Church bombings in Egypt

     Egypt is in the news and we have received some worried inquiries about our status (especially from our adult children).  The church bombings were far away from us in Fanta (a far northern

Tanta Church bombing

suburb of Cairo) and in the coastal city of Alexandria.  The targets have been Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox churches for many, many years, though this was the greatest number of fatalities in decades.  The bombing of an orthodox church in Abbisiya in December more directly touched our lives as a staff member at CAC lost family members.  Yes, it bothers and horrifies everyone--including the Muslims who live here and their imams.
     We value freedom in our Western democracies and think everyone should be and think like us.  But when safety and fear become strong felt needs, many are willing to compromise some level of freedoms to live in safety.  In America after 9-11: we were willing to trade some freedom of privacy and arrest laws if we thought it would prevent that from ever happening again.  Things on the ground in Egypt are quite different than the picture the media portrays.
     Still, persecution has been a reality for centuries for Coptic Christians.  Their steadfast faith and willingness to push forward give a picture of what it means to be a Christian in places outside the West.  Beyond church bombings, there are hostile attitudes they encounter constantly.  One Egyptian mother told me the story of being with her 2 year old son at McDonald's.  He was playing in the ball pit and a slightly older boy saw the Cross tattoo on his wrist (required for Christian children born in Egypt) and said to her son, "You are a bad person" and kicked him in the face.  We know that the boy didn't come up with that on his own at age 3 or 4.  He heard it at home because ignorance and prejudice too often rule the day.  I was outraged and my office staff just said to me, "Welcome to our world."  Yet they still hold on to their faith and still believe that "God is good all the time."
     A few weekends ago our church took our semi-annual trip to Minya province (3 hours south) to visit in a small village where Maadi Community Church sponsors several children through Healing

Minya village children

 Grace Ministries (similar to Compassion International).  We go into various homes that are one or two room cinder block construction with dirt or cement floors, and no running water or heating or air conditioning.  We once again met a particular mother and her sponsored daughter, and I remembered her for her passionate prayers she had made over us in previous visits.  She shared through a translator how she goes to every church in the village (there are four different denominations--very unusual for an Egyptian village).  She sits at the front of each church and drinks in the message.  When the pastor asks questions about the sermon at the end, she can answer them all!  When her daughters receives Bible teaching through the Healing Grace Awana program, she wants her daughter to tell her everything she has learned.  I have never witnessed such a hunger for God's Word.  Now here is the kicker: she is illiterate!  She cannot read, yet she knows more about the Bible than most Westerners who attend church (and are of course literate).  All of this shows us how amazing and diverse the Body of Christ is in spite of all its faults.  Faith is truly a matter of the heart, not a head full of formal education or a wallet stuffed with money.
     So why haven't we written a blog in almost a year and a half?  I guess it didn't seem like there was https://maadichurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MCC-Pledge-letter.docx

much very interesting to report since Egypt had calmed down considerably from the previous years.  We could have written about our struggle with the changing church relationship with our new

Maadi Community Church service

Anglican landlord, but it risks creating misinterpretations and gossip.  Suffice it to say, that we are not able to use the church property the way we once did.  We recently moved church offices to a location farther away to save rent.  And we are embarking on a fund-raising campaign to buy land because of a recent unprecedented opportunity for new church properties.  We are excited at the prospect of a new location all our own that can offer opportunities for other ministries to have an additional base.  Please read our church story in our pledge letter:
     Karan has had an extra heavy load this school year.  In addition to her learning support (special ed) role, she has taught a regular 7th grade language arts class with a curriculum new to her, and has

 been head of department for learning support services from primary through high school.  She has planned several teacher in-service workshops from 1.5-6 hours long throughout the school year to training regular and learning support teachers in a co-teaching model.  It has met with some success and some resistance.  As the school year begins to wind down, Karan is physically and emotionally exhausted.  We are trying to figure out a more balanced load next year.
     Travis is still in Seattle as a store manager with Verizon just north of downtown in Northgate Mall.    He has been with Verizon since soon after graduation from college in 2011.  Brett decided to quit his job and move to New York

Disney Epcot - Canada

City in November to find a new design job in user online experience.  NBC finally hired him in late

March and he just found a new place in another part of Brooklyn.  Alex did a college internship selling merchandise at Animal Kingdom in Disney World from September-January.  Then he moved to Anaheim, CA and found a job doing fun-run promotions/training in primary schools.  Just last week he was hired for 15 hours per week with Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton in children's ministry.  Teaching children may be his life passion.
     Travel highlights last year.  We went to Davos, Switzerland during another low snow winter in

Driving a dogsled in Sweden

early January 2016.  Early April was spent in Abisko, Sweden above the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights (saw some, but wished for more); in September we spent a week in Santorini, Greek Isle.  This past Christmas was in Orlando, Florida to see Brett and Alex.  Steve spent the whole time sick with a sinus infection (but did manage to lose a few pounds because he couldn't taste food).
     Thanks for reading this far!  We will be traveling back to the US again this summer.

In His Hand,

Steve and Karan