So there I was...: egypt experience part 1

just got back from my mission trip to egypt monday night! sorry its taken me so long to get on the stick with blogging. i know some of you have been waiting patiently for an update! so i've decided instead of writing one big long huge blog about the entire 10 days, i'll just split up some significant moments and experiences in several different blogs! so stay tuned for numerous blogs on the subject of my mission trip to cairo! it was an amazing time and part of me is still in cairo with all the people we came in contact with. i absolutely loved the church i got to go with: indian river city UMC out of titusville, FL. i cherish my relationship with this church and it shows me how much God cares about relationships. me and irc have done many events and there are many more to come! here's a pic of the whole team in front of one of the pyramids!

each day we did something different, and each day was filled with its own incredible experiences. one day we went to a christian discipleship school where we got to fellowship with some other Christians who were attending this 10 day discipleship program. these people were amazing and it was so refreshing to spend time with other believers who are extremely different yet we all have the same God. praise and worship time with them wasn't too different than in the states. they had a keyboard, worship leader, and powerpoint slides. i felt right at home. though i didn't understand any word besides "hallelujah" in their songs, i could still worship alongside them. here's a pic of me and jenny and some gals at the discipleship school. they were adorable and we played games all day.

one day was tourist day. we went to see the pyramids and the sphinx. it was surreal to actually walk on the pyramids that i'd read about and studied about. well, mostly in school i slept during history so i didn't remember alot about egyptian history, but i was still completely enthused by what i saw. the rich history was enthralling. since i was a history major in college, people kept asking me questions. but i dont really retain alot of info, so i made up answers. no one bought it. i did get proposed to while touring the pyramids though. that was entertaining. i said no. i'm just not ready for that kind of a commitment. also, at the pyramids, i had to pay to use the restroom. ridiculous? i thought so too.

one night me and the team travelled to a garbage dump community. it's called "dump city." we attended a church service with an orthodox coptic church in this community. the guys and girls have to worship separately, so the first night i performed a concert for the guys. the church was packed and i was so surprised that the guys actually listened. i had a translator, so basically i would share about what each song was about and then i would share the lyrics and that would be translated and then i would sing the song. talk about difficulty for someone like me with adhd. having to say one sentence, then wait for it to be translated, and then say another sentence. it requires tons of amounts of concentration, which God so graciously gave me. the concert ended up being awesome. except i was about to read eph. 2:8 about how salvation is by grace along. and then my translator informed me that i couldn't read that verse, because this denomination doesn't believe in salvation by grace, but by works. it was so strange to have my own personal filter there with me! i wish i had one for american concerts because who knows what i'll say sometimes. so i'm glad he was there to tell me what not to say, because apparently i would've caused a big commotion if i would've read that verse. here's a pic of me and some of the dump city cave church dudes. each one of them recorded the entire concert with their cell phones. everyone in egypt has cell phones, it seems. no matter what conditions they live in.

my favorite part of the entire trip was getting to lead worship at a sudanese refugee church. i will go into more detail about this in my other blogs, but suffice it to say it was an unforgettable and overwhelming experience to be able to worship alongside people who have experienced so much pain lately. the members of this church were people who used to live in the sudan, but have been displaced along with millions of others because of the genocide in the sudan and darfur especially. i couldn't imagine what these people must have been through to even come to church. they came from tons of miles away and relocated to a region unfamiliar to them. they lost so much. who knows how many people they saw killed and who knows how many of their villages were burned and pillaged. yet, they still came to church to worship. and worship they did! wow. it was beautiful. in the midst of such pain and persecution, they were able to lift their voices in spirit and truth worship. we couldn't understand any of their songs, but we didn't need to. we saw their faces and their smiles and their hearts. we felt the Spirit and He was all throughout that church. i am convinced that the church is most powerful when it is filled with people who are real with their brokenness and pain. what an honor it was to lead these beautiful people in a couple of songs in worship. i had to think of so many other things, just to keep from completely losing it and ugly-crying.