The Revolution has only just begun. As historic as the revolution at Tahrir Square in Egypt was, as incredibly inspiring as the young Egyptians were who didn’t take the bait by Mubarak to turn violent, the real work of freedom begins. Real work that will take years, if not decades. Religious tensions remain. Economic desperation among the majority poor has grown worse. Political uncertainties will extend well beyond the September parliamentary election. Staying in Egypt is a long-term commitment that we measure in years, not months—if God allows.
We have received some emails asking, “Now what’s going on over there?? We read about churches being burned and no police in the streets.” Yesterday the Salafi (more fundamentalist) protested the re-opening of a church in Ain Shams. A few weeks ago, 12+ people were killed and a church burned in Imbaba (near the Pyramids). At least some of the source of tensions is over the belief that a Coptic (Egyptian Christian) woman is being held against her will who wants to convert to Islam. The Copts have published statements saying she has retracted this, but they have not brought her forward. It's the source of the Catholic church bombing last October in Baghdad. The extremist will not let it go. There continue to be kidnappings and reprisals (in upper Egypt mostly). One rumor said that the woman was married to a Coptic priest and wanted a divorce and conversion is the only grounds she could get. I think she appeared on Christian satellite TV station a few weeks ago. So rumors have been flying and everyone wants the two groups to resolve this issue. At this point, there have been no problems with international churches of expats. We have not had any issues or threats or extra security presence. Still things are unsettled as most people (especially the Coptic Christians) know things could erupt at any time. Some who never thought of leaving their home country, now ponder that future. These are the dynamics (when you stop and consider them) that keep us knit closer to the heart of God.
The police are back on the streets, though perhaps not quite as pervasive as before. There are still many more police and security officers than in the US. I will repeat that Cairo is one of the safest cities in the world and certainly safer than most large US cities as far as violent crime goes. The increase in crime here has been related to burglaries and larcenies. The police problem is more in the administrative ranks as to who is following up on things. In spite of this, the US embassy and Apache Oil have felt comfortable enough to allow most dependents to return. So many (but not all) have returned. There are still some people here who are feeling uneasy, but the spiritual atmosphere of the church has continued to be good, though all of us so easy drift back to that "business as usual" perspective. The spiritual intensity has fallen off some since February as you would expect as things have settled down. We still have prayer meetings for the country and region three times per week. Amazingly, our church fiscal year which ended in April virtually ended up even with offerings vs. expenses! We actually collected more offerings February-March than we did in September-November.
sign at Cairo mall (Saudi owned) No hand-holding, skimpy tops
We still await the future of next Fall. We don't know how many people will return and how many new people will come. It seems highly likely that new families will not want to move into the climate of uncertainty. Will that translate into lower church attendance? We don't know. We can only trust God and wait on Him. Even if that does become the reality, the Revolution proved that crisis brings huge spiritual opportunity even if you have smaller numbers. We continue to feel that deep sense of call that we are supposed to be here, so all these speculations about the future are largely irrelevant.
Karan and Alex’s school has regained its pre-revolution attendance, but not without considerable drama. It has been chaotic as some teachers were told they would be let go and then soon after were told that would be rehired for next year. Meanwhile some had already found jobs. In the end the superintendent resigned and all the speculations that surround such events flowed like coffee in Seattle. Morale needs a big boost, but Karan kept her job during all the flip-flopping. Next year she will return back to all “Learning Support” (aka special education) classes and not teach any language arts classes. She will cover all sixth and seventh grade LSS students. The school will be in its own version of transition and uncertainty.
Alex has continued to do well in school and sports. He had a great varsity basketball tournament in London where he scored over 20 points in one game. He leaves for his varsity baseball tournament (again in London) this Wednesday. He looks forward to the end of school on June 1 and returning to Spokane for the summer June 9. We are lining up soccer and baseball sports camps among the many Washington college visits. It will be another hectic summer!
Travis finally was moved full-time in Verizon and promoted to sales. We say “finally” only from his viewpoint since he has only been working for Verizon for 5 months (including a month of training). He wasn’t supposed to be able to make any moves for at least six months. But as a customer service rep he was selling more than many of the salesmen. He has evidently found his niche in sales/marketing! He looks forward to finally making enough money to live on and buy a car that is newer.
Brett is finishing up his degree in visual journalism this year, but wants to continue for another year to get a second major in graphic design. He is waiting to see if the graphic design department will accept him into the senior level program. This summer he will work at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center (where his dad worked in 1978) in graphic design to gain some experience.
We have traveled some since the Revolution. Steve went to a missional pastor's conference in Dubai in April. It was a very valuable time and energizing for vision. Talking with a couple of pastors from Bahrain made the Egyptian revolution seem calm (though with as many as 800 people killed in Egypt that is a false perception). They experienced a much more directly tense situation between religious factions as the Saudi army moved in (not nearly as much media coverage of this situation). This is the time for peace dialogue with the moderate religious people of this region, not the time to run away in fear and avoid all contact. Remember from 1 John 4, "Perfect love casts out fear." I believe that God does not call us to isolate ourselves, but to engage.
The three of us took our spring break vacation at the end of April to Paris. We were braced for cool and aloof treatment because we spoke no French and are Americans. It was quite the opposite. The people were very friendly and helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed it, though it was really expensive there. Then a few weeks later, Karan attended an education conference in Athens. She had a few days to shop, but is saving the tourist sites (of which there are many) for a family trip.
Our next trip will be back to the States in mid-June. We will get away to western Canada for a few weeks for vacation. Please stay in touch!
Steve, Karan, and Alex
