Out of Focus

At Maadi Community Church we worship under a big tent with fans in the summer-time and now in the winter we have quilted “tent makers cloth” drapes attached to the sides to keep us warm. (yes, it does get cold here). These cloths are very colorful-reds, greens and blues in distinctive arabian designs! The stage is set with a small tree wrapped with lights off to one side, surrounded by terra cotta angels. The tent ceiling is covered with twinkle lights as well as a few colored lights. Not quite center stage is the advent wreath, or rather triangle. It is made of wrought iron and looks like a triangle on a stick as the ‘stick’ is the pole it is attached to so it can be seen from the back. The apex of the candle is the Christmas candle and the other 4 candles are spaced along the outer lengths of the triangle. In the center is a sillhouete of the Nativity. I like looking at this because it is different than other advent wreaths I have seen. 

I have been thinking a lot about focus this year. We have a tree and some poinsettias. We have a few gifts under the tree. We have 4 Christmas CDs David brought for us. We have not been bombarded with things that take our focus off of the ‘true meaning of Christmas’. Yet, my focus wanders-a lot.  Last Sunday I was enjoying the carols and the setting I just described to you and was prepared to focus on the sermon, I thought. We sang ALL the verses to “Away in A Manger” and I lost my focus.  The song we sang before the pastor spoke was, “What Child is This?”  and  I lost my focus. 

My mind wanders to babies. While Megan was pregnant with her second child, Sheyenne discovered she also is pregnant! What rejoicing! What a blessing! Two grandkids in a year...now I won’t ‘catch up’ to my friend who has 3 kids who are giving them grandkids every 18 months-she has 7. But I am pretty excited here! Oh! the things the cousins will do with Nana and Papa Sam! Sheyenne    is due April 16th! Kaira Ester was born on my birthday in November. I was present for her home birth and it was wonderful. We celebrated!

November 16th Sheyenne and Sean found out they will have a girl! In the moment of a breath’s intake, our rejoicing turned to sorrow as Sheyenne described the findings of the ultrasound. On ultrasound, Baby Whitney Jill shows several indications that her problems are not ‘compatible with life.‘   Just recently, they have discovered that the source of Whitney's problems is a fatal condition known as Triploidy.  We are heart-broken for us, and doubly for Sean and Sheyenne.  We have faced prenatal problems before in our family. All three of our kids were premature-David quite! But none were said to be ‘incompatible with life.”   Blind, yes. Deaf, yes. Club-footed, yes. “Retarded”, yes. But incompatible with life, NO!  We don’t know the length of Whitney’s time with us-if Nana and Papa Sam will get to meet her this side of heaven. We hope so.  We have hope that things will be different. We trust God has the big picture.  We know God is good. In the meanwhile, I say her name aloud, and I write it out because it gives me joy to do so.  

I know that singing carols about a baby in a manger is going to set my mind to wandering. I hope, hope, hope that we will sing “Mary Did You Know” this Sunday! There is hope in this wistful song. Jesus grows up to save the nations. This will be my focus this Christmas season. Jesus, not as the baby, but as My Savior, My Comforter, My Peace-giver, My Strength. 

Christmas Cairo-style

Christmas Cairo-style
     Several friends  have asked me what Christmas-time is like here. There are some outward signs of Christmas in the area where we live. The small florist shops that  line the round-abouts have pine trees and poinsettias for sale. The trees are right out in the street and the cars have to drive around them! They have a red berries that they will tie into a wreath of cedar boughs for you. Sam bought me a bouquet of Bird-of-Paradise that used cedar for ‘filler’. It smelled wonderful. There is a lady down by the bird store that makes pretty table arrangements of cedar and berries with red candles in them.  The pine trees are imported from Europe especially for the Christians here. 

     While we were on our local leave, I missed a Community Bazaar that is held at the English school each year. It is a big deal-our version of Affair of the Heart- with lots of people selling things they have made or imported that is Christmasy.

            The Maadi Community Women’s Guild (church ladies :)) meets once a month. They have a program and fellowship. This is also the place to get plugged into a ministry or charity here. I have been doing the Baby-Wash a couple of times each month, but they do a lot of different things. So. Decembers meeting was a Christmas Cookie exchange with a speaker, fun Christmas games and time for fellowship. One of the games was the 12 days of Christmas, where groups acted out the different verses as we sang them. Pretty funny! I met several women there who I look forward to getting to know better.

     The church presented a Christmas Pageant. It was one of the best I have ever been to. It was written by a church member, had live sheep, donkeys, and camels. It had some comedy while telling the advent story beautifully. Of course, the carols we sang were wonderful touches of familiarity. The best part and the most shocking (after the smell of the camels) was when the heavenly host appeared and sang praises! The angels were all Sudanese/Congolese refugees. They sparkled in their native dress and bright BIG hats. They did not walk  or fly, or drift solemnly like blonde haired, blue-eyed angels we are accustomed to seeing in pageants in the US! NO! These dark eyed, dark haired, dark skinned angels  JIVED their way down to the stage, singing and uvulating; banging drums and tambourines as they went! That was some rejoicing! And from now on , that will be my mental

picture of the angels rejoicing!

     The camels, for all their smelliness were actually really cool. They are so much bigger in person than in the zoo @ 200 yards 

away! They wore the bright trappings of the desert and bore three crazy, though wise, men. 

      A lot of people go back to the US or England to be with family during the Christmas season. It is pretty quiet around here. The coffee shops have fewer people in them. Even these are decorated with a garland or tree. A lot of the shops on Road 9 are owned by Coptic Christians. They tend to have 
decorated trees outside their shops, strung with lights and garlands. One restaurant, has a tree with cotton batting under it and presents resting on the 'snow'.  The Coptics celebrate Christmas January 7th. We plan to attend a service. There is a church here in Cairo that is purported to be one that Mary and Joseph stopped at on their travels through Egypt. I can't wait to go see it!

Our church will have a Christmas eve candlelight service which we look forward to attending. Christmas day, Sam and I have been invited to an English Christmas Dinner at the home of one of the youth workers. We will have a Traditional English Dinner followed by carols, quips and games. I don’t know what quips will be...but I will let you know!  Wishing you all Peace that comes from knowing Christ, and Joy that comes from serving Him!      Merry Christmas!

What is My Focus

     Maadi Community Church is where Sam and I have been worshipping since we moved to Cairo. It is a diverse congregation-a global congregation, really. It is so neat because people from many nations worship together-as I imagine it will be one day in heaven! We have been celebrating Advent these weeks prior to Christmas.  The universal theme of the messages has been the FOCUS of Christmas. 
     The first week of advent the angels prophesied to Mary that she would bear the Christ child, the Messiah. Mary could have focused only on herself, but the message given to Mary pointed to the Christ-child. She put her focus and her trust in God. 

     The second week’s sermon covered Joseph being visited by an angel with a message that Mary carried God’s Son. This visitation wasn’t about Joseph, or Mary-it focused Joseph’s attention on the coming Messiah. He put his focus and trust in God and did what was asked of him. 

     The Shepherds were visited by a host of heavenlies declaring the Good News! It wasn’t about them being ‘lucky’ to have been serenaded by a choir. The angels, though amazing, were there to point the shepherds to the birth of Jesus. The Shepherds focused on their message and went to worship Him. Everything else became less important. 

     Finally, last Sunday’s focus was on the star. The star was beautiful; it attracted attention. Even the glorious star of heaven had a focus-the Birth of Jesus-which stirred men from the East to follow it to the manger.  

     In each instance there was a focus on something much more amazing than the incident itself! Each person involved was directed to focus on something greater. That something greater is Jesus, of course. 

     It is easy to enjoy the pageants, plays, parties, and presents and lose sight of the greater gift.  I am having to examine myself and ask, “What is my focus this Christmas?” 

Wadi Wonderful Day!

Just a few kilometers from where we live is a totally different world! Away from the din of traffic and people, one could believe they were completely alone in the world. Our friends, Karen and Fred took us to the Wadi to go hiking.

Though it is not yet on the top 10 list of things to see here in Cairo, it is a wonder. I found sea shells and sea shell fossils ! It is amazing to be walking on sand that was once the bottom of the sea! People also enjoy mountain biking, rock climbing, picnicking, etc. here. In the heat of the summer, the canyon-like river bed is a cool retreat. We walked and talked for two hours along the cliffs above the river bottom.

The water that once ran here carved the rocks, leaving some small caves and overhangs that just hint that something MUST be inside! There is a little rock sitting area outside the gate where we enjoyed coffee and cookies before heading home. The city of Cairo in the distance and a ghostly glimmer of the pyramids beyond that at sunset was a beautiful ending to a wonderful day!

Black Friday Walking

Our Thanksgiving Celebration coincides this year with the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha, or "Festival of Sacrifice". This is celebrated to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. During this time Muslims commemorate and remember Abraham's trials by slaughtering an animal such as a sheep, camel, goat or cow. The animal is killed on the doorstep of the home. One third of the meat is eaten by the immediate family, one third is given to friends, and the last third is distributed to the poor. It is an act to strengthen friendships and help those in need. It has nothing to do with atonement for sin. The symbolism is in the attitude of giving and being obedient.

We awoke this morning to an unusual cry in the streets. It sounded like the man was shouting, "Gazelle".  Actually, he was announcing that he was available to slaughter one's animal. Carrying a canvas bag of knives over one shoulder, he wore a long, white, blood-stained apron.  He had a helper dressed much the same way. Sam and I got out of the house shortly after that to walk about and see what we could see. We had heard that there would be much blood in the streets this day and we wondered if that would be true in our foreigner-occupied area of the city. 

We saw evidence of early-morning sacrifice in the blood stained water in the street. People were in a festive mood, greeting everyone (even us) with a smile and the equivalent of "Happy Eid".  We could hear the butchers calling out their presence as we walked. The air was crisp and clear; it felt good to be out walking.  Further down the road we saw a group of people waiting outside a gate to a villa-fresh blood ran under the gate to the street. These people were waiting for their portion of the meat.  

We walked over the Metro tracks to the "Egyptian side" of the tracks. Here we saw throngs of people, sheep and the occasional cow, tied to gates and posts. Here the streets were wet with red water. There was no odor other than the natural odor of the streets as well as that from lots of people who don't wear deodorant. We saw animals being skinned, their blood already shed. The butcher receives the skin or pelt as payment. We saw crates of lambskins being loaded onto the back of a motorcycle, with two people riding it!  Everywhere, the poor waited for their portion of the meat. It did not seem right to take photos, so I only have a few. If I had had command of the language to ask, or money to pay them, I would have done. I'll do better with photos next year. 

We walked through the streets, coming to the Nile River. We walked along the "Corniche" (riverwalk). Kids played in the grassy areas. A group of young boys took interest in us. They were probably 11-13 or so, though they professed to be 15. They spoke very good English. They traipsed after us for a long distance, taking our photos on the one cell phone the leader of the pack had. Feeling like the Pied Piper, and not really knowing their intentions, we ducked into a hotel for a cup of coffee to reflect on our morning. I called my mom and sister. It was 5:30 am their time. They were at Kohl's, doing their (our) Black Friday Shopping.  It was their third stop of the morning. It was good to hear their voices-even better that it was not 5:30am here! (It was 1:30pm)!  I missed them, missed being with them, but am very glad to have this experience!