For You Were Strangers in the Land of Egypt - Network Partner Trains Sudanese Refugees

Scanning the faces of the Sudanese refugees sitting around the room, Fady and Peter were impressed. As leaders of tC Egypt’s effort to equip entrepreneurs, Oasis, they were accustomed to training tenacious entrepreneurs. But the students in the seats today were marked by years of conflict. Uprooted from their native home, they chose to build new lives and businesses in Egypt without the support networks of friends and family. 

When fighting broke out in Sudan between two rival military factions in April 2023, the war displaced six million Sudanese. As Sudan’s neighbor to the north, Egypt offered the promise of stability, business opportunities, and education. The UN estimates over 339,000 sought refuge in Egypt, though the actual number may be far higher. 

With the new influx of Sudanese refugees, Impact, a development agency working with marginalized populations, reached out to the tC Egypt team asking if they would be willing to offer Sudanese refugees a course on entrepreneurship. They accepted, knowing that one of the best ways to alleviate poverty is through the creation of profitable businesses. 

Very few Sudanese refugees are business owners in Egypt. Most are just hired for blue-collar jobs. Yet, as business owners, they are able to be contributing members in Egyptian society and provide a sustainable life for themselves, their families, and their friends. 

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. — Leviticus 19:34

The tC Egypt team taught from Sinapis’ Aspire Launchpad curriculum for idea- and early-stage businesses (called Genesis in Egypt). Working with each entrepreneur one-on-one to learn their job history and goals, they listened with care to each person’s story, business growth challenges, and dreams. 

One member of the class had recently fled Sudan, leaving everything. Others had already been living in Egypt for several years. An experienced Sudanese businesswoman who had built a profitable business clothes and cosmetics business in Egypt had recently liquidated it, even selling her only mode of transportation, in order to bring her family out of the Khartoum war zone. She is starting over from scratch. 

In addition to providing practical, skills-based instruction on topics such as accounting, how to measure business growth, and how to develop a sales funnel, the teaching grew into a time of fellowship. Three weeks of classes were extended to five as the participants were hungry for more. “Most of the time when you teach, you look at people as students. This time I was seeing them as fighters. All were writing down their own notes. None missed presenting their numbers tables. They wanted to be taught.” said Fady.

“Most of the men and women in the class came from non-Christian backgrounds, but many put their hope in Christ. “They are believing in the gospel and that God will change their lives,” he says. “God is providing for these people, walking the journey with them—with all the ups and downs. There is hope—a risen Christ on the cross who is willing to help anyone by His love and His salvation.” 

On the last day of class, each participant was challenged to become leaders for their own country and role models for all of the Sudanese people currently calling Egypt home. Today, they are living into this calling by building businesses in Egypt. In the future, some may return to Sudan to bring the gospel and business development to a devastated country where only 2.5% of the population are evangelical Christians. 

Since the launch of its first class in 2023, tCEgypt has trained two more cohorts totaling 60 Sudanese refugees and currently partners with the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in these efforts. Caring for these alumni is important, and the ministry continues to interact with graduates by keeping in touch and sharing business insights as questions arise.

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tCEgypt has been a Sinapis Network Partner since 2019. tC Egypt’s name stands for “The Community Egypt” and was founded by a group of young adults in 2014 with a vision to reflect Jesus and help others reflect Him in their lives, work, and ministries. They are part of a growing network of implementing partners that align with our mission and embrace the call to equip entrepreneurs and see all people reconciled to Christ. 

To learn more about our partnerships and international network, email Sylvie Braquiné at sbraquine@sinapis.org.