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.

Day 3 (Part 1)

Santa Clause with the children in the deaf school

Egypt vs. USA... we were defeated 5 to 3

"What are ya'll doing here????" Small world. We saw the Viscomi's in the market.

We had a full day today and were blessed by the Lord over and over. Our first stop was a deaf school in Cairo. We were able to tour their facilities and spend time with some of the students during their Christmas party (Christmas is celebrated on January 7th here). It was an incredible time of communicating using only body language. There was a real sense of joy in the room. After we finished the tour, we hung around the campus long enough, that we were eventually challenged to a soccer match. Our team put up a tough fight, but were in the end, defeated by the Egyptians. Our guide for the day, Fazi, then took us to experience lunch near the Bazaar (or market) in Cairo. We not only experienced Egyptian pancakes (resembling quesadillias more than pancakes), but on a short walk after lunch, we also ran into the Viscomi family--a small world it is after all!

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Day 2

Visiting the Pyramids

Camel ride

All the kids

Mr. Welborn...oh I mean Santa Clause with the kids

We began our day early, meeting at 8:00 to pray for our day, and then we went to tour the Pyramids and Sphinx. We were all in awe as we viewed the Pyramids, rode camels, and walked deep into one of the pyramids to view a tomb. After our morning of sight seeing, we had lunch on the Nile and then went to the church to meet with sponsored children from slum areas. We were blessed to be able to sing Christmas songs, have David share the Christmas story, Kelly share her testimony, and watch Miller come out dressed as Santa to help distribute gifts. It was a great opportunity for the team to be able to interact and play some with the kids. After a short rest, we then returned to the church for an orientation to Egypt and the church. We learned many things about how the Lord is working in lives of people in the Middle East and Egypt. The church we are working with has a wonderful vision for growing the Kingdom. We finished the evening attending an Egyptian church service, where Len, Miller, and Daryl had an opportunity to help serve communion. Once again, we enjoyed a Lebonese meal around 9:30--struggling to stay awake (we are still getting over jetlag).

Day 1

Lunch on the Nile

Touring the church

FREEZING Germany

Reuniting over dinner in Egypt

Eleven of us made it to Cairo on time, greeted in the Airport by our host Ehab and his team including, GiGi, Sammy, Ramaz, and Lindsay. After settling into our hotel, we enjoyed getting to know the team over our first Egyptian meal. It was a feast! Ehab continually warned us that all of the food on the table was just the appetizers. We managed to stay awake all day, and also were able to tour the church in Cairo, as well as sail on the Nile River while we awaited the arrival of the rest of our team. Due to a very crowded airport in Atlanta, and an overbooked airplane, six of our teammates did not make our first connecting flight. This was dissappointing at first, but by the grace of God, turned out to be an unexpected gift. Instead of enduring a full flight for eleven hours to Cairo, they were able to reroute through Germany, their flight having many empty seats, which was a huge blessing. This allowed them to arrive somewhat more rested. We finally all reunited Saturday night around 10:00 over a Lebonese dinner (Egyptians traditionally eat meals around ten or eleven). The rest of the team was introduced the Cairo hospitality team, and we all shared stories of our experiences our first day in a new culture.