Mina clapped his hands, belted the lyrics of a children’s song and watched as Kingo, a costumed lion, flew past him on a scooter. His Sunday school students jumped into the action, mimicking the lion as he leapt off the scooter and began to sing.

On this particular day, Mina and his students sang, danced and listened to a Bible story as attendees of a “Kingo Festival,” a popular Bible program for Egyptian youth. The event, based on a cartoon series titled “Kingsley’s Meadows,” helps children engage with the Bible on their terms—in a friendly, upbeat environment.

“Someone once told me the most effective method of child evangelism is to make a child love Christian things: love Jesus, love the Bible, love the Church,” says Ramez Atallah, Bible Society of Egypt General Secretary. “If they build a positive feeling about Christianity as a child, the feeling will likely continue.”

But in Mina’s village—located just north of downtown Cairo, Egypt’s capital city—life doesn’t always look, feel or sound so joyful.

Throughout the city, an outdated waste management system has left many neighborhoods drowning in excess garbage. Mina and his students live in the heart of one such neighborhood, a “garbage village” where broken furniture, rotten vegetables and old TV sets line the street.

Many of Mina’s students rummage through this waste in hopes of supporting their families, searching for recyclable materials to sell for a meager profit. Every day, they struggle to find hope in the midst of poverty. And every day, Mina seeks to help them encounter God through his Word.

With support from Kingo, the Bible Society of Egypt and financial partners from American Bible Society, Mina found the tools he needed to accomplish this goal.

Months before Kingo made the trip to north Cairo, the Bible Society of Egypt sent a package of Beginners Bibles and Bible Challenge Books to Mina’s students, introducing them to God’s Word through illustrations, cartoons and trivia questions. Week by week, Mina’s students worked through their Bible Challenge Books, encountering God’s Word as they answered a series of trivia questions.

“Many Christians feel like second-class citizens in Egypt,” Atallah continues. “By providing youth with an attractive portion of Scripture, they begin to feel valued. These Bibles are accessible, too—If a child doesn’t read well, the pictures tell the story.”

Excited about their completed Bible Challenge Books, and hoping to share their accomplishment, Mina’s students urged their teacher to contact the Bible Society of Egypt. Mina picked up the phone and dialed the number on the back of the Challenge Books.

When he finished speaking with the Bible Society, Mina had good news to share: the organization planned to send Kingo to Cairo—to their garbage village—for a Kingo Festival, an event supported by American Bible Society’s financial partners. Mina’s students rejoiced.

Several weeks later, Kingo emerged, leading local children through an afternoon of singing, dancing and exploring God’s Word. Even when surrounded by filth—even when living in the midst of poverty—Mina’s students moved to the music, delighting in the opportunity to experience God’s love.

On this day, the streets of Cairo rang with the joyous sounds of a celebration.