Everyone is home

Thanks for for watching the blog and praying for the team!

In NYC the team got separated again and only 1/2 of the group made the flight. The next group made the next flight two hours later, but they arrived into Chattanooga at 4:30am! None of the luggage made the first flight, so Katherine & Marshall stayed in the airport and waited for the next group. Unfortunately, several of the bags were lost and they had to report all the missing bags. On the drive home traffic had stopped because of an accident, so rumor has it Len & Marshall "pulled an Egypt" by winding their way around the parked cars and exiting the entrance ramp to find another route home. Sorry about all the rough travels:(

But the trip sounded awesome......Cathy

Day 9

A home visit in the Garbage Village

Mama Maggie washing a child

Tony assissting washing a child's feet

Our team with Mama Maggie, children, and staff members in the school in the Garbage Area

We spent a profound day with Mama Maggie in the Garbage Village and were able to participate in home visits as well as tour the school that has been started there. Mama Maggie's ministry is staffed with 1,500 devoted and passionate men and women. They all possess an incredible vision for sharing the love of Jesus with these people who rarely receive any sort of love in their lives--but instead are the dejected people of Cairo--not even given citizenship at birth!

The garbage collectors were forced to move to the "Garbage Villages" in the 1950's, and since then, most children born into these families are stuck in the cycle of receiving no rights at birth. The job of most men is to collect the garbage of the city, and then the women sort through the "fresh" trash (often in the homes). These families (usually numbering around 10 members) live in approximately a 10x10 room and share a toilet with at least two other families. The smell of the trash permeates the entire village, and oftentimes, if there is only enough money for a small amount of food, the donkey will be fed before the family, for the donkey is more valuable for the next day's work. These are only a few of the realities of the lives of these people. Mama Maggie and her ministry though has been able to bring the hope and love of Jesus to this community. Through home visits (where staff members commit to regularly visiting families--spending at least 2 hours each time praying for them, studying with the kids, sharing God's word, and giving practical help), they reach over 300,000 people! Also, 67 Kindergarten programs have been started, which is a child's only hope to break the cycle and life they were born into.

We were able to participate in home visits, touring the school, sharing with the children, and playing with them. Some of our team members were also able to assist Mama Maggie in washing the children's feet and shoes. Each child who comes into the camp has their feet are washed. The staff has an incredible vision of considering each child they interact with as if he or she is Jesus. They believe in starting ministry as Jesus did, in humble service to these children, serving from the feet up--and seeking to care for the needs of the entire child. We were all humbled by the passion Mama Maggie and her staff members possessed and the love of Jesus that is pour out.

For our final evening in Cairo, we ate one more Lebanese meal, and then met as a team to share how the Lord has been working in our hearts. We are still processing much, but praise the Lord for the work He is doing through His grace!

Day 8

looking confident before the jump off the 60ft tower zip line

the next gen teacher for Precept

Len making rain in the desert

Egyptian love

We are in the home stretch but the team still put in a full day as we loaded the bus at 8:30AM and returned at 9:00 PM for a late dinner.
Today we got to play at two sports camps, the first one, was a day-camp for sixty five kids from the garbage village that we visited on Thursday.
We started the program off with some music and then Len did several of his family camp specialties: like making rain, not the easiest thing to sell to some kids who rarely see the stuff! Annie and Kelly were able to share with the group.The group then split off with boys going to the 'Futbol' pitch ( that's soccer for us Americans) and the girls going to dance and play games. We then had the opportunity to serve them lunch.
Off to the bus for a two-hour ride to the Wadi (valley) outside Cairo, lots of sand and desolation except for where they are able to irrigate. Add a lot of water and up pops some huge farms, groves and vineyards; the tangerines are incredible this time of the year.
We made it to the second camp which is owned by our host church and is the largest Christian camp. It is also the only Christian training center in the Middle East. It' s beautiful and really well done. Kanakuk Kamps out of Branson, Mo. has consulted with them and they have taken many good ideas and made them great. It must be a thrill for every camper to drive in and see where they will be camping for 10 days!
It can sleep 550 kids and has a new soccer stadium, pools, zip line, climbing walls, basketball, squash, equestrian, skateboarding park, dodge ball courts and two high ropes courses. Len has been to many camps in the USA and was really impressed as we were too. We met with the leader, Maged Fawzy, of the Sports mininstry for our host church and were given a tour. He invited us to experience the camp. It didn't take long for David Arthur and the other kids to strap on the harnesses for the climbing walls and zip line. We ended our time with a long battle on the soccer pitch with the young ones taking on the amateur ones on the trip. Not a surprise that the youth won, but they did have a lot of help from their Egyptian friends, who scored the winning goal. All the Dads are a little sore. One more day and we are all looking forward to being with Mamma Maggie.

Day 6

Anne Miller with a girl in the Sunday school

This is what the girls deal with....

Celebrating Cha's 17th Birthday! (which is actually tomorrow but we don't have time tomorrow...)


Friday is the official day off for citizens of Egypt, so church services are held both Fridays and Sundays. Our team was invited to help in two churches with Sunday school classes. So, after an extended time of prayer together in the hotel, five of us went to a smaller church in Cairo, and the rest of us served in our host church in various children Sunday School classes. We had the opportunity to sing, interact with the kids, as well as share many of our testimonies. Mid-afternoon, we all came back together for lunch and then went to the Cairo History Museum. We were all impressed by many of the artifacts dating as far back as 2500 B.C., as well as the collection of mummies we were able to view up close. Our evening concluded with a return to the church for an opportunity to interact with older youth, and then we went to a Korean restaurant in order to celebrate Jason Cha’s 17th birthday. Daryl and Frances had the opportunity to go with Fawzy to the City of the Dead (miles of cemetery where an entire group of people live), after we left the church. They were able to sit and have tea with the only believer, an older woman who goes by Um Ahassan, in the entire community. During conversation she said that she does not fear death at all. When asked why, it was not because of living her entire life within tombs, but because of the grace and love of the Lord. Fawzy had never been in this area at night, which lent to slight apprehension at first, but the visit was incredibly blessed by the Lord as it ended with Frances praying for their new friend.

Day 5

The Sudanese-Egyptian and Korean-American praise session

Hanging out with the kids

What are you doing???? Cha is really good at painting nails

Mr. D'Andrea with one of the little boys

We started our morning meeting together as a team to sing, discuss how the Lord has been working on this trip, and to pray for our day and the plans the Lord would have for us. We then went to the church for a short briefing this morning, spending the rest of the morning and afternoon visiting families and ministering in the Sudanese Refugee area of Cairo. We were able to take them a small gift of groceries provided by the church, and splitting up into four teams, each team was able to visit four families. Despite the sadness in the eyes of the people, it was a blessing to be able to share the love and hope of Jesus with these people as we visited with the families, shared with them, and prayed for them. Each team had an interpreter so that we were able to communicate clearly with each family and ask what we could specifically pray for. As a whole group, we were able to spend some time in one particular family’s home, and one of the Sudanese men and Jason Cha spent time playing guitar together. We all sang and then surrounded the family and prayed in simultaneous voice for them. It was a special and powerful time! By the time we left the refugee area, it was already 2:30, but with all of our interactions, we had hardly noticed it was lunch time. As we headed back to the downtown area of Cairo, our stomachs soon began to communicate a different story as we spent nearly three hours in traffic (it had only taken about thirty minutes to make it out there)! We finally made it to “lunch” around 6:30, so needless to say, the meal ended up being our dinner. You never know what to expect in a day travelling and ministering in Cairo, but the Lord has been very good to us in His loving providence.

Day 4

The Bible Society of Egypt

Shopping in the bookstore

Our bus driver

Al azhar mosque

The team spent this morning visiting the Bible Society of Egypt. We were able to tour their facilities, and then we met with some of the leaders to learn more about their vision for distributing the Word throughout the Middle East. We also learned a great deal about the “garbage village” in Cairo—a place we will be ministering later this week. The Lord has done some great work through this ministry! We then slowly made our way through traffic, which takes on a whole new meaning in Egypt, and ate Indian food for lunch. We were then able to tour a Mosque in Cairo. It was built in 940 AD. We spent some more time in the market, before coming back for an early evening back at the hotel, while the adults met with some of the church leaders from our host church

Day 3 (Part 2)

Hallie and her friend

Abby and Mary Anna

Marshall and Katherine with Mena

We finished our work for the day on the outskirts of town visiting a home for children with disabilities, called Open House. The Lord was certainly at work during our time here as well. I believe we all were stretched as we interacted with the children. We had the opportunity to help feed them candy, sing with them, play with them, and pray for them. Abby connected with Mary Anna, one of the younger children in the home. Marshall and Katherine were able to pray and sit with Mena, a young boy whose senses and muscle abilities are slowly depleting; and despite his blindness and nearly being deaf, he reponded greatly to touch with many smiles, clapping, and hugs. Hallie also made special friends with a young girl who kissed both of her hands as she left. It was a joyous and moving time for all as we were able to share Jesus' love with these precious children. After leaving the home, we finished the evening with a Chinese dinner, and then headed back to rest up for the big days we have following.