It was our pleasure to worship on our final day, Sunday morning, December 11, with the Presbyterian community in Heliopolis, which means City of the Sun. This is a traditional church, and the Sunday morning service has many retirees (since Sunday is a work day or school day in this majority-Muslim country) and has always been formal and traditional.
Read MoreOn Saturday, we traveled two hours west of Cairo to Fayoum, a historic oasis area in the desert west of Cairo. There we visited four churches and an NGO. The Fayoum Area or District is composed of 4 million people, many located in the key city of El Fayoum, some in various villages or “ghettos” and small towns which are poor, and in new cities being built by the government to encourage people to move out of the congested cities of Cairo and Fayoum. Amazingly, the government is giving land for churches to be built in these new community developments – within a limited period of time.
Read MoreDay 3 brought a combination of sightseeing at the Pyramids and three church visits. The vastness of the Pyramids, paired with the excellent history lesson from our expert guide Mourad Sedky (Mirus Voyages), provided a meaningful morning. We not only viewed the Pyramids from the ground but also from a camel, which was a joyful experience.
Read MoreOur day began with an extended visit to the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC). The seminary’s gated compound is nestled off a busy street thronged with migrants in the queue for the visa office for Egypt’s international residents next door.
Read MoreOur compact team of four encountered as much of Egypt as we could in 4-5 days, December 7-11. Commissioned Pastor Anne Keener’s sabbatical (from First Presbyterian, Franklin, TN) prompted the trip when she and her father, Tom McDow (Outreach Trustee/Westminster Presbyterian, Nashville) decided to see the exciting mission of the church in Egypt on their way home from a Holy Land tour. After making their arrangements, I found Evangeline Paschal, a key mission elder at National Presbyterian in DC (where I serve) was eager to join up for the short trip, so she and I met up with Tom and Anne in Cairo.
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