Part Eight: The era in which Habeeb Guirguis lived witnessed a struggle against powerful foreign forces that attempted to impose western culture, social attitudes and religion on the Egyptians. The latter half of the last century marked the arrival of western evangelistic missions who gradually increased in number and worked in tandem with the colonial powers, using sometimes the methods of the colonialists to spread their influence. To entice the locals into accepting their teachings, some missionaries did the mistake of offering the Copts many opportunities at the time offered only to foreign nationals. They assured them that joining a "modem church" would not be a denial of Christ but would be a window of opportunity for them and their children to enjoy the lifestyle of Europeans and Americans. In their efforts to "convert" the children of the national church, they used to enter Coptic homes and recount to the families the many benefits they are able to offer, then leave them a free Bible, attractive pictures and pamphlets. Their next step was to denigrate the mother church in front of the family, young and old. This resulted in the breaking up many Coptic families.

To counteract the effect of foreign evangelism, Pope Kirollos V embarked on a torturous pastoral tour in 1904. He visited many places alongside the Nile Valley in order to meet his people and increase their bond of love to the church and its orthodox faith. He was accompanied with three metropolitans and his secretary together with two laymen, one of whom was Habeeb Guirguis who acted as the Pope's spokesman throughout the tour. The Papal tour paid particular attention to Assiut, which became the headquarter of the American mission.

Habeeb Guirguis also accompanied the same Pope on his second Papal tour five years later in order to maintain the effects of the first. It was during these tours that Habeeb might have observed the modern means by which the missionaries attracted a number of Coptic families. He thought that the church would probably benefit from borrowing some ideas from the evangelicals, such as afternoon spiritual gatherings for adults and Sunday Schools for children, and the use of hymns and individual prayers. Habeeb put his skills as a poet at work and wrote a book of hymns he called "Spiritual hymns and songs." Some of these hymns pointed to the glories of the Coptic church, like the famous "My Coptic Church, the church of God" (Kanisati-el-Keptia, kanisat-ulElah), which is well known till this day. In this way he successfully provided an alternative to the attractions of the services of the other churches.

In 1907 the Copts pleaded with the Ministry of Education to introduce Christian education to government schools. The minister finally agreed on the condition that the government would not incur any expense in providing teachers or curricula. The Pope chose his beloved Habeeb Guirguis for this important task, who dedicated all his efforts to prepare a book in three parts entitled “A Summary of the Origins of Faith." The book was first published in 1909 and was so successful that a fifth edition was published by 1913.