First day of ministry… since we are under house arrest we can not leave our mansion without an ante rouge… so today was not only our first day of ministry… it was also our first day to be able to venture out of the walls that surround our house.
Side note…
Well… I have to be honest about something… last night at about 10:00 some of us were craving caffeine… so I and Evelyn “broke out” and went and got a coke… that was quite and adventure in it’s self. There was a wedding going on at the church, so we had to go through a mass of people to get outside of the gate, then we had to “sneak” pass the police, then I had to constantly look at the ground to not make eye contact with any males. When we got back to the mansion, the door was locked and no one could hear us knocking, so we had to get the priest to open the door. …oops.
Back to what I was saying… so… since ministry started today we got to go outside and let me just say… WOW. We have been in many countries, but so far I haven’t seen one that was this crowded and this crazy. Today is market day and here they do not have a specific place for the market… everywhere is the market. Pretty much they just take over the roads and that’s the market so it’s interesting to drive on these roads with the vendors, the donkeys, camels, tuk-tuks, and anything else you can think of. I have to say… I think I actually like it a little better within our walls.
So… ministry… there were several different options to choose from, so we were able to pick the one that “fit” us the best. Some people chose to go to an art class where they are doing large displays in order to tell the story of Revelations, some guys went to the guy’s orphanage, some girls went to the girl’s orphanage, and others went to school with Evelyn.
Who is Evelyn and why are we going to school with her? Evelyn is our “hostess” here in Egypt. She is from South Africa but lived here in Egypt from ’94-’99… while she was here she taught Kindergarten and helped to disciple the women in the church. For the last 5 years she has been living in Jerusalem and studying there. About 2 weeks ago, she moved back here to teach Kindergarten for one more year… so we are busy helping her get her room ready for school to start.
The name of the school is Saint Mena it is a private English school ran by the government. Even though it is run by the government, you still have to pay lots of money to go there (where most government schools are free). Most of the children that attend are from the wealthy people in the village. It is very much a status thing to be able to have your child in this school. It is mainly children of the leaders, doctors, pharmacist, and other upper classes. The reason for the school is to have Muslim and Christian children come together to learn and to teach them how to speak English, French, and Arabic. In most classes the Muslims and Christians will be combined, though when studying “religion” they are separated and this is taught in Arabic.
I think this is a huge vision for this city. If you go out on the roof of our mansion and look around this place, we are literally in the middle of the desert and to have a priest that approached the government about this vision and to had it established is huge. Whether the parents realize it or not (especially the Muslims) having their child go to this school is huge. Not just educationally but spiritually. This is the start for huge break through in this community. It all starts with the younger generation and that is exactly what they are doing.
We are working along side her with helping her doing simple things like making an alphabet for her to put up, making a shapes chart, and helping her come up with other creative ideas, but also praying for her and lifting her up since being a part of something this big brings with it lots of spiritual attacks.
Evelyn has come back to teach for another year, but to also encourage the people there as it is so exciting to be able to be a part of that.
