Thanksgiving at the Red Sea

Thanksgiving in Egypt was new, different, but overall an awesome time for Sarah and I. Being here for nearly 4 months now, God has gone beyond answering our prayers in finding friends to walk through life with. He has given us friends who feel more and more like family in each passing day. As the pictures display below, we got to enjoy an awesome Thanksgiving dinner with great company. A few weeks before we were trying to think up some ideas for food to eat on Thanksgiving to try to make it feel like home. But fortunately we were welcomed into this home where turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and all the other Thanksgiving food items where there for us. Following our meal, 17 of us headed out to the Ain Sukna, a small town on the Red Sea, for four days of nothing but board games, football on the beach, and an occasional game of reverse hide and go seek (i'll explain later). Its always great to get away from the loudness of Cairo. It doesn't matter how much you love it, everybody needs a break from the unique elements of Cairo.

I don't care where I'm at in the world, nothing beats throwing the football around.

Caleb and my beautiful wife enjoying the sand.

One of the great games we played while at the beach was reverse hide and go seek. Basically one person hides. Then everyone goes and looks for that person, and once they find them they hide with them. This goes on until there is just one person left wandering around by themselves. Its hilarious, well if your not that person. If you listen to the video below, you can hear Amy explain the rules in a blues like fashion as I play the guitar and Caleb displays a few of his dance moves.

Caleb, Sofia, Annie, and Sarah getting ready to play the game.

Here we have 6 of us trying to hide behind one little flower pot as a few have yet to find us. Gets a little uncomfortable after awhile. I would like to take a moment and brag about my hide and go seek skills. When I hid, my spot was so good after 30 minutes of not finding me Sarah was beginning to think I was kidnapped. I was extremely proud of my hide and go seek skills, but unfortunately I had to feel the pain of laying in a ball under a bush for nearly an hour.

Sarah and I enjoying the sea. Looking at a map, I'm almost positive this is where Moses had to have parted and crossed the sea. To bad he didn't have a GPS or mapquest, he would have known he could have walked a few miles north and gone around, crazy Moses.

One of the hundred ships we saw a day headed out of Egypt.

Even a relaxing weekend can wear some out.

This is a separate occasion. My wonderful Sister and Brother-in-law sent Sarah and I an awesome care package. It was filled with numerous items. Things we just can't get here in Egypt. As you see, Sarah was excited about the beef jerkey. Lets just say it made both of our days.

Pray for The Chandler family

I was saved and reborn three years ago in June, while sitting in the 2nd to last row at a baptistism service, at The Village Church. I am confident in the teachings of the scriptures that God called me to His kingdom, in His time, and not by any acts of my own doing, but by His grace alone. It was not The Village Church, or Matt Chandler that saved me, but Jesus Christ. All glory be given to His name.

Matt Chandler and Beau Hughes have been our lead teachers of God's word and have pastored us from day one all the way to our move to Egypt.

On Thursday, Matt suffered a seizure and was taken to the hospital. He spoke with a Neurologist yesterday and as a church body we anxiously awaited the results. Matt will have surgery Friday afternoon to remove a tumor located in the frontal lobe of his brain. The surgery will be performed by Dr. David Barnett. Dr. Barnett told Matt that he was positive about recovery but won’t know the full results until the surgery is performed. The doctor was uncertain about the malignancy of the tumor, and a biopsy will be performed as part of the surgery.

Here is part of a letter written from the elders concerning prayer for Matt and his family.

The outpouring of support and prayers from all over the world has been overwhelming to Matt and Lauren. Continue to pray and fast on behalf of the family. The church’s monthly prayer service will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Highland Village, Denton and Dallas Northway worship centers. We encourage you to fast throughout that day and join us to pray that evening. If you cannot join us, pray wherever you are.

We continue to rest in the knowledge that Matt is in the sovereign hand of our heavenly Father who loves him immensely more than we can comprehend, and He alone understands the reasons for this trial. Along with your prayers, continue to give Matt and Lauren and their family time and space for their continued rest.

Certainly pray for Matt’s healing, and pray that he and his family would experience great peace during this time. But don’t stop there. Ask God to reveal what work he plans to do in you, in Matt and in our church through this trial. Although it may be easy to see the hand of the enemy in a situation like this, remember that God is sovereign that he may ordain trials to deepen our faith, draw us closer to him or to accomplish some other purpose. Therefore do not fear.

One thing to consider would be to send Matt a written note. His words and actions faithfully point to how lives are changed through the gospel of Christ so it always encourages him to hear what God is doing in you. The time and effort to reflect and write out your thoughts on God’s goodness in your life could warm your soul and allow Matt to hear, see and celebrate the work and blessings of Jesus. Bring your notes with you on Wednesday night. If you cannot be there, mail them to 2101 FM 407, Flower Mound, TX 75028.

Lauren Chandler has been a reminder to me....

The Sunday before the "event," I opened my Bible intending to study a specific text in John. When the pages fell open, the title page of the book of Job stared me squarely in the face. I'm not normally one to play the magic eight ball game with the Bible but I'm also not one to believe in mere coincidence. The Lord--in His sure presence--was readying my heart. He was reminding me that nothing, absolutely nothing, can happen to Matt, the kids, other loved ones, or me without first passing through His hands. Satan had to ask permission to sift Job. The prince of this world is but a pawn in the Lord's plan. Them Chandlers

Father, You are worthy of our affections, in the presence of sorrow and joy. Let your Will be done. You are our great reward, our only portion, Lord. Our hope and trust is found only in You. We are trusting You...

Those who deny Christ do not Love, Honor or Know God

For the sake of forthright, honest, biblically faithful, Christ-exalting, trust-preserving dialogue, and for the sake of truth-based, durable peace. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:22-23). When Jesus says, “Honor the Son who sent him, he means honor the Son for who he really is as the divine, eternal Son of God who laid down his life for the sheep and took it up again in three days. The person who does not honor him in this way, Jesus says, does not honor God. -John Piper

For obvious reasons of where we live, I think it would be in everyones best interest to let John Piper explain the flaws behind the Yale written document, "A Common Word", that states a shared love for God, between two religions.

http://ow.ly/EGvB

This weekend is the muslim holiday, Eid Al-Adha. ("The Feast of the Sacrifice") commemorates Abraham's willingness and obedience to sacrifice his son Ishmael to God (and God's mercy in substituting a lamb for Ishmael). The day begins with the sacrifice of an animal (in their front yard or the street, or our back porch ). One-third of the meat is given to the poor, and the remainder shared with neighbors and family members. SOOO we will be celebrating thanksgiving with a group from the church, at the Red Sea. We will be praying for all of you as you gather and celebrate with your families. I hope you have sweet, sweet moments worshiping Christ together. We wish we could be there. Happy Thanksgiving :)

SL

You thought Cowboy fans are rowdy

Saturday night Egypt needed to beat Algeria by two points to tie them in the overall standings to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. They did, 2-0. This gave them the opportunity to play Wednesday night to decide who would go to the World Cup. The pictures below show you how our somewhat quiet community turned into a crazy scene of passionate Egyptians showing their support for the national soccer team. People chanting, cars squealing, and fire projecting, this put any pep rally or tailgating party I've ever been to, to shame. BL

You would think with cars pealing out, people climbing on top of cars, and then fire thrown into the equation, which consisted of lighters and aerosol cans, someone was bound to be injured. But that didn't stop the 60 year old women or the 7 year old boy from joining the festivities.

When Sarah and I walked up to this circle down the street from our flat there was probably 30 to 40 people. Once the game officially ended 5 minutes later, that 30 to 40 people turned into 300 to 400.

Seeing the daily routine of this culture for 3 months now, I've seen faces of hardship and frustration. Not that everyone walks around depressed, but that the day to day living for most is an all out effort to provide food for their loved ones. Saturday night put all this aside as you could see a community as a whole chanting and cheering over the victory of their soccer team. But for these Egyptians it was more than a soccer game, it was a victory for their country, and they proudly let everyone know.

Update

I want to first thank you all for your constant prayers and support. It is such an encouragement to hear about people praying for this place. MCC is has jumped right back on their feet, and now are just hoping for God to stir up affections for their needs in everyone again. I talked to my mother-in-law, Cindy, for a good bit today about African Hope and their needs. The Lord is working through us to do something for their long term, and short term needs. He has spoon fed me a way into these children lives, I am just not sure why. His will is what I am after, and He is faithful.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share with you some of the fun fun fun times we have had with the youth, when we see them. If you are not sure what we are doing with the youth, we are too. If you are not sure why we are in Egypt, we are too. I like to call her my mentor/role model/sister/most amazing person i've ever met/Amy, is the youth and children's pastor at MCC, kind of threw us right in to leadership roles with this international group of youth. We both never thought in a million years we would be working with youth, let alone in Egypt, but we are. God has a sense of humor doesn't He? Anyway, we love being able to walk with this group through all the hardships living overseas brings, as well as having a blast following Christ. We were fortunate enough to have gone with them on a retreat out in Sakara.

Ben and I may or may not have provided the youth will an amazing show on talent show night, at retreat.

Gustapo.

Gustapo team that hid while the youth tried to find us. The game is pretty well known at church camp, but I was not a church camp kid, so it was all new to me! The kids tried to find me, and if they did, I traded them their "passport" for a "secret document". But, if Ben or Tara jumped out with a flashlight and called "Gustapo", you had to go to jail. It was awesome.

This has nothing to do with anything, except for the sole reason that our zipploc baggies have arab family's on them. Gosh, I love Egypt.

Pray for this nation

Two days ago, there was a fire at our church that nearly took the whole worship tent. It was the second fire in two months. The first was an electrical fire that only melted a few wires and boxes. This one was caused by someone flicking a match and it igniting the back side of the tent. The staff knows this because a box of matches were found, and some kids were playing back there earlier, and there was no electricity on, which means no equipment was set up or plugged in. Thankfully, a neighbor who owns a flower shop across the street saw the flames and ran over with his water hose, jumped on a beam, and started putting the fire out. So between the gardener, the staff with an extinguisher and the fire brigade, the fire was put out before it took the whole tent, where we worship. Oddly enough, the police arrested the church electrician, even though we know it was not an electrical fire. He was released the next day.

With the damage that has been done, there will need to be a new tent put up, a new screen purchased, and all the electrical stuff, which is now melted, will need to be completely rewired. And we know the church does not have the budget for this.

This is our city now, and this is the international church we have been called to. But you are our family, the body of Jesus and I ask that you stop and take the time to pray for this church and the staff that equips it. I ask that you pray for the regular attenders and their hearts to not only serve the church by volunteering, but see that there is also a financial need. Please pray for the leaders of this country, that when put in tough situations, they will make the right decisions. And finally, my prayer is that we would all see everything in light of God's sovereign purposes, that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

We have a God who claimed victory over death, who resurrected, and who became our righteousness. He is the only God, and He will create beauty from the messes we make of our world (Romans 8). Because of these truths, I know God will triumph in the end.

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" Romans 14:11

Grace,

SL

The Lord is good, all the time. And all the time, The Lord is good.

It has now been two months since we have moved to Egypt, and we could not love it anymore. The swine flu outbreak is over (for now) and Ben is right in the middle of a test, a research paper, over 500 pages of reading a week, and contemplating a thesis. I am still working with my preschoolers in the morning and I go to African Hope school in the afternoon. My first week with them was tough, because I so badly do not want to be "The white teacher that pulls them out of class and ask them to read". Right now they just want to shake my hand and know my name. I crave relationship with every single one of them. Everyday I hear them repeat "The Lord is good, all the time. And all the time, The Lord is good". Amen.

On my third day I was doing some work and I heard a joyful noise coming from across the hall. Christ is alive and active, and I was glad I brought my camera that day.

Every day I tend to wonder if they are going to teach me more about life and following Christ than I am going to teach them about the ABC's.

We had the chance to hang out with some of God's children here in Cairo.

My classroom at school

We really thought you would all enjoy seeing how our Egyptian cornbread turned out, as you all tell us how wonderful the weather and fall food is back home.

We are missing home now with the holiday season around the corner. We are meeting people and finding a touch of everyone in our new friends, but you are all irreplaceable and we pray for you and your lives daily. We miss you.

Grace,

SL