Proud Partner

I'm excited to share with you that our lead missionary to Egypt, Safaa Fahmi, was featured in a recent issue of the Christian Standard magazine. His work with CAS was the highlight of the article, "Egyptian Churches Move Toward New Testament Principles." Read it online here.

The Great Library

The practices of writing, collecting, and reading manmade documents is as old as man himself. I don’t know if Adam wrote any books but am confident that he had the ability to write. Great scrolls and clay tablets have been found amidst the cultures of Israel, Egypt, Turkey (Hittites), Iran (Persians), Iraq (Babylonians) and many others, including the new world nations.

The Library of Alexandria in Egypt has a mythical image of a scroll that it contained before the building’s destruction, which historians suspect took place between the years 400 and 600 AD. Today the new Alexandria Library is an impressive archeological wonder with a wealth of pictures and other resources. However, it is doubtful that anyone in the world would question the fact that the greatest library on earth now is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., pictured here. It contains 142 million documents and adds more every day.

A yawn might escape you as you wonder why I am including this fascinating information. The prophet Daniel is our next stop. “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” (Daniel 12:4)

Two of the signs of the end times are the ability to travel all over the earth and a rapid increase of knowledge. I am writing this blog from my little writing table in my bedroom. I am surrounded by more technology than most nations throughout history possessed. In fact, my grandfather, who died in 1976, would not be able to name or explain half of the items that surround me. I have the history of the universe at my fingertips. As exciting as it is to have all of this knowledge at the touch of a button, I am reminded that the end of the age is at hand. We must return to Daniel’s writing: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)

Winning people to Jesus is all that matters! King Solomon states the facts this way:

“The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:11-14)

The Needs are Real!

Missy Creggar and team just got back from a mission trip to Egypt. It was anything but ordinary! They spent lots of time loving on children – including having a music- and balloon-filled festival. They sailed down the Nile River on a wooden boat. It was, overall, a wonderful time of personal growth and bonding as a team. Below is a day-by-day account of the trip by Missy.

Day 1: Sunday brought us lots of rest! We slept and ate most of the day. We practiced our lessons for the kids and rehearsed a puppet show. That evening we were sent to Safaa and Mona's church. It was all in Arabic, and the kids didn't fall asleep as it was an hour and half long! We went home and ate hot dogs for dinner. Everyone is doing very well!

Day 2: We all went to the first festival with over 500 Sudanese children! They sang songs for us! Renee and I did our Zacchaeus skit and Stephen held our tree! Needless to say with interpretation in between Stephen and I couldn't feel our arms after we were done. The kids loved it. We also did David and Goliath using a Sudanese boy as David and Stephen as Goliath and they all cheered when he was defeated. We ended with a big song with two sides competing as to who could be the loudest, singing “Praise Ye the Lord!” What a great day!

Day 3: Day of play! Got up and ready by 8, but did not leave until after 9. We toured the great Pyramids of Giza. Visited the Sphinx and everyone got pictures. The newbies road the camels and all said it was fun. We had lunch at Pizza Hut in front of the Sphinx! We ended our day in the famous Cairo museum. Tomorrow will begin five straight days of work beginning with another Sudanese church, then on to the boys’ orphanage. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Day 4: This very long day started at the Sudanese church with over 500 very loud kids! They sang for us, showed us tribal dancing and even a skit! We shared a dance led by Niki and a story by Stephen and Miranda. Madi and Missy led the music. After that, we came back to pack sandwiches for the boys’ orphanage, and then rode an hour and a half to see them. We found that many of them were not there due to the holiday, so the boys played soccer with the ones who were left. They were very excited to see us again! We are all very tired and have another very long day tomorrow. Debbie has lost her voice but feels okay. Everyone else is doing great. Eating the food, joining in clean up and helping out whenever needed.

Day 5: Happy thanksgiving from Egypt! We ate camel this morning in our eggs.
The rookies said it was a good experience. We proceeded to the first Egyptian church that had about 200 kids and they loved our stories and songs. They started to play musical chairs and Stephen felt the need to join in. He won, too! The second Egyptian church had about 300 kids and a program for us to watch. Afterward, we taught them a new song. Miranda led the team with singing and the story of Jericho. We are all doing very well!

Day 6: Today we are hitting a brick wall. We did not get up until 9 or so and did not leave for the Egyptian church until 1 pm. We arrived at the church and watched Safaa's praise team from his first church do the program. We did not understand anything. We even watched Veggie Tales in Arabic! We ended the day with Kentucky Fried Chicken (NOT as good as ours!). We are longing for the Sudanese, but it doesn't look like we'll see the kids from last year. Niki and Miranda led devotion and they were awesome! We are truly missing home!

Mission trip memories

Earlier this year, I led a team of nine on a mission trip to Egypt. We spent a lot of time ministering to people of that region, then took some time for sightseeing. Want to see a video of our time there? It's online here.