The following was written on 10/29, our first day in Cairo. I have unfortunately not been able to post it until now! Tried posting it last week when I had internet but tried for THREE HOURS with no success, bleh! BUT here you go, FINALLY 🙂 – hope you enjoy :). I had pictures to upload for you guys to see but being that I’m in Africa in the middle of nowhere they are not uploading….maybe later. Our internet is very limited here (this is only the 2nd time I’ve had it). Despite the bad connection and not being able to post all I want, I’m SO happy to be posting again!!
I can finally blog again, yea!! J Thank you ALL so much for your prayers! They mean a great deal! Right now we are in Egypt on our way to South Africa. We got here yesterday and will be leaving today to fly to South Africa. From there we will be making our way to Swaziland where we will spend the next month. It’s been a long and tiring last few days with all the traveling (15 hour bus ride to here from Jerusalem)….but it’s been nice to have a couple days of rest and to see the pyramids (something I never thought I’d do!).
But now to tell you some about this past month….
Istanbul, Turkey –
Istanbul in and of itself is AMAZING….one of my favorite cities we have been to thus far. The people there are so welcoming and easy to talk to. We were fortunate to get to know so many people in such a short period of time. While there we partnered with an organization that has a man who has government permission to hand out the Bible in Arabic. We were able to pass out the Bible and the Jesus Film (in Arabic) to many people while there. Me, Kelly K., Kaleb, and one of our translators, Catie, made friends with a sweet family while there. We were able to share with them and hung out with them for nearly 7 hours straight! This is just one example of the types of relationships we were able to build!
Jerusalem, Israel –
In Jerusalem with partnered with an organization that works directly with the refugees and Arab people there. We helped them package rice to pass out to the refugees and helped with many church services. The organization has people there that are discipling and helping start churches in Jerusalem and Jericho. We had worship services every morning there Monday through Friday and on Friday night they had an Arab service. I ended up volunteering to help lead worship on Monday through Friday. Sounds little but this was actually a big step for me in helping me overcome my fear of being in front of others! Ha. It was so fun though and God really taught me a lot through that experience.
From here we will be in Africa for about 3 months….first Swaziland where we will be working with AIDS orphans. I am SO excited to go and cannot wait to pour some love out on the people we will meet!! More to come……. 🙂
