Few African Christians are aware of a great and important place which Egypt occupies in the history of Christianity.For many, or even most of us, we hardly even think about the Church of Egypt during the celebration of Christmas, when the story is told of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; nor do we even pay much attention to the Prophet Isaiah, who foretold many centuries before Christ that "Out of Egypt have I called my Son.”

But it is a fact of history that Jesus Christ was brought to Egypt as a child, by His mother Mary and His foster father, Joseph, fleeing the tyranny of Herod, the Roman king of Judea. The very free which sheltered them in what was known as Mataria, on the bank of the Nile, in Old Cairo survives till this day. One writer has interpreted this to be a sign of God’s desire to bring reconciliation be¬tween Himself and the people of Egypt, following the Pharaohnic plagues. Because she sheltered and preserved the Christchild in His infancy, Egypt may well be called the real cradle of Christianity.
 
Beginning with the Christchild’s visit, is seemed that Egypt was destined to play a significant role in the life of the early church. Just at the dawn of Christianity Mark, who was originally named John, became the one to Evangelise Egypt.  Mark had been born three years after the birth of Christ, of Jewish parents, in the city of Cyrene on the western borders of Egypt, now known as Lybia. Mark’s parents migrated to Cana in Galilee, near Jerusa¬lem where the young boy be¬friended Peter. Mark studied Greek, Latin and Law in this new home.