BACK IN THE US!

     Wishing you a blessed and rich Christmas!  After 10½ years in Egypt, we have returned to our house in Spokane, Washington.  The reasons were a divine convergence of factors.

Maadi Community Church service

     Karan finished teaching at CAC (Cairo American College) this past June after nine years in Middle School as a Learning Support teacher.  Our group health insurance came through Karan, however because of Steve’s aortic valve replacement in 2006 we could not find affordable individual insurance.  Karan’s insurance extends to this coming June, which meant that we would need to return to the US by June 2019 to begin Medicare (yes we are that old!).  All of this was God’s gracious tangible confirmation to what Steve had been beginning to sense for some months—it was time to return home.  In further divine convergence, the budget at MCC continued to struggle in the aftermath of conditions in Egypt combined with the large rent MCC pays in spite of decreasing use of the property.  So this past May, Steve approached the MCC Council governing board to suggest that the senior pastor position become a support-raised position (common in many international churches).  Steve left the final decision and timing with the Council.  Steve and the leaders feel strongly that these external factors are God’s way of shaping MCC to become an even further “grassroots” driven church. We received an energetic and heart-felt send off at the end of October.

     

Steve by Berlin Wall remanent

     Naturally people have asked: “What will you do now?” Our answer is that we will plan to rest for several months as we wait for God’s direction.  We don’t want to retire, but know we need this time of “sabbatical.”  This is not to say that this is or will be an easy transition.  It has been hard to say goodbye to international ministry in Egypt after so many years.  We are working on the physical and emotional adjustment back home where things have of course also transitioned.

     For now we are hoping to find opportunities in Spokane to volunteer.  We are also still searching for a local church that has an outreach and diversity focus. We met with World Relief branch office in Spokane about volunteering.  World Relief helps immigrants and refugees settle in the US, from finding housing, cultural adjustment, job training, and citizenship assistance.  We discovered there are even some Middle Easterners who have resettled in Spokane. A local missionary with a ministry to Middle Easterners (mostly Iraqis and Afghanis) has invited us to an international Christmas party this Thursday to meet these various folks.  Steve is also exploring possibilities with Interim Pastor Ministries later in 2019.  These would obviously be short-term situations that would allow us to return home intermittently and still earn some income.

Karan in Davos, Switzerland

    In the meantime, we have been working on our house and yard, which have been rented out while we have been gone.  So there have been lots of repairs, yard work while weather permitted, and buying furniture (all we had when we returned was a wooden bedroom suite).  Facebook Marketplace has provided some outstanding buys.  We are essentially starting all over in lots of different ways.

     Our three sons are coming for Christmas.  Travis (32) is still with Verizon, but left as general manager of a Seattle store to join a new branch of Verizon called “Connect” in San Diego that services corporate business accounts.  He loves the beach, but misses the green of Seattle. Brett (29) left Seattle two years ago to move to New York City to look for another graphic design job.  He has just left Condé Nast publishing conglomerate to join CNBC in January for six months.  He then wants to take a few months to receive some training in coding so he can bring the web products he designs to completion.  Alex has been working for Fullerton (CA) Evangelical Free Church as an assistant children’s director for the last 1½ years.  None of them are married nor do they seem near that stage.  We saw them all last summer, but this will be our first time in 10+ years back in our old house as a family.

Farewell to Egypt!

     We didn’t have many visitors while we were in Egypt, but now that we are back in the States and have a five-bedroom house, we would love visitors (domestic and international!).

In His Hand,

Steve and Karan Flora

Coptic Christian Shootings

This ABC News report gives a perspective of Egypt's response to the killing of at least 28 Coptic Christians, including women and children, traveling on a bus on a pilgrimage to St. Samuel monastery north of Minya.  http://tinyurl.com/y87c3zmp
It follows on the heels of two church bombings in April and another church bombing during the Coptic Christmas fast in December.

The extremists have openly stated that the Coptic Christians are their favorite targets.  The Coptic Christians respond once again with faith and resolve.  They find deep in their reserves of faith the ability to keep trusting Jesus and not abandon him.  In the West we are not as used to having to live a brand of Christianity that resembles the first three centuries of church history.   Once again people ask, "Are you safe?"  A few venture a follow-up question, "Why do you live there?"
     I cannot guarantee that I will be safe.  Can you?  Is that our highest priority in the Christian life--to be safe?  The Christian life is not primarily about being safe, it's about being called.  Hopefully none of us will face living out our calling against the challenge of violence or death.  But maybe we are too comfortable in our fortresses and in our churches where everyone is like us.
     Maybe pushing the boundaries of safety can start with reaching out in relationship to those not like you.  At a community event, I saw a dark, bearded young man wearing a bright green t-shirt that said, "Don't panic ..." at the top, and "I am Muslim" at the bottom.  Maybe pushing your boundaries of feeling safe could be to befriend a Muslim and find that they are not so different from you after all.  Jesus' kingdom strategy was not about hate and isolation; it was about love and relationship with your enemies (Matthew 5).  As I feebly try to apply this myself, I look to the model of the Coptic Christians in Egypt who are showing me the way!
     A few years after arriving in Egypt, we found Healing Grace Ministries, a ministry of a large http://tinyurl.com/ya42apue  You can find out more at: http://healinggraceministry.org

Egyptian Evangelical Church.  They have set up a child-sponsorship program to provide food, medicine, education support, family counseling, and discipleship for children in villages all over Minya province.  Most village programs have an AWANA program where children learn and memorize Scripture.  The program is a very similar model to Compassion International (who do not operate in Egypt).  In this letter from Healing Grace Ministries, two of the children lost family members in the attack last Friday, May 26.
     We will be returning to the US for our annual home leave in a few weeks.  We are both pretty tired, so please pray for God to give us rest and renew our strength.  We are both a bit concerned about facing the polarization that seems to be more and more defining American society.  Jesus' model of "bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (New King James version) would be a fitting response for all of us everywhere!

Steve & Karan

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
   
   

Still here in Egypt ...

Typical highway check

Egypt is back in the news, so we are long overdue to update our blog.  As you have no doubt seen on the news, regaining that control is proving to be a challenge.  There has been less petty theft on the streets in the last year, so that has been better.  However, driving to the Sinai and western desert is still restricted by the Egyptian government as they step up security operations.  The US embassy and auxiliary organizations like US A.I.D. do not let their families travel outside of Cairo, which affects youth and church retreats.  We still do not feel in danger in day-to-day living here, but I think we will all look forward to improved airport security conditions in the immediate future!  Sort of puts the extra time and hassle of airport security into perspective!  The greater atmosphere of restrictiveness still makes for a somber and less active existence for many expats.  It was also unusually hot in August-October this year, and now things are quickly cooling toward winter temperatures.  So not a very long autumn!

Cairo sunset

     Our church and school numbers are still down.  Both are nearly the same size as last year.  However in the church, it seems our demographic continues to shift to a few less oil workers as declining oil prices translate into layoffs and fewer people coming.  Also, we are in an upward cycle of an increasing nationalization trend in many industries here, so that is also putting downward pressure on the number of expats.  Also, visas are harder to obtain.  Many people have been here for years on a tourist visa to do their compassion and service work for which they receive no salary.  Now almost all these volunteers only receive visa renewals for three months and some have been refused renewal completely.  This has made for many nervous people.  Also many rules for organizations that were previously not enforced are now being enforced.  So it’s a new landscape for us, but just part of the cycle of things here over many decades.  We cling to our conviction that God is still in control and still at work no matter what circumstances we face.

Family of six out for a drive

     At church, though people feel the restrictions and so stay at home more, we have still had to implement changes.  We reduced our senior staff with layoffs and reductions in hours for the first time in our time here.  Most notable was the lay off of our worship pastor as we have transitioned to an all-volunteer model of worship leaders.  God has brought new leaders forward, but it makes for adjustments of workload and changing how we do ministry.  So we feel the stress of change and seek to go where God is sending us.

Pissouri Beach, Cyprus

     Karan is still loving being head of Student Support Services Department K-12 (special education + new English language learners).  She has been able to help implement a more unified approach across the divisions of elementary, middle school, and high school.  She has been able to advocate for inclusion of an additional teacher in some classrooms with LSS & ELL students, which then becomes a team approach in teaching.  This has worked very well for her in the middle school, so it is the opportunity to broaden this “best practice” approach in other classrooms.  The changes are making a difference, though like most changes in life, it comes with some adjustments.

     Then on 29 August 2015, Karan stepped off her mountain bike on a hill in the wadi and slipped and broke her fibula just above her ankle.  She was in a cast for seven weeks, and is now in an air cast for another few weeks.  She has had to use crutches and a wheelchair to go to school and church.  It has obviously made a large impact on our lives as we are not able to do all the things we once did.  Karan is now in physical therapy to heal the ligaments and tendons as the bone is mostly healed.

Travis, Karan, Alex in Spokane

     Our three sons are all doing well.  Travis is now a general manager of his own Verizon store in the Northgate area of Seattle since August 2015.  We were able to stay with Travis for several days while in Spokane in July.  He loves being able to shape the culture of his own store, and has made great improvements in customer service.  Brett is now working in graphic design-web site interface for a cancer support group in Seattle and just moved into an efficiency apartment by himself a few minutes away from Travis.  Alex is in his senior year at Gonzaga in marketing and international business.  It has been an extra busy semester with lots of reading and papers, plus his part-time job in a sporting goods store.  He had an internship with Sherwin Williams paint in Spokane last summer, so we saw him a lot, especially when he vacationed with us in Sunriver, Oregon.  Brett then joined the three of us in our second

Alex + Brett bungee jumping at Mt. Hood

 vacation week on Mount Hood.  We had lots of opportunity to bike and hike during the summer.  This will be Alex’s last year to come to Egypt this Christmas.

     In addition to summer vacation in Oregon, we also used the September holiday to go to Cyprus.  It wasn’t quite the active hiking, biking, and touring vacation we had planned, but we were able to sit on the beach (with crutches) for five days for a last bit of summer!
     That's all for now!  We would love to hear from you!

Poem and Picture about Egyptian Coptic Christians Murdered in Libya

Poem and picture from Bible Society of Egypt:

Two rows of men walked the shore of the sea,

On a day when the world’s tears would run free,
One a row of assassins, who thought they did right,
The other of innocents, true sons of the light,
One holding knives in hands held high,
The other with hands empty, defenseless and tied,
One row of slits to conceal glaring-dead eyes,
The other with living eyes raised to the skies,
One row stood steady, pall-bearers of death,
The other knelt ready, welcoming heaven’s breath,
One row spewed wretched, contemptible threats,
The other spread God-given peace and rest.
A Question...
Who fears the other?
The row in orange, watching paradise open?
Or the row in black, with minds evil and broken?

Executions in Libya Bring Christians and Muslims Together

Ramez Attalah, president of Bible Society of Egypt wrote this blog:

     This is a very sad time in Egypt where we are in seven days of official mourning for the 21 young Christian men who were brutally slaughtered by ISIS in Libya. The gruesome, professionally-produced video of that execution shocked the country and has united Christians and Muslims as never before. As soon as the video was broadcast evening, the President delivered a speech declaring 7 days of mourning for the nation. Shortly afterwards the Egyptian Air Force bombed ISIS targets in Libya.
     As I arrived at the Bible Society office in the morning, feeling sad and depressed, I met a young coworker who told me that she was “very encouraged.” I could not imagine what on earth could encourage her!
“I am encouraged” she said, “because now I know that what we have been taught in history books about Egyptian Christians being martyred for their faith is not just history but that there are Christians today who are brave enough to face death rather than deny their Lord! When I saw these young men praying as they were being prepared for execution and then many of them shouting “O Lord Jesus” as their throats were being slit, I realized that the Gospel message can still help us to hold on to the promises of God even when facing death!”

This same sentiment is being reflected in different ways by people who watched that gruesome video!
     I don’t think I will ever read Chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews again without seeing in my mind the images of these men dressed in orange jump suits with black-clad, masked executors behind each one of them!  These men were sim  ple, Egyptian laborers who had gone to Libya to make a living. They were captured and executed by ISIS for being - as the video caption charges - “People of the Cross”. Egyptians have been shocked by this news and it is the most talked about event in our country at this time.
     The purpose of the video was to foment sectarian strife in Egypt between Christians and Muslims. Those Islamic extremists clearly intended to provoke the 10 million Christians in Egypt to rise up violently against their Muslim neighbors.  But the loving and caring response of Muslims all over the nation softened the blow which many Christians felt. Up till now the Christians of Egypt have responded with restraint, sorrowfully calling out to God.
     The President and dozens of political leaders personally gave their condolences to the Coptic Pope. The Prime Minister travelled to the small village where most of these men come from, sitting on the floor with their poor relatives to express his concern. All this sends a clear message that Christians are considered an integral part of the fabric of Egyptian society.

1. Pray for comfort for the families of the victims who are in a terrible emotional state.

2. Pray for the effective mass distribution of a Scripture tract we have just produced that God’s Word will comfort and challenge the many who will receive it.
3. As I write, there is news of more Egyptians being kidnapped in Libya. Lord have mercy!

Please pray for Egypt as we pass through this painful period.

With much thanks,