Christmas Greetings!

It has been an eventful Fall for us in a mostly good way. We learn a little more everyday about the Egyptian culture. From driving where it’s every man for himself and who can get to the spot first, to the lower service mentality makes you realize how different cultures can be. We also experienced our very first national Egyptian soccer (futbol) game. Egypt played Algeria in Cairo for a berth in the world cup. The entire country was literally gathered around their television sets; the normally crowded streets were deserted. When Egypt scored their winning goal it was as if we were just outside the stadium as cheering erupted from houses across the city. I have never seen anything like it. Of course, the darker side was the violence and destruction accompanying both that game and the rematch in Sudan a few days later.

This was also our second year to witness Eid al Adha the festival of sacrifice in late November, which happens about 70 days after the end of Ramadan (which every year starts 10 days earlier). It commemorates Abraham’s almost sacrifice of Ishmael (not Isaac).

In the days before the weekend festival, you see sheep and goats gathered in preparation. Then early in the morning, the call to prayer is nearly an hour long, then the sacrificing of the animals in people’s front yards or out in the street begins. The street dogs and cats have a feast of their own for days.

Alex’s second year has been quite a contrast to his first year. Last year he barely made the team coached by an Egyptian who valued individual skills.

This year’s team was coached by a South African who valued team play (like in Spokane coaches). Alex not only made the JV soccer team, but was team co-captain and co-MVP for the season. He made the travel team to Dubai they were one of the most feared teams. The other teams targeted Alex to knock him down since he was the playmaker, so amidst his bruises he realized it was a back-handed compliment.



He also made the JV basketball team again and it looks like he will get a good bit of playing time and likely travel to Abu Dhabi for the tournament in February. His group had first choice this year for the Week Without Walls trips, service or culture learning opportunities around the world and in Cairo. So with his first pick this year (he will be fourth [last] group to pick next year), he chose the Panda Conservatory in Szechuan province in southwest China. He is also discovering the exotic international girls around him (we’ll leave it at that…)

Travis arrived mid December after his first quarter at Eastern Washington University. His wrist was broken in two places in September and we were afraid of nerve damage, but it appears he will have full range back, though the end of his thumb is still numb and his fingers tingle. A physical therapist says he will still get more feeling back over time, but it will be over a year for it to be near normal. All the extra time gave Travis time to study without working 30-40 hours per week. He ended up with a 3.6/4.0 for the quarter. Travis will be staying until June 1 to do his internship in international relations with an Egyptian woman in our church who runs her own business: Global Strategic Consultants (www.gsc-egypt.com). He will also be her teaching assistant at American University Cairo in her public relations/international marketing class.

Brett will be here for a little over three weeks. He had a very good quarter at Western Washington University with art and photography related classes. He had to take a free hand drawing class (including a section on nudes) with no background in art. He feels like he learned and developed and his instructor looked forward to helping him advance in the next class Winter quarter. He submitted his portfolio and got accepted into the graphic design major! So for now he has a double major, which might be useful since photojournalism is not exactly a booming job market in today’s world.

Karan is still working every other day at Alex’s school (CAC) in special education while still navigating the political waters. She gets worn down with some of the dynamics and feeling treated like a second class citizen, but her principal is very supportive. She loves being with the students in helping them succeed and learn to overcome their challenges. We are glad Karan is part-time and hope she can stay that way from a time perspective. If she goes full-time she will have more clout and ability to help kids, but the cost to church and family will be greater.

Karan returned to her roots and was Elizabeth in the Christmas pageant at church. She was back to her she was pretty animated and humorous self on stage. It was first time to work with live animals and their unpredictability. No camels “unloaded” (one year the camel splashing sound drowned out the voice on stage). And no sheep mounted another during Mary’s solo like in a previous year. It is interesting in this Middle East setting to tell the Christmas story to over 1000 from different cultures and religions.

Steve is happy to have a Director of Administration here and settling in. Dave has removed a great amount of the administrative load. We are dealing with the challenges of moving to Friday evening services (instead of Friday morning--the time of Muslim worship). We now compete with social events and leisure since this is the very middle of our weekend in Egypt. We also have seen fewer "expats" coming into Egypt with the world economic downturn. But the spirit is good as we have stressed training and equipping people to push outside their comfort zones and become involved in kingdom opportunities right outside their door. Our hope is that people's lives will change from being in this amazing setting so that they can return to their home churches and bring a missional mindset. There is a good spirit of unity among the leadership!

On Christmas Day, we drive to Israel to rent a car for 9 days in Israel. We are driving across the Sinai (Egypt) to Eilat, Israel. Then we drive to Masada by the Dead Sea and stay the night. Then drive to Galilee and explore for two days. Then drive down to Jerusalem for four days. We return to Cairo on January 2.

In His Grip!

Steve and Karan

Moving into a New Flat

Yes, we did make it back to Egypt! Yes, we did move into our new flat. When our landlord wanted to raise the rent $400 per month, we found a much cheaper place that was on the ground floor AND had a small yard AND it’s by the back gate of Alex and Karan' school so they only walk a half block. But it was far from easy. When we left for our summer trip for the US, our flat was supposed to be almost ready when we returned July 30. Here began our growing experience. We had to impose on friends for over a month to live in their flat. When we finally did move in on September 1, we lived without a usable kitchen for another two weeks. Customer service, especially during Ramadan (Aug 21-Sept 21 this year), is not a core value in this part of the world. We have only had DSL Internet for a few weeks but it's only 256 kb, while we wait for the Internet provider and the separate marketing company to quit arguing over payment.
←our two-story new flat from the outside

The most disappointing aspect of the whole ordeal was how grouchy and complaining we were. All of our illusions about how flexible and adaptable we had become living overseas were shattered. We realized how easy we had it last year living with a landlord that fixed everything quickly and at his expense. We found how much this is NOT the norm in Egypt. For $600 month less in rent, we have used up all of the first year’s savings just fixing the place up. Were it not for the “angels” God sent us to minister in the fixing, remodeling, feeding us meals, washing our clothes (we also weren’t able to hook up our washer/dryer), we would really be a mess!! Our desire for being “in control” remains an illusion. We are thankful for the body of Christ alive and at work!! We have learned what is more of a typical expat experience moving into a new culture … we just had to wait a year. We will have much more compassion on those who struggle with adjusting to Egypt since we have tasted more deeply what they feel.

While all of the joy of moving was transpiring, Karan began her teaching at CAC at 40% on August 2 (classes began on the 16th). Her new position in learning support services (aka special education) involved dividing her time between high school and middle school. Learning the procedures, expectations, and relational dynamic of two very different divisions of the school in an entirely new position has also been a learning experience. Karan feels good about the situation so far, especially helping students. Soon after September 1, she was moved up to 60%, so she works every other day now. As in any new work community, there are lots of new rules and hidden social dynamics to learn, so navigating these waters has been yet another stretching experience. It takes you to a place of just discovering who you are and being true to that identity when other forces try to shape you into something different and lesser.

Karan's new kitchen→

Working every other day enables Karan to work with the women’s group MWG (Maadi Women’s Guild). Though it has had many faces in the many, many years of existence, the consistent one is the benevolence, to help support various charity work in and to this country. There is a woman to woman aspect, which began more intentionally, last year as more of an outreach to the expatriate community (not necessarily only the Christian women) in connection and relationship, with the hope of joining hands to sow into other lives. From that group, smaller groups from bowling to in depth Bible studies are offered to women in the community. It is exciting to see what the Lord will do this year!
Meanwhile, there have also been some shifts at church. The Anglican (Episcopal) Church, who owns the property where we worship, wanted the prime Friday morning worship time (our local holy day). So we shifted our worship services to Friday afternoon and evening. So far it has gone fairly well. The spirit has been good in the church as we have emphasized the priesthood of the believer and serving as a fulfilling lifestyle. It has been hard to measure attendance because of the irregularity of the school year start-up this year. (As of September 18, all public and private schools and universities were closed until October 3 because of fear of swine flu outbreak.) If the delay had continued, there could be a mass exodus of people taking their kids back home to not compromise their education. So we were sweating it for awhile. The rhythm of this Fall has been very unusual according to long-term residents due to the school closure and Ramadan, but we think we are ready to now begin the year as everyone has filtered back in.

←Steve in the living room with new oriental rugs

Alex has seemed to have the easiest adjustment. He has established a good group of friends who hang out together regularly. He has stayed quite socially active. He likes his classes (mostly). JV soccer try-outs began last week with 72 showing up. It was extremely competitive and Alex was pretty worried, but he made the team of 16. So we are all holding our breath to hope he makes the travel team of 11 this year. He also joined a men’s Fall softball team, so that keeps his baseball skills sharpened. He also had his birthday party this year amid the last boxes of unpacking. What a difference a year makes!! We are thankful!!

Video game area 2nd floor→

Meanwhile back in Spokane, Travis has one more quarter of classes at Eastern Washington University before he comes here to Egypt to do his internship in International Relations from December through May. He broke his wrist in two places, though, and so no longer can work. He is in alot of pain as the splint is trying to hold the bones to mend so he doesn't need surgery. He looks forward to getting it put in a cast and seeing if his fingers and thumb can move so he can work and type, etc.
Brett is in Bellingham in his junior year at Western Washington University. He worked all summer in a state park at the entrance station. He is a photojournalism major, but is trying a class in the Art department enroute to either a double major or minor in graphic design. The issue is that our former science-math student has ventured into an arena that he has had much less background. He is living in an apartment with several others in different apartments from a campus Christian group.
We did manage to take a four day trip to the tip of the Sinai peninsula to Sharm el Sheikh (pronounced "shake") to snorkel in the Red Sea. It was wonderful. The hotel even had three large water park quality water slides! The fish around the coral reef were amazing and we got to sample the night life of Sharm.

Let me encourage you if you haven't signed up to be a "follower" of this blog so you can receive email notice that you follow the directions posted in previous blogs. When we were back home this summer we discovered many people who didn't know how to sign-up, but wanted to.
Let us hear from you! Remember that no matter what the economic and political situations, God is still good and He is in control. His purposes will not be thwarted.

Steve and Karan

It's almost summer in Cairo (though after our first winter it hardly felt like summer ever ended). Spring, like most places, is when the flowers and trees bloom. Right now the beautiful orange of the Flame Tree and the deep lavender of the Jacaranda are right outside our window.

Speaking of windows, we will be looking out from a different location in August. We will be moving out of this flat (apartment) by June 14, put our stuff in storage, and then move into a two-story villa with a small yard. Here's the back story:
When we finished the looonnngggg process of our church budget in late April, we made major cuts so that we could live within our means. Some major outside money had been coming in over the last several years, but since the predominately western Canadian and Christian & Missionary Alliance staff have moved on, so have those financial donors (who came from those long-term relationships from the same denomination and region). So we reduced our budget to a bit above what our offerings have been over the past few years. This means that we won't hire one of the senior staff we had been searching. It also meant that we have reduced our staff by almost 40% mostly by not replacing those who are moving this year (we typically have a 30% attrition rate every year in the church).
We have also faced external issues like the world economic downturn affecting foreign companies in Egypt, as well as more restrictive visa rules that went into effect last October. The human interpretation could be to wring our hands and grieve the loss of staff and programs. We think this is God shifting our focus from a large, staff-dependent "come and get it" program, to a focus on finding, training, and sending out "grassroots" people. The leaders feel this is yet another way that God will make us place ministry squarely in the hands of the volunteers. These volunteers can be used and shaped in this missional, international setting so that they will go to their next place and have an impact for the Kingdom work to influence those around them. Maybe in the long run, we will have more of an impact on the American church than if we had stayed state-side in one church.
So after cutting everything we knew to cut, my attention turned to our housing costs (which the church covers). When our landlord wanted to raise our rent, we found someone moving who had rent $600 less than our current amount. It was a ground floor two-story villa with a small yard in front and a slightly larger yard in the back. It was also across the street from the back gate of Alex's school. He was excited that he could bring all his friends home for lunch some days. Karan looked inside at the kitchen, bathroom, old furniture and simply wept. So after hiring some PR people to "spin" the situation (actually it was our handy man who said it had "potential") and then filling her with imported wine, she finally agreed. Actually, after we got the church council to agree to use our rent savings for a year to remodel the kitchen and bathroom and replace the furniture, Karan began to look with new eyes. Now that some interior designers and her have looked a few more times, she has actually become quite positive about the whole idea. So now she is busy picking cabinets, granite counter tops (it's cheap here so don't be looking at us that way), floor tile, and scavenging furniture from people who are leaving.
Speaking of people leaving, this is our first season to say good-bye to folks who have completed their "tour." Steve is losing his personal assistant who has been incredibly helpful and has actually been the administrative glue that has held the church together. She moves with the State Department to Portugal. Sometimes you also endure unexpected departures. A man who has been here in ministry for 18 years doing wonderful things for the people of Egypt and who has been very careful not to be out proselytizing the majority religion here, was denied re-entry into the country a couple of weeks ago (it's the Egyptian way of deportation so you have to buy an on the spot airline ticket). If losing him wasn't bad enough for the community and church, his wife has been a major leader in the church and the other part of Steve's external support system. All of this only a few weeks before their last remaining son graduates from high school (so now dad will miss his commencement). So all of this brings up many strong, mixed emotions that have been difficult to process. Ultimately we are reminded that every day of ministry is a gift from the Lord and we are here only by His sovereign hand (and secondarily as guests who remain at the pleasure of the Egyptian government). This was part of the faith quotient that we felt so strongly when we visited here last February--no one man can do this job, it has to be a God thing. When we remember our constant desperate dependence, then we settle into more peace.
On a lighter side, while Alex has had all this opportunity to travel, Steve and Karan finally had the chance to travel themselves. They both attended a conference for international churches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the last week of April. Neither of us had been to Asia, so this was an incredible experience. We did the usual tourist thing, but also were able to network with pastors mostly from Asia and the Middle East. The highlight was a lunch with an middle easterner who has become a believer and is having dramatic ministry with those coming to Malaysia from his very conservative country. His story of how God reached into his life and what factors grabbed his heart were amazing. (It had little to do with intellectual arguments.)
Alex and Karan are leaving June 11th for WA. Steve will join them the 14th, to leave for Texas to see Karan's mom and Steve's dad. We will be in Spokane for a couple of weeks before traveling to the west side to see Brett, as well as relatives and friends in Portland. Finally, we will travel to California to see friends and a vacation before returning to Cairo the end of July. It will be a fast summer, but wonderful to see family and friends.
We need and love your prayers as we go through the changes and life in another land. The school where Alex goes is looking for a part time Learning Resource Center teacher (their equivalent of Special Ed).

Karan has applied and interviewed on May 31. A few unexpected openings have also occurred in the elementary level, full time. Karan will interview for one of those positions June 1. We would covet your prayers as we evaluate the opportunities and what the Lord would have us do. The decisions will impact our family, and we desire to be wise, not just jump at the relief financially full time would bring, IF Karan has that opportunity. We continue to feel privileged to be here and serve in this amazing church and land.
Travis is still in International Affairs at Eastern Washington University outside Spokane. He has one more quarter of classes this coming Fall, then comes here to Cairo in mid December for a five month internship with an international business in communication and marketing. We aren't sure how all that will work since his degree program was mostly government and culture classes, not business. He originally started in international business, but the thought of taking accounting and quantitative managing classes were less to his liking. We cannot believe how God opened that amazing door through a very generous Egyptian woman. Travis also works as a cook in an upscale restaurant 30 hours per week, so he has worked his tail off.
Brett is having a good year at Western Washington University, and has switched to photojournalism. He is exploring whether he wants to take some graphic design classes which could become a double major (and extra year of school). He is loving his major, while we figure out how our math and science guy is pursuing an art career (since neither of us is artistic). Brett is working this summer at a state park in the entrance booth--not as strenuous as raspberry picking last summer, but maybe more tedious. He will come to Egypt again this Christmas for 3 weeks. We all hope to travel to Israel over Christmas "enshallah" (God willing).
So far only seven of you have signed up to "follow" our blog, so here's how to get an automatic reminder of when a new blog is posted: From our blog, click on "Follow." On the next screen you will be prompted to choose one of the sign-in methods listed (google, yahoo, etc.) or create your own google ID (don't worry, this shouldn't generate a flood of spam). Then you can choose the public or private option for whether others can see your name. If you later decide to unsubscribe, you can easily click on that option when you sign in to see our blog.

In His Grip,
Steve and Karan Flora

Spring greetings from Egypt!

Steve, Alex, Travis, Brett at Karnak temple at Christmas

April spring greetings!! February and March have flown by and have been full for all of us in our different spheres. God continues to bless us in amazing ways as we live our lives here. First, spring in Egypt is really beautiful. Right now the trees are exploding with color. Our days are warming, but in waves. The week might start out with highs in the low 70’s and by the end of the week the high temps might be in the upper 80’s. Winter never got as cold as it was when we interviewed a year ago last January/February. We are in the khamaseen season, which means 50 days of wind, causing dust and sand to BLOW. The sky isn’t always blue and the grit seeps in under the windows and doors. It is manageable, mostly because I have help cleaning, thank goodness.

We went to Germany for spring break to ski. My bargain finding hubby researched and found tickets to Munich for CHEAP. We went to Garmisch and had absolutely beautiful conditions. We downhill skied for 2 days and then cross-country skied for another 2 days. Alex snowboarded for 4 days. It snowed 4-6 inches every day of the last three days, which made the snow conditions great.


Alex. He worked hard this past quarter to bring up his grades, as well as played JV basketball. Though not his primary sport, he worked hard and improved such as to be able to travel to the tournament with the team in Kuwait. It was a great experience and he met kids from other places, which he hopes to see when he travels to Dubai, UAE for softball on April 15. He is enjoying his sports!! He even turned three double plays in softball last night! He is still finding his way in school. It is definitely more college “prep” school than Mead, so the demand on him is greater. He is doing it, slowly but surely. The different sports have given him more friends and the “away” games are incentive to hang in there. Plus, he was able to get his first choice for his Week Without Walls trip that every CAC high school student takes. He went to Borneo, Indonesia to an orangutan rescue. He landed and traveled 4 hours into the rain forest by riverboat, sleeping on it for 3 nights while they saw the orangutans in the wild. He then went to a hospital and helped paint, as well as checked out the small, sickly baby orangutans. It was an experience he will not soon forget. Another plus for being here. Youth group and his relationships at church have also helped his heart in out life here. Though he misses his brothers and friends in Spokane, he is finding his way here and we are thankful.

Karan. I started subbing at the school where Alex is attending, CAC (Cairo American College), mostly in the middle school. For a few weeks there, it was teach from 8-3pm and tutor until 5:30, still shorter than my Shaw days. Ha!! I will sub for the first time in the elementary next week. I am also tutoring 4 days a week and enjoying it most of the time. It helps where we need it and gives me most of my days free or at least with a choice of the time teaching. I am continuing to meet with women, take part in the women’s guild and wash babies between teaching days. Friends are coming slowly and I am thankful. Some new friends are already on their way out of Egypt, so I have enjoyed the time we have had. Some I will get to know better. The diversity is life giving and keeps things hopping. I am happy, hopeful and eager to see how I will be used, as time goes on.

A view of the gate of St. John's. We worship under the tent to the left.

Steve. He has been very busy, but finding a rhythm of sorts in his long days. We just this week received the news that a man is coming as the church administrator. We are thrilled. Steve will have some help in the admin arena, which will be wonderful!! In the meantime, we are making progress in bringing structure to our African Ministries. We may be turning a corner in that department! Both of us are still very happy to be here and see God at work. We are now trusting God big time to provide property and permission to build a church in a different location from our current rental situation. By August, we will either have to switch days for worship or find a temporary location until we get property. We still sense God at work to equip and send people into His fields after their 2-3 year stay here.

We have found a handy way to receive an email notice when we make a new posting. This is a great tool since we are so erratic and unpredictable as to when one of these blogs actually shows up. Go to our blog and click on "Follow." On the next screen you will be prompted to choose one of the sign in methods listed (google, yahoo, etc.) or create your own google id. Then you can choose the public or private option for whether others can see your name. If you later decide to unsubscribe, you can easily click on that option when you sign in to see our blog.

In His Grip,
Karan and Steve

Okay, so our blogging frequency has deteriorated even further; we missed the whole month of December. But since most of you were so busy reading Christmas newsletters, you hardly noticed. So here is our mid January report on holidays in Cairo.

Thanksgiving (remember it’s an American holiday except for the Canadians who celebrate it in October before being snowed in for the winter) was actually higher profile than we expected. We started with 75+ in our young adult group on an open-air rooftop the weekend before. Then many Americans celebrated with large, multi-national dinner parties all weekend long. We could have eaten several meals if we hadn’t had church all day Friday! Amazing considering a large turkey could cost $40.
The following weekend we finally made our trip to the White Desert (a 5 hour drive). You first drive through the volcanic Black Desert. After a hike up a huge white sand dune for a panoramic view, we started off for the White Desert. This portion is filled with incredible limestone rock formations left behind after millennia of erosion of what is believed was an ancient ocean floor. The whole thing was like a moonscape—surreal and unique (from anything we have ever seen). Let us not forget to mention that the entire thing was a camping trip with guides who drive you in four-wheel drive vehicles, pitch the tents, start the fire, cook the meal, clean the dishes, and provide all the equipment (including camel hair blankets)! Karan says this is her kind of camping—princess camping! The second night the stars came out in full—hundreds of miles from the nearest light pollution.

Our next holiday highlight was the Christmas Pageant. It was unique in our experience among pageants. To begin, it was the first time Karan has sat in the audience with her family. It was also one of the more creative programs. There were real camels, donkeys, and sheep. No animal let loose a load during the two performances, but the street outside the church gate was another story! The highlight of the pageant was Herod—the king, as in Elvis. Our youth pastor played Herod as an Elvis impersonation with adoring junior high groupies. The wise men on the three real camels were a French Clouseau, an African soul man, and a straight guy with a Scottish accent. The comedy lightened the mood, but the story still came through in a culture not as familiar with the Christmas story as in America.
On December 13, Travis (age 22) and Brett (age 19) arrived on their first overseas flight. The fact that Travis even made the flight at all was a miracle since his plane out of Spokane was 90 minutes late due to the beginning of the 5+ feet of snow that would fall over the next few weeks. When Travis arrived in Seattle, he had 15 minutes to make his international flight in a different remote terminal. They were closing the door as he ran up the ramp. Then in London, Travis and Brett were misdirected to the wrong terminal and made the flight to Cairo by only 20 minutes. It’s no surprise that Travis’ luggage took four days to find him.
After visiting the pyramids and the Coptic cave churches in garbage city (see picture below), we headed off by all-day train 450 miles south to Luxor. We did the tourist thing to visit the tombs and temples (quite spectacular and worth the trip).

But the real adventure began when we tried to leave for home. Our reservation in this 5-star hotel was made on the Internet. We had booked a double room (for two) and a triple room (for three). The problem is that the hotel doesn’t have triple rooms, so they claimed the second reservation was a double room. Even though we tried to make sure it was all agreed on for the three days we were there, they waited until we checked out to demand nearly double the cost of the room for putting a cot in a double room.

As bad as that was, they would not let us leave to catch our train back to Cairo. The problem is that after the Luxor violence 10+ years ago, only two trains per day are secured to allow tourists. The next train that night was booked, as well as trains for the next few days. Even though they had our credit card number and local address, they would not allow our taxi to leave. So we are on the streets of Luxor in plain view of the world with the hotel management creating this scene. Finally we called our church office to ask them to call the tourist police, but instead they called National Security because the senior pastor position at Maadi Community Church is high profile. Once National Security was involved suddenly things changed. They apologized and let us go and strangely found 5 tickets all together on a mid-day train which National Security had to now secure. We were then greeted and escorted at the train station by 6 security officials in Cairo. Steve was quite embarrassed by the whole thing, but it was quite a lesson on how the cultural system works on several levels. Steve’s staff begged him to let them make the reservations next time even if they cost more.

On the church front, Steve still searches for more staff. The African Ministry pastor did not receive a renewal on his visa and was sent home to Nigeria. With outside funding gone for that ministry and questionable accountability and results, we will very soon release them to stand on their own financial feet and provide training and mentoring. We now seek God’s direction for our future outreach focus. There is no shortage of tremendous missional opportunities for peoples of many different nation groups, including Africans.
Karan will begin tutoring a few middle school and elementary kids, particularly those with special needs, as well as substitute teaching. She has put in her application at Cairo American College (Alex’s school, which is a K-12 prep school, not an actual college), but we are not very optimistic she will be hired for the one open elementary position. Tutoring at least gives her more time for other activities, while providing that some help with college tuition.
Alex made the junior varsity basketball team, so he is busy with another sport. He is still adapting culturally to Egypt and the more demanding load CAC expects. It is still an area of challenge and growth for him. We thought it wouldn’t take this long, but since culture adjustment still affects us too, that was pretty naïve! No one ever said having your life perspective stretched would be without pain. Alex absolutely loves the youth group experience here, so that is another bright spot. He is counting the days until June when he will return to Spokane for almost a month.

Travis is a junior at Eastern Washington University in Cheney (outside Spokane) majoring in International Affairs. He also works 30 hours per week as a cook in an upscale restaurant. Brett is a sophomore at Western Washington University in Bellingham majoring in Photojournalism. He works on campus about 10 hours per week.
Feel free to post comments, but remember to be discreet in what you say if you want us to let the whole world read what you say. Karan is on Facebook if you want to communicate in between blogs. Also don’t forget our church website at www.maadichurch.net.

Keep the Son in Your Eyes!
Steve and Karan

November update

It's mid-November in Cairo and the temperatures are now routinely in the 70s. The summer heat of upper 90s lasted through the first week of October and then abruptly withdrew as things cooled into the 80s. I have to admit that it was not nearly as hot here this past summer as I feared--I expected Phoenix days, but they never really came. The only problem is that as the temperatures cool, they burn rice fields and trash so the pollution is worse. Here is a picture of typical street in Maadi.

Our clean air respite (in addition to room air purifiers in our flat) is the bike rides in the wadi (arabic for "valley"). There are a couple of wadis here that were carved out of limestone by ancient rivers. Interestingly, you can find petrified wood and seashells, which makes one wonder what the land of Egypt looked like in eons past. My bike rides have come with a price lately as about a month ago I decided to try going fast down a small hill and only succeeded in catching my front tire in the soft sand and flying over the handlebars and banging myself up. It was nothing serious but the obvious scrapes drew conversations and people shaking their heads at my apparent lack of judgment. Karan stays in the more even and level part of the wadi while I venture up into the highlands where there is more interested terrain. So you can see their point.

Alex is improving in homesickness, but still adjusting. He made the JV soccer team at school. 60-70 boys tried out and only 16 were selected. That helped alot, however only a week later, they had to pick the 11 who would make the travel team, and he wasn't selected. The team will travel to Abu Dabi in the United Arab Emerites in about a week. His consolation is that in the local scrimmages and tournaments, he has played more than some of the travel boys (who have complained audibly). I am hoping this will be a motivation for him to work hard on foot skills and shooting between now and next Fall. Our consolation is that we won't be paying the $800-900 to send him to Abu Dabi, especially if he wouldn't have played much.
We were able to use that savings to add to his school trip in February called Week Without Walls. WWW is a chance for the students to choose one of several trips all over the world for adventure or service. He could have gone to Petra in Jordan or space camp in Turkey or house building in Ghana or culture touring in Moscow and St. Peterburg Russia, or trekking in India in the Himalaya foothills (among several other options), but he chose orangutan rescue in Borneo (Indonesia). He was very excited to say the least and it helped Egypt seem less difficult. Plus about a month ago I found a sports subscription channel that has some US football games (though the 7-10 hour time difference and the fact that Alex's school week is Sunday-Thursday makes it more difficult to watch games).
Actually his homesickness has been related less to Egypt itself and more related to his private school. The social groupings are not as permeable as we were led to believe. The high school has about 40% very wealthy Egyptians who band together and some US kids from oil families who also have their own subculture. He has managed to find a couple of other new guys and hang with them, and now he is making some new soccer friends. The other major adjustment is that the teachers here are more difficult and demanding than his middle school in the States since this is a college prep school. I have to say that both Travis and Brett found college more demanding than they expected after having been in one of the alleged top school districts in Washington state. So he is learning to step up in several arenas. Another benefit here has been that his youth group experience has by far been more positive than either of our two older guy's experiences.
On the church front, I still have no new senior staff, so the water is still flowing down onto me in the bottom of the Dead Sea. The next phase of my cultural boot camp has been dealing with our African Ministry. Perhaps 6-8 years ago the church began their work in refugee ministry for those mostly from Sudan. Since then they have worked with several start-up efforts who provide various services like education, food, housing, medical, etc. The problem came when there was so many different activities and some passing through of funds to these partner ministries that the reach exceeded the grasp. It got too big too fast and couldn't be managed with sufficient accountability. So now most of that has been let go and we have only a few remaining partner ministries in refugee education, medical clinic, training pastors to return to their home countries, women's benevolence ministry to various small projects, and a small less-expensive school for ex-patriot kids. All of those relationships need to be restructured and renegotiated to fit under government guidelines. It has taken awhile to BEGIN to figure out how that should look.
We also started spiritual small groups in poor sections of Cairo that have grown to 3000 people. We are not sure to what extent that is 3000 people growing in discipleship or how many come because there is some possible financial benefit (one leader calls them "rice Christians"--those who call themselves Christian only to get food). Some of these groups led to the start-up of fellowships that band together for worship (they are not churches, since churches have to be licensed by the government). The problem is there are only a fraction of the people from the small groups who go to the fellowship worship times. Yet we have sent a fair amount of money from donors to this ministry without fully knowing how it is being spent. So now in this new era of financial accountability (brought on by a former staff member who embezzled quite a bit of money less than two years ago), we are asking for receipts and reports, etc. The Africans first response was "What's a receipt?" We have now progressed to beginning to ask the question if these groups and fellowships are going to ever grow up to be self-sustaining so we can begin new works. It is not unlike wondering if your children will ever grow up and leave home, so you begin to teach them to get ready for that day.
Which brings me to the culture boot camp. These changes are not without pain and resistance. Whereas in the West we think in terms of guilt-innocence (right vs. wrong), the Middle East is more rooted in shame-honor, while Africa is more power-fear based. So when we expect someone to think through the ethics of not spending money for purposes you stated, as long as it goes for a good cause, what's the problem? Though they may bow and call you "Sir," SOME will find a way to manipulate and not disclose the full truth in order to get what they want. Trying to document this to sit down and challenge them is like trying to capture smoke. When you are anal and controlling like me, this becomes a significant stress issue. I am also learning that though most of our Africans outside the mother church are Sudanese, the people running the show are Nigerian. Sudanese are among the gentler, less aggressive Africans. Nigerians are more opposite of those traits among Africans.
Nevertheless, some here who are from a more prophetic stream (including some Nigerians) have stated that they feel God has brought me here to clean up the rapid growth problems and deepen the spiritual foundation. So God's calling vs. people pleasing becomes a daily prayer topic for me. My friend Richard reminded me, "Remember what God has been pouring into you these last two and half years since leaving Garland." We still feel a strong sense that we are where God wants us to be, stress and all. I continue to claim Matthew 11 "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" to remember that most of the stress comes from what I bring on myself by taking responsibility for more than is mine.
No matter what your response to the most recent elections, remember the priority of Scripture regarding government. 1 Timothy 2:1-3, "I urge that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior." Romans 13:1, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." 1 Peter 2:13-14, 17, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, … Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." Prov 21:1, "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes." Our hope is in God and not in man.

October Reflections

Well our trip to the White Desert didn’t work out because Alex got sick. Several teens from the youth retreat the weekend before contracted some food related issue. A few days of antibiotics and he was fine. So we will wait for the next Islamic feast day in early December and try to go with a new family with one of Alex’s friends. If we had gone that weekend, the highs would have been in the upper 90s, so later will be better. Right after it has cooled into the upper 80s and is very pleasant. Fall has finally arrived.
Alex is still in the hunt to make the junior varsity soccer team. We thought today was the day to announce the team, but it seems that there is one more cut still. I am having a hard time putting all this in God’s hands. I am afraid that without soccer, Alex will spiral down further in his culture shock adjustments. Plus a parent from last year told me that several Western kids who had talent and performed well on their middle school teams were cut, while a couple of obese Egyptian kids made the team. The coach is Egyptian and team play is not their strong suit. Yet they didn’t win any games in tournament play all last season (there are few home games). So you would think they would catch a clue …. who did I say was struggling with culture shock?! So God and I are wrestling through this issue as I place Alex in His loving hands (even when the immediate results don’t seem so compassionate).
Karan and I had dinner last night with the widow of the former senior pastor. She showed us where he fell from 10 stories trying to belay down three feet to their balcony after being locked out of their apartment. It was, of course, an incredibly emotional and tragic story. I cannot even begin to imagine what that was like on so many levels … She also shared that every year when they flew in to Cairo from a month off summer vacation, as they descended they felt the spiritual oppression. She said the whole family would often drive back from the airport in silence. She also shared some fairly amazing dreams and visions that people (some in a different corner of the world) had right before and during the horrible accident. The content of those dreams and vision were all about the spiritual warfare surrounding the event. People saw things with spiritual lenses in that very location before the fall actually happened or was known. It was a stirring reminder of where the battle really lies even in things that look so mundane and ordinary. It was also a reminder of the incredible privilege, responsibility, and battle that this ministry truly is!
Visitors would sometimes come to see them and observe the trash in the streets and the rubble all around and remark, “How can you live here??!” Maadi is much greener and nicer, but you still have trash, rubble, broken sidewalks, wild drivers, and feral cats and a few dogs that roam the streets. But if you choose to look up at the flowering trees and the amazing culture and the smiling faces of what many believe is the kindest and gentlest people in the Middle East, you can see something quite different. It’s all in where you look. You cannot come here into such a foreign culture and in the midst of intense spiritual warfare without a clear sense of calling. So when those inevitable days of discouragement and frustration come, you flow with it and remember that it’s not about me and my comfort and convenience, rather it’s about God’s kingdom. I have not ever been in a place with more potential for Kingdom impact than here.
We have included some pictures of Egypt to give you a taste of things you don’t always see in tourist photos. Life is quite different for so many people in other parts of the world. So as the global economy is freefall meltdown, remember Who holds the cards.

Steve and Karan