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Prayer Answered: Egyptian Prisoners Freed!By Stan Friedman HILMAR, CA (August 29, 2007) – “They’re free!” shouted Dan Johnson to the rest of the staff at Hilmar Covenant Church. Johnson had just received the telephone call for which he and other church members had been waiting since last fall. Jacob Oky (left photo) and Martin Emeto (at right), two inmates of an Egyptian prison who have been helped by church members, were released Tuesday – roughly 11 months after their 20-year sentences were completed. “My heart is beating so fast, I can hardly stand it!” said Johnson, an associate pastor at the church.   The men were imprisoned on drug charges and became Christians shortly after arriving at Kanater Men’s Prison outside of Cairo, Egypt. Since then they have led Bible studies and other Christian activities at the facility.Johnson had heard recently from a contact in Egypt that the men were scheduled to be released this week. He was cautious with his hope, however. After all, the men were supposed to have been released last fall. Then the phone rang. “My secretary told me that I have a phone call, but she couldn't understand who it was,” Johnson said. “I immediately perked up and wondered if this was it - and it was! I said ‘Hello,’ and the response was, ‘Daniel, this is Jacob!’ And that was it - the very moment I've been waiting for all these months! “It was exciting, unreal, unbelievable almost,” Johnson said. “That weird experience of waiting for something or someone for so long, imagining and longing for it - then it occurs! Putting the hope and reality together is sort of awkward, hard to fit.” Johnson was the first person the men called. The call wasn’t nearly long enough – the phone went dead after 10 minutes – but it was enough for the moment. Johnson became involved with the men three years ago after he had written them a letter as part of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. The pastor and others within the congregation formed Friends of the Persecuted Church, writing prisoners around the world for years. Despite all the correspondence, Oky and Emeto were the only inmates who were able to respond. That response came in the form of four large boxes of intricate beadwork, paintings, and cards. They had created the artwork to sell so they could support themselves in prison. Egyptian inmates must raise money for all their needs, including food, clothing and personal items, Johnson says. “Their work is amazing,” he adds. “It’s like something you’d find in one of those high-end stores like Neiman-Marcus.” Within a matter of months, the church sold $500 worth of the crafts and subsequently raised more than $3,000 Johnson says. He continued to correspond with the prisoners regularly. To read an earlier account of their ordeal and see a photo of their handiwork, please see Egyptian Prisoners. In 2006, Johnson was able to visit the prison. He recounted his visit in the 2006 issue of The Covenant Companion. “I wondered how I would do in their situation, confined in a foreign prison, under oppressive living conditions, facing years of confinement, surrounded by walls, guards, depressed and angry prisoners,” Johnson wrote. “I could only shake my head in amazement. I was filled with admiration, respect, and awe at the way these men were living with purpose and meaning in the midst of such horrendous conditions. They are living gospels!” Now the men must begin to re-adjust to freedom after 21years in a foreign prison. “I do not know what is next for them,” Johnson says. “That will be my first question next time I am in touch with them.” The Hilmar congregation donated $400 for each of the men to help them as they transition. A contact in Egypt gave Oky and Emeto the funds when they were released. The men were staying with Emeto’s family Tuesday evening, and Oky was planning on returning to his family’s home. He will try to call again and give Johnson his phone number. “I plan to keep in touch by phone regularly for a few weeks or months to help encourage them as they re-settle their lives in Nigeria,” Johnson says. “I don't know of a ministry that can help them re-adjust to freedom, and to life in their culture. I hope they will find a good church right away, and the support of good Christians who will help them get re-established.” Oky earned a theological degree while in prison, Johnson says, and both men have said they want to be evangelists. Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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