11 - The Moving of El Mokattam Mountain

References
The Story of Samaan the shoe maker.

Notes for Servants
- Jesus had suffered for our sins to save us, and he still accepts us, the sinners, and helps us when
we cry to him.
- Humble prayer is the most effective way to God's heart, and it refreshes our hearts and our minds.
- Fasting and prayer are the best way to solve all problems in our service, such as active children.

Objectives

General: God's care for us.

Specific:
The children will be able to
A. learn to have faith and confidence in Christ.
B. call God first in any trouble they may face.
C. tell how they can use this example in their lives.

Bible Verse

"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."
( Exodus 14:14 )

Teaching Aids
Make your own.

Introduction
(1) Review last week lesson.
(2) Who remembers the verse?
(3) Remind the children about the church occasions for the coming week.
(4) Egypt was concord bythe Arab about 1400 years ago, and they appointed a governorforthe
country whom they call Caliph.

 

Story Time
In the year 965, the governor was El Moaaz, the Pope was abba Abraam the Syrian who was a
friend of the governor. This Caliph had a Jewish minister who hated Christians very much and he wanted
to destroy all of them.

One day he had a meeting with the governor, he took the chance and told him that the Christians
have in their Gospel a verse which says "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this
mountain, remove and it shall remove." so let us see ... if their Gospel is correct. We have this mountain
called El Mokattam which is right outside Cairo which blow lots of dust on the city in windy seasons ... if
their faith is true they will remove this mountain and we may enjoy nice fresh air in the city all the time. But
if they cannot remove it then their faith is not true and you should kill them and we should have control of
their possessions for ourselves.
The Governor liked the idea, he called Abba Abraamand told him if your Gospel is correct then
remove the mountain or else I shall kill you all by the sword. The Pope asked the Governor to give him
a period of three days. The Pope went back to his palace and wrote a letter to all the churches saying "
The church is in a great danger, fast and pray for three days." Christians received this news with fear, they
all fasted and cried to God for help, the children and the elders, men and women. The Pope spend the
three days in his church without food rising his hand in a prayer day and night saying: God help us, God
save us. In the end of the three days he fell asleep, and he saw in a vision St. Mary and she told him " God
answer your prayer and the prayer of all his people ... now do this, when you go out the gate which lead
to the market you will find a man who is carrying a pitcher of water, and he will tell you what to do". The
Pope woke up, he bow down saying: thank you Lord Jesus Christ who answer our prayers.
The Pope went out as St. Mary told him, and he found the man... his name was Simeon the shoe
maker. The Pope called him to the church and told him the whole story. Simeon told the pope do not
worry "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace". The Pope went to El Moaaz
Palace, in his way he met the Jewish minister, who insulted him saying:for sure you are coming to say that
you can not remove the mountain. Abba Abraam made the sign of the cross on himself and told him the
Lord shall fight for us and we shall hold our peace, our God can do any thing and he will remove the
mountain.
The Pope took the Caliphand all his staff and all the rich people and the Jewish minister was sure
that the Christians will lose this time. At the site Abba Abraam stood facing the mountain and Simeon was
beside him and behind them the priests the deacons allthe Copts, and he told them to bow down with him
saying Lord have mercy (make matanias), so theydid as he said ... when they stood up the mountain rose
up and you could see the sun light from underneath, and when they bowed down again the mountain fell
down to the ground which shakes the hole area hard ... and this happened every time they bowed down
and stood up saying Lord have Mercy.
The governor and his company were greatly afraid, and begged the Pope to stop otherwise the
whole city will be destroyed. When they stopped, the Caliphwent to the Pope and said:I am a Christian.
He left his position for his son and was baptized and became a monk

Discussion
1 - Follow up the story by talking about it with the children.
2 - Continue the discussion while they do the activity.
Learning Activities
Activity Sheet.