Hello Friends,
Its been far too long since I last wrote. Things are going well in Egypt. I thought I would just put a few things y'all might be interested in.
1) I last mentioned that Swine Flu had kept the kids out of school, but they are back in session for the time being. There are rumors that school will close again after thanksgiving or Christmas break, but no word as of now.
2) The weather has cooled off, though we did have a few weeks of exceptionally bad pollution (check out this BBC Story on Cairo's Pollution). It is actually one of the most pleasant time of the year right now. In Egyptian Arabic they only use words for "Summer" and "Winter", because there is hardly any fall & spring. But right now we are enjoying there "fall-like" weather.
3) A few weeks ago St. John's church held our annual Spirit of Giving auction. Our small church did a heroic job hosting 350 people and raising $45,000 for various development projects in Egypt. The youth also did a fine job of serving drinks, serving hors d'ourves, delivering auction items, and consuming pizza. Learn more aboutSt. John's Spirit of Giving Catalogue.
4) Last week we had a minor emergency due to a fire at the church. Fortunately no one was hurt, and not too much property was damaged. It was encouraging to see the local Egyptians (as well as the property staff) bravely fight the fire. They managed to put it out before the fire trucks arrived. At the end of the day, the fire appears to be the result of a few boys being boys. If I had never been caught playing with matches when I was in 7th grade, I would say something judgmental...
Emily has some news as well, but I will let her share that herself.
Peace,
Ben
And now a few photos...
Cairo on a Beautiful day
Emily and I had lunch with David and Jane Grandstaff, friends from N. Manchester, IN who were passing through Cairo.
Last Saturday the Youth Group visited the Happy Child Preschool. The Anglican church runs this preschool for Sudanese refugees. Right now we are collecting Christmas gifts for the kids as a Youth Service project.
Kids listening to books being read to them. During our visit we dropped off books for the kids that were bought with a grant written by a woman in our church that volunteered at the school.
Another one from our balcony on a nice day.
Kids in the youth group reading books.
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