Egypt -- Year 5 and still pressing on ...

Revolution Day 2013

We seem to take longer and longer between postings, so I apologize.  Our first year of “empty nest” is nearly behind us as Alex completed his first year at Gonzaga University in Spokane.  We have a good year, but it has been an emotionally draining year.  The political situation for the last several months has been quieter than it was in November-December, but that is not necessarily a good thing.  The discouragement and fear among locals has been palpable.  Everyone waits for the government to do something, particularly economically and security-wise.  The local currency has fallen dramatically in the past year to 7:1 (it was 5.5:1 when we arrived in 2008).  There are petrol shortages so diesel trucks and tractors wait days in line.  Purse-snatchings and robberies are on the rise and the streets of Maadi are not nearly as safe as they used to be.  We have had several church members fall victim.  “Rolling blackouts” sometimes twice a day for an hour each have already sporadically begun.  There are promises of daily blackouts of 2-3 times per day in what has been dubbed “the summer of darkness.”
Each month I tell myself that I must set aside time to post a blog.

Another day at Tahrir Square

The uncertainty about the future, the lack of physical security, and the despondent atmosphere wear you down after awhile!  But as I have written before, God has not abandoned Egypt.  Do you remember the explanation that the Chinese word for “crisis,” how it’s made up of two symbols: one for danger and the other for opportunity?  That has never been truer than now!  People are telling me of questions and conversations with others that have never happened before.  God is mightily at work!  We forget that the Bible tells the story after story of how God shakes the nations and individual lives in the midst of transition and turmoil.  It’s an exciting time to be here, but we are TIRED!  So the church is giving us an extra couple of weeks this summer.  We will visit parents in Texas, vacation for 17 days in Hawaii (mostly on the Big Island & a few days in Kauai), then 3½ weeks in Spokane.

            Now for a family update.  Adding to our “stretching” is in December we had three … count ‘em … three separate floods that buckled the hardwood floors in our new flat.  Having loose and swollen boards all around is bad enough, but the real “stretching” is dealing with the workmen who are not the most competent, reliable, or honest in the world.  Steve sometimes wondered if his constant level of frustration was an indicator that it was time to move elsewhere (like Asia where things are organized).  (He eventually settled down to realize the problem is more in him and his need for control than in the circumstances.)  Karan has had a challenging year in teaching.  For a variety of reasons, this group of parents has been more difficult and demanding.  Karan is not used to being told by a parent: “you are my problem.”  We are all on a growth trajectory so God is winnowing out some things that she has to let go of in the "pleaser" category.

March locust swarm at Pyramids

            Alex’s first semester at Gonzaga went well by nearly all measurements, but he wasn’t expecting to have reverse culture shock.  After all, he went from third through eighth grade in Spokane, plus his oldest brother Travis was living there.  But Alex missed Egypt and his Egyptian friends and expected his American relationships to have the same level of closeness almost immediately.  The problem is that Middle Eastern “family” has a much more connected feel than the American model.  (If you want to unpack this idea in an incredibly profound way from a biblical framework, read our friend and former working colleague Joseph Hellerman’s book “When Church Was a Family.”)  Alex is now a “third culture” kid—you don’t fit your home culture as well, but you don’t fit where you came from completely either.  Second semester was emotionally easier, but it is not a quick adjustment back!  Alex is currently back here with us for the month of May before returning to work this summer as a camp counselor at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center near Santa Cruz, California.

           Brett has continued his graphic design internship at the very same Mount Hermon organization.  He is now hoping to look for a job in the San Francisco area in September.  He likes the work experience, and an even better thing in this internship is that they are also working on developing people and team skills.  So this summer Alex and Brett will have a chance to be together more—should be interesting!

            Travis is still working for Verizon in Spokane.  He has moved up to lead salesman and is being promised an assistant manager position “soon.”  He was offered that position in Hermiston, Oregon (40 minutes south of Richland-Pasco, Washington), but the extreme rural setting was more than Travis could envision.  So he waits and hopefully will still be Spokane when we arrive in July.

Steve & Karan at Ephesus, Turkey

            Our travels took us back to Austria for a (mostly) cross-country ski vacation in early January.  Then Steve went to Kuwait (nothing much to see here, folks) for an international pastors’ conference in April.  In early May, we went to Istanbul and western Turkey to tour the ruins of the cities of the seven churches of Revelation (remember there weren’t actual church buildings until the 4^th century AD).

            The absolute highlight of our ministry year was a trip to some villages several hours outside of Cairo.  We are forming a partnership with a ministry group (www.healinggraceministry.org) out of a large evangelical Egyptian church right on the edge of Tahrir Square.  They are similar to Compassion International, only since it’s not far outside Cairo we have the very important added benefit of being able to regularly visit.  So in early April, we visited three villages to see the incredible work Healing Grace has done.  If you ever wondered if the gospel could dramatically change a community, this was proof positive of the life and village change that God’s spirit can do.  We sat on cement floors in two-room cement huts with farm animals in the next room and listened to their life stories.  We were changed!  We will post Steve’s church blog article about it following this posting if you are interested.

  We return back to Cairo for another year on August 10^th and get to come back to the same flat (for only the second time in our five years here).  So no moving this time—yahoo!!!  Keep in touch!