my family or friends to live in the mountains of refuse, eking out a living to survive.
On a deeper level, however, the Zabbaleen community taught me profound and beautiful lessons about serving Jesus in any and every circumstance. Their example challenged me to consider how we all, in one way or another, work and live in a spiritual wasteland, surrounded by moral decay and trashy thinking and living.
The apostle John speaks to this reality.
“We know that we are God’s children and that the whole world lies under the misery and influence of the Evil One.”
(1 John 5:19 TPT)
With each passing day, we see in the headlines how men and women, both famous and unknown, live unmoored, unhappy lives as they pursue the world’s values and search for some kind of meaning or purpose.
And it’s all dust in the wind.
The siren song of this world’s false love tugs at the heart, promising pleasure, prizes, by-lines and applause, but never allows you to escape the grime to experience the healing power of Jesus.
The few years God gives us on earth is a gift. Although significant, where you live and what you do for a living is secondary to who you choose to serve and worship. The Zabbaleen community’s unshakable loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ in the deadly shadow of Allah worship compels me to reflect on what truly matters.
One of the largest mosques I’ve ever laid eyes on is the Muhammad Ali Mosque, also known as the Alabaster Mosque. From the Cave Church, it looked massive on a neighboring mountain, its twin 276-foot minarets gleaming in the sun, dominating the skyline.
Inside the massive structures you can see ornate chandeliers, stained glass windows, and intricate calligraphy, with two pulpits: one wooden, decorated with green, and the other marble. The courtyard includes an opulent marble, octagonal fountain, and a French-gifted copper clock tower.
Do you see the contrast I was experiencing between the wealth of the Muslim Mosque and its worshippers of Allah and the Church that works in the garbage and worships Jesus in a cave?
The Zabbaleen’s loyalty to Jesus is their strength.
The truth of God’s Word gives us the ability to see through this world’s enticements. Cultures, languages, religions and politics across our globe may vary, but the spiritual bait is the same.
It is a mirage. In fact, it is a lie.
But trusting, worshiping, and serving Jesus offers us victory—not by merely fleeing from the garbage values of the world’s systems (allow me a metaphor) but by climbing the mountain of the Lord in worship, where we discover real life.
“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”
(1 John 5:5)
Like me, can you see that the gnaw on the human soul is growing globally? The tension is real: the world’s allure—its lust of the eyes, the craving for sensual pleasures, and selfish pride—versus the triumph of Jesus that steels the soul with spiritual strength. God is pouring His Spirit out on all people. You won’t find it in the media, but there is a wind blowing, lingering, whispering that the things of the world are fleeting and hollow.
The Holy Spirit is saying to all nations, “Come to Me, come home.”
