hey...
it's saturday afternoon in the land of cairo...good morning to all of you in the U.S.
it's been a couple of days since our last blog and we just wanted to fill you in on what has been going on.
yesterday, we attended church with our worker family. the church was much like the 'community' churches we have back in the U.S. same songs, same type of service, etc...
we then went to the pyramids...holy cow! that was really beyond comprehension. we had the opportunity to pray and walk the grounds while we were there. we got some incredible pictures and will try to post those when we get back to the states...
we then prayed for a worker family here who has a heart to bring the gospel to libya. they have had a very difficult time getting into the country due to a ton of different rules and regulations.
this morning, we attended our worker family son's baseball game. he is a future all star!
we just finished praying for an American woman who has devoted her life to missions work. she has been in several different countries and now feels at home in egypt but is struggling with various issues. we felt like this was a divine appointment because we weren't even supposed to be home when she was here...
we are planning on heading out into the city later today to do more praying. our flight to head back to the states leaves tomorrow morning, but we have a 24-hour layoever in paris. i guess we'll find something to do there... : )
thank you all for your continued support and prayers. please pray as we conclude our trip and for safe travels as we will be spending lots of time in the air over the next few days.
love and grace and peace to all...
amanda & chip
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
lots of good stuff...
hey everyone...
we are still doing well and enjoying our time in cairo immensely! so much has happened in the past 24-36 hours since our last blog and we are excited to tell you about it...
yesterday morning, we headed to the Garbage City Church outside of Cairo. Part of the city serves as the predominant dumping ground for the city of Cairo's garbage and waste. (Cairo has roughly 18 million...so let your mind wander to think about how much trash that actually is). Garbage City just happens to be where the majority of the city's Christians live as well. Right now, much of the city is recovering from the government's decision to kill all of the pigs that lived in the city and provided income for its inhabitants. Remember, Muslims do not eat pork so there is no loss for them. Many Christians in the city believe that the government has been waiting for a time to eliminate the pigs, and thus their livelihood, for years and years. Well...that time came when the swine flu epidemic came a few weeks ago.
Inside of the city is two of the most beautiful churches your eyes could imagine. both were built and carved out of the stone that was already in the mountain. go to www.cavechurch.com/home to see the pictures. they will not do justice to what the human eye can see, but we bet you will be blown away. you can also do a you tube search for Garbage City Church and learn more about it as well.
while there, we had the opportunity to pray inside of the churches and all over the grounds. primarily, we prayed that the Christians would not feel persecuted and their income would be replaced as well as for revival! we have also both been plotting on ways to get Louie Giglio to do a Passion event there. yeah...you would want to be there for this...
So after that, we had the chance to spend a little bit of time at Al Azhar Park. To our surprise, this beautiful park was funded and built by us - the Americans! We learned that the #2 country that America supports with resources after Israel is Egypt.
Last night, we had the opportunity to meet and pray with two Americans who have been here less than 6 months. Their heart's focus is to reach a certain Muslim people group near the Red Sea who has not been reached yet. There are roughly 800,000 people in this people group...wow! These guys are struggling with wanting to move forward with their mission, but needing to know the Arabic language fluently before they can head out.
All that in one day...cool!
Today's highlight has definitely been one of the most unexpected. As we were coming back from our morning prayer time at the church, we met this lady who runs a counseling center here in Cairo. She took us to her office where we met the primary counselor who works with sexual abuse victims and is trying to break down the wall of silence that exists in Cairo. Some of the facts that we heard were staggering. For example...
- only one counselor in the past 15 years has been trained to work with children who have been sexually abused
- approximately 80% of the females here have been circumcised
- if a female marries and can not prove on her wedding night that she is a virgin by blood being on a piece of cloth, then there is a very real chance that she can die
- it is pretty common for men to show their pre-teen sons pornography on a regular basis to make sure they are ready for 'manhood'
this counselor was very interested in hearing about Amanda's work with sexual offenders but made the statement that treatment really wouldn't work here because there is no mandate to receive treatment...
this has been overwhelming news...
thanks for reading this very long blog. we continue to appreciate your support and prayers and ask that you just continue...
much grace and peace...chip & amanda
we are still doing well and enjoying our time in cairo immensely! so much has happened in the past 24-36 hours since our last blog and we are excited to tell you about it...
yesterday morning, we headed to the Garbage City Church outside of Cairo. Part of the city serves as the predominant dumping ground for the city of Cairo's garbage and waste. (Cairo has roughly 18 million...so let your mind wander to think about how much trash that actually is). Garbage City just happens to be where the majority of the city's Christians live as well. Right now, much of the city is recovering from the government's decision to kill all of the pigs that lived in the city and provided income for its inhabitants. Remember, Muslims do not eat pork so there is no loss for them. Many Christians in the city believe that the government has been waiting for a time to eliminate the pigs, and thus their livelihood, for years and years. Well...that time came when the swine flu epidemic came a few weeks ago.
Inside of the city is two of the most beautiful churches your eyes could imagine. both were built and carved out of the stone that was already in the mountain. go to www.cavechurch.com/home to see the pictures. they will not do justice to what the human eye can see, but we bet you will be blown away. you can also do a you tube search for Garbage City Church and learn more about it as well.
while there, we had the opportunity to pray inside of the churches and all over the grounds. primarily, we prayed that the Christians would not feel persecuted and their income would be replaced as well as for revival! we have also both been plotting on ways to get Louie Giglio to do a Passion event there. yeah...you would want to be there for this...
So after that, we had the chance to spend a little bit of time at Al Azhar Park. To our surprise, this beautiful park was funded and built by us - the Americans! We learned that the #2 country that America supports with resources after Israel is Egypt.
Last night, we had the opportunity to meet and pray with two Americans who have been here less than 6 months. Their heart's focus is to reach a certain Muslim people group near the Red Sea who has not been reached yet. There are roughly 800,000 people in this people group...wow! These guys are struggling with wanting to move forward with their mission, but needing to know the Arabic language fluently before they can head out.
All that in one day...cool!
Today's highlight has definitely been one of the most unexpected. As we were coming back from our morning prayer time at the church, we met this lady who runs a counseling center here in Cairo. She took us to her office where we met the primary counselor who works with sexual abuse victims and is trying to break down the wall of silence that exists in Cairo. Some of the facts that we heard were staggering. For example...
- only one counselor in the past 15 years has been trained to work with children who have been sexually abused
- approximately 80% of the females here have been circumcised
- if a female marries and can not prove on her wedding night that she is a virgin by blood being on a piece of cloth, then there is a very real chance that she can die
- it is pretty common for men to show their pre-teen sons pornography on a regular basis to make sure they are ready for 'manhood'
this counselor was very interested in hearing about Amanda's work with sexual offenders but made the statement that treatment really wouldn't work here because there is no mandate to receive treatment...
this has been overwhelming news...
thanks for reading this very long blog. we continue to appreciate your support and prayers and ask that you just continue...
much grace and peace...chip & amanda
Monday, May 11, 2009
plastic chairs, dirt ground, a few flies...and God
hey everyone...
we are doing great today and appreciate all of the prayers!
our day started like it did yesterday. we went to our worker's home church and began the day in prayer for over an hour. imagine this setting - about 10 people sitting in plastic chairs on a dirt ground with the noise of say cobb parkway or peachtree street booming in the background...and you're praying what's on your heart super, super cool...
we then had the opportunity to pray for an egyptian man who is working to bring the good news to the entire country of Romania. he is facing a lot of oppression and it was really cool to hear and listen how God was working in Romania as well...
we then headed downtown to pray. we walked around for over 2 hours and just prayed for the people of Cairo as they walked by us and vice versa. what a great, great time! you really could feel the Spirit of God working. can't wait to do that some more...
tonight, our worker's were helping out another worker family here make a video to raise support back in the states. so we got to tag along as they made the video...on a boat on the Nile River. so we were able to cruise the Nile...another incredible experience!
we are continuing to feel blessed admidst all of the sadness and oppression that is around us. our worker family is the bomb and we feel really blessed to be able to spend time with them. one of them is on day 24 (i think) of a 40-day fast so if you think about, prayers for strength and encourgement would be appreciated...
please continue to pray as we continue strive towards what God is having us do. much grace and peace to all of you...
chip & amanda
we are doing great today and appreciate all of the prayers!
our day started like it did yesterday. we went to our worker's home church and began the day in prayer for over an hour. imagine this setting - about 10 people sitting in plastic chairs on a dirt ground with the noise of say cobb parkway or peachtree street booming in the background...and you're praying what's on your heart super, super cool...
we then had the opportunity to pray for an egyptian man who is working to bring the good news to the entire country of Romania. he is facing a lot of oppression and it was really cool to hear and listen how God was working in Romania as well...
we then headed downtown to pray. we walked around for over 2 hours and just prayed for the people of Cairo as they walked by us and vice versa. what a great, great time! you really could feel the Spirit of God working. can't wait to do that some more...
tonight, our worker's were helping out another worker family here make a video to raise support back in the states. so we got to tag along as they made the video...on a boat on the Nile River. so we were able to cruise the Nile...another incredible experience!
we are continuing to feel blessed admidst all of the sadness and oppression that is around us. our worker family is the bomb and we feel really blessed to be able to spend time with them. one of them is on day 24 (i think) of a 40-day fast so if you think about, prayers for strength and encourgement would be appreciated...
please continue to pray as we continue strive towards what God is having us do. much grace and peace to all of you...
chip & amanda
Sunday, May 10, 2009
weary Christians...
hey guys...
thank you all for you continuing to follow along and pray for us! we are having a blessed time...
last night, we ate on the Nile River...at a TGI Friday's. how crazy is that?
today, we got down to business. we started praying early this morning and then went on a walk of the Coptic (Christian) churches in the area. For the most part, the churches appeared very 'dead' to us and were more tourist spots than anything else. Amanda's heart has been particularly burdened by how weary all of the Christians seem to be here - both the ones who are from here and the 'workers' who are called here.
we had the opportunity this afternoon to pray for some new friends who are wanting to start a program for Sudanese (sp?) refugees to take them off the streets and prevent them from joining gangs. we have been blessed by many opportunities to pray...which is our primary reason for coming.
one interesting thing we have noticed...their is a 'call' for the locals (muslims) to pray five times a day starting at 4:30 am in the morning. we thought that it was mandatory that everything stopped and they would begin praying...but this is not the case. it is completely up to them...
and one more interesting thing...this is definitely not the 'south' in terms of the pedestrians having the right of way in traffic. it is 'every man for himself' to get where you are going. it makes things kind of fun...
tomorrow, we are heading out to pray again. we'll be going downtown for the first time and praying with specific people there as well...
much grace and peace to each of you...chip & amanda
thank you all for you continuing to follow along and pray for us! we are having a blessed time...
last night, we ate on the Nile River...at a TGI Friday's. how crazy is that?
today, we got down to business. we started praying early this morning and then went on a walk of the Coptic (Christian) churches in the area. For the most part, the churches appeared very 'dead' to us and were more tourist spots than anything else. Amanda's heart has been particularly burdened by how weary all of the Christians seem to be here - both the ones who are from here and the 'workers' who are called here.
we had the opportunity this afternoon to pray for some new friends who are wanting to start a program for Sudanese (sp?) refugees to take them off the streets and prevent them from joining gangs. we have been blessed by many opportunities to pray...which is our primary reason for coming.
one interesting thing we have noticed...their is a 'call' for the locals (muslims) to pray five times a day starting at 4:30 am in the morning. we thought that it was mandatory that everything stopped and they would begin praying...but this is not the case. it is completely up to them...
and one more interesting thing...this is definitely not the 'south' in terms of the pedestrians having the right of way in traffic. it is 'every man for himself' to get where you are going. it makes things kind of fun...
tomorrow, we are heading out to pray again. we'll be going downtown for the first time and praying with specific people there as well...
much grace and peace to each of you...chip & amanda
Saturday, May 9, 2009
arrived safe & sound...
hey everyone...
what up. we arrived into cairo last night around 8 pm there time (that's 1 pm in atlanta). so it took us less than 24 hours to go from door-to-door. not bad...
today has really been mostly about adjusting and getting ready for the week ahead. we went to the school where our 'worker' family's kids go and cleaned it for a few hours. and we had our first egyptian meal...it was some kind of grilled hamburger (minced meat) on a bun. not so good...
but our worker family made us some homemade hummus which rocked!
have only had a chance to see a small section of the city so far. first impressions...lots of cars and lots of sand.
we will write more soon. thanks for following and being invested...
chip & amanda
what up. we arrived into cairo last night around 8 pm there time (that's 1 pm in atlanta). so it took us less than 24 hours to go from door-to-door. not bad...
today has really been mostly about adjusting and getting ready for the week ahead. we went to the school where our 'worker' family's kids go and cleaned it for a few hours. and we had our first egyptian meal...it was some kind of grilled hamburger (minced meat) on a bun. not so good...
but our worker family made us some homemade hummus which rocked!
have only had a chance to see a small section of the city so far. first impressions...lots of cars and lots of sand.
we will write more soon. thanks for following and being invested...
chip & amanda
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
follow us in egypt...
well friends and family...the time has come! we leave for cairo in less than 24 hours and we are getting super excited...
this is where you can find information about what we are doing and how you can pray for us while we are in egypt! we plan on having a lot of great stories of how God is working and moving strongly throughout our time there...
this is short...it's about 1:30 am and it's time to get some sleep. just getting a few hours sleep tonight will put us in a better position than our last mission trip to ghana where we didn't go to sleep at all and met our team at 6:00 am to fly out...
thanks for being interested and supportive of us. much grace and peace to each of you...
chip & amanda
this is where you can find information about what we are doing and how you can pray for us while we are in egypt! we plan on having a lot of great stories of how God is working and moving strongly throughout our time there...
this is short...it's about 1:30 am and it's time to get some sleep. just getting a few hours sleep tonight will put us in a better position than our last mission trip to ghana where we didn't go to sleep at all and met our team at 6:00 am to fly out...
thanks for being interested and supportive of us. much grace and peace to each of you...
chip & amanda
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