Madaba, Mt Nebo & Dead Sea

Crying holy unto my Lord, Crying holy unto my Lord
Oh, if I could I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood. Bill Monroe

Madaba/Mt Nebo/Dead Sea Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Everyone seemed to be fairing a bit better in the morning as we ate breakfast. My throat was still sore but I did not think a whole lot about it. At breakfast we still avoided uncooked foods which seemed to be working well for all of us. Munthir our driver showed up on time and after exchanging some money into Jordanian Dollars (an American dollar only gets you .70 JD) we were off to nearby Madaba on a beautiful morning. Larry would comment several times how the weather, at least in May, in Amman reminded him of San Francisco, cool and dry.

Madaba is the site of a Greek Orthodox Church where they have on display many mosaics dating back to the Byzantine Empire in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries. Back then many home’s had floors that were elaborate mosaics of Biblical accounts and personalities, but after the fall of the empire, the floors were plastered over and it was not until the 1800’s that an earthquake revealed what was under those floors and French Christians came in mass to the city to restore the mosaics, many of which are now on display in the church. A good illustration of how God sometimes has to use disasters in our own lives to uncover treasures we have covered with our own dull plaster, but I digress. I was amazed at the patience and love displayed in the intricacies of the mosaics, and a whole industry has grown up around that town and mosaics. We visited two artisan shops where craftsman today work on contemporary mosaics; one is the Jordan Foundation, started by the Queen of Jordan, with the proceeds used to give handicapped Jordanians meaningful employment. We all did a fair amount of browsing and buying; I myself picked up gifts for my wife and daughter-in-law. As I waited in one shop I struck up a conversation with the young nineteen year old that had helped me with my purchase of Dead Sea salt and mud. He was preparing to started college in the fall; his father, uncle, and cousin were all engineers but he wants to study languages so he could work in the tourist industry and make better money. Apparently a glut of engineers has resulted in depressed wages for his cousin, a mechanical engineer, who only makes 200 JD a month with living expenses are every bit as high if not higher than in the states

Some tensions began to show again among us as we had to wait on each other as we shopped, but when a bit later when we were atop Mount Nebo, and strain was again showing, Larry led us all in a prayer where we laid our feelings before the Lord and asked for His love to bind us together. Immediately that prayer was answered; all our attitudes were markedly better and from then on there was no more aggravation. I thank the Lord for Larry’s wisdom and maturity.

Mount Nebo had its tourist aspects and the Greek monastery was closed for renovation, yet it was powerful to stand on the summit and look out toward the Jordan River Valley and realize that Moses had seen a very similar vista. The evaporation from the nearby Dead Sea made visibility sketchy in areas but you could make out the hills surrounding Jerusalem some 50 km away. Leaving the summit we descended down in the valley past numerous Bedouin camps and once in the valley we quickly passed through a security checkpoint and were soon at a public beach, Amman Beach, on the Dead Sea.

First on our agenda was lunch. Jordanians seems to have a sweet tooth for the dessert table was incredibly varied and everyone especially enjoyed the bread pudding we found there. After eating we prepared to experience the 33% salinity of the Dead Sea. I had secret hopes that salt would help my sore throat; kind of like gargling with salt water. The sensation of being so buoyant is truly unworldly; if you lay on your stomach, the buoyancy of your legs felt like they were going to flip you over. Larry, Angela and I spent the extra 3 JD to slather our bodies with Dead Sea mud to rejuvenate ourselves. Rinsing off without getting salt in my eyes was a bit of challenge but made easier with my goggles. However, the salt on my face burned where I had shaved that morning; laughingly later some Jordanian friends said oops, we should have told you not to shave. After rinsing off in the shower some of us swam in a swimming pool adjacent to the Sea and we just relaxed and enjoyed the last of the day. Several times we were serenaded by the sound of artillery fire, but when asked who was firing and why, Munthir just shrugged and said, no one ever knows who or why. Apparently the sound is just a part of the sound track of life in the Jordan River valley.

Leaving the Dead Sea, which is 1237 feet below sea level, we took the main direct highway to Amman, about an hour away but also about 2500 ft above sea level. At times our ears would pop from the pressure change. Arriving back at the Hotel Commodore we were greeted by Wahid and some of his associates. We cleaned up, napped, caught up on Facebook and email; about sunset the sound of the evening prayers or Isha came through our windows. I remembered to pray for the Coptic believers, and for believers in neighboring Syria where an ongoing crackdown prevented any from coming to Amman. At dinner we met several of the conferees from Palestine which was made the more interesting since that was the part of Brother’s Andrew book I was currently reading. Having enjoyed a much needed day of rest we were anxious to open the conference in the morning.

Cairo to Amman

Tuesday May 3, 2011 Cairo to Amman

Our travel day found us hustling to the airport in various stages of health. Don was about on his last day to Cipro he was taking for stomach distress; Luanne was a bit shaky digestively, I had not been sleeping well for the past three nights and everyone was tired.

Getting through security at the airport was yet one more time to be hit up for tips. Getting from the curb to the security scanners we had three to four porters for our seven checked bags; for the thirty feet from the scanners to the airline counter there were at least 3 or 4 more. It was borderline ridiculous. Anyone who could get a finger on our bags was looking for a tip.

Besides are physical ailments the strain of travel and being with each other 24 hours a day was starting to cause small flare up of our character defects. When I discovered that the LED screen on the back of my camera was not working properly I was beginning to feel demon possessed; I was fearful the camera was not functioning properly. On the flight into Amman my throat became raspy; I later learned Rodney was suffering a sore throat as well. Larry seemed to be the only one not dealing with some physical ailment.

The flight was quite short, even as the plane made a slight detour around Israeli airspace. As we came into Amman we flew over the Dead Sea which gives off a cloud of salt vapor haze that confounded the auto focus on my camera which locks onto contrast.

But landing at Amman was literally a breath of fresh air. The day before in Cairo had been both hot and humid, but Amman sits about 1000m above sea level and the air was noticeable cooler and drier. No one hounded us touch our bags at the airport; Mundir our driver picked us up and we took a nice modern highway where people actually used the lane lines and drove relatively sanely. Although we only saw the nicer areas of Amman, the city seemed a bit tidier than Cairo. By mid-afternoon we had settled into our rooms on the second floor of the Hotel Commodore, a nice enough place although it had been around a while. I had visions of Lawrence of Arabia hanging out on the front veranda.

Wanting water and some throat lozenges I wandered a couple of storefronts up the street and met the Palestian proprietor of a small convenience store who spoke enough English to take care of my needs. Later in the afternoon Rand, who organized the Amman conference, dropped by to make sure we were comfortable and to take us for a short spin to learn nearby landmarks, like the Safeway, and take us for some pre-dinner ice cream.

We enjoyed a relaxing and delicious meal at the hotel and retired early for we had made arrangements for Mundir to pick us early for a day of relaxation and sight-seeing as we went to see the Dead Sea.

Cairo, Monday May 2

Cairo Monday, May 2, 2011

My day got off to a very early start. About 3:30 in the morning, the Muslim call to prayer, the adhan began, but in Erick and Alicia’s expatriate neighborhoods with an abnormal for the Middle East concentration of dogs, the adhan was quickly drowned out by the canine accompaniment. While I was familiar with the adhan, it was right around sunrise; this was the middle of the night, so I do not know how they figure the time. Interestingly, this first call is followed by a second call known as iqama (set up) which summons Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers. The main purpose behind the multiple loud pronouncements of adhan in every mosque is to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. The dogs also joined in with the igama. For the vast majority of people all this is pretty much background noise. We heard the afternoon call while on a busy street in Amman and saw absolutely no change in the hustle and bustle. Most people do not even hear it anymore; it is sort of like living next to a railroad line and getting used to the sound of the train at specific times. Between the muezzin and the dogs I was wide awake, and so I spend a good chunk of my morning praying; praying for all the believers I had met, praying for the Coptic Church and other believers in Egypt; praying for our team and those we would meet in Amman. I finally fell asleep again, slept through my own cell phone alarm and was awakened by Erick knocking on my door.

We planned to meet everyone at the Giza pyramids at ten so my oversleeping through us a bit behind schedule. We walked to a nearby restaurant where once again the economic price of revolution was evident as at 8:30 in the morning we were the only customers in the eatery with country-western motif. Who would of thought Johnny Cash would fit so well in Cairo? After exchanging some US dollar for Egyptian pounds to sightsee and shop for the day, Erick had his driver tooke three of us to Giza. We beat the team there and since security would not let us wait in the bus zone, when they arrived I was unable to get my overnight bag on the bus before it left and so had to leave it with Erick’s driver to retrieve later in the day.

After passing through the ticket booths we were immediately set upon by Bedouin vendors. I allowed myself to get isolated from our group and quite literally was having “gifts” stuffed in my pockets and on my head and in trying to beg off I foolishly pulled out my money clip and had the top note, which I later discovered to be a 200# note (about $35 US) , ripped out of my hand. Having on sunglasses and not my regular glasses I did not know what was taken, I demanded the return of my money and the vendor cleverly produced a 10 EP note. Valuable lesson learned as I later in private shifted small bills for tipping to produce and leave larger bills safely tucked away. I soon learned not to make any eye contact, for in tourist’s area any interaction is taken as opportunity to be tipped. I understand that they live off tips, that many Americans spend more on lattes that many Egyptians make in a day (though not necessarily these vendors), that tourism is off significantly, but I did not like what the whole interaction did to my normally friendly demeanor. As we moved through the pyramids, vendors followed our group like a flock of vultures.

Adam had a group of camel drivers he knew from prior trips and made arrangement for us to ride back from the pyramids to the entrance near the Sphinx. The head driver spoke something like nine languages; I am sure in good times they make a very nice living. We all enjoyed our camel ride. The experience of being on such a tall creature when he stood up or down was pretty extreme; you would have to lean back sharply to avoid falling off the front of the camel. Otherwise it was similar to riding a horse…… except you were way further from the ground.

Near the entrance to the pyramids was a KFC where we ate lunch. A tip got us access to the fourth floor roof with some nice views of the pyramids. After lunch our bus driver, Mohammed, took us through Garbage City which is a world unto its own and which was the subject of a recent PBS documentary: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/film.html. Garbage City is home to 60,000 Zaballeen — Arabic for "garbage people." The Zaballeen have survived for centuries by recycling Cairo's waste. Members of Egypt's minority Coptic Christian community, these entrepreneurial garbage workers recycle nearly all the trash they collect, maintaining what could be the world’s most efficient waste disposal system. But adjacent to Garbage City is the largest church in North Africa, The Church of the Cave. http://cavechurch.com/home/index.asp We were warmly received at the church and learned a bit of some of the traditions of the Coptic Church, particularly a miracle circa AD 979 when God moved the mountain where the church is now located to gain favor for the Coptics from the ruling caliph, and the appearance of a finished Madonna and child sculpture on the cave ceiling while excavating for the church. Later on in private on the bus we had interesting discussion about the validity of the miracles and the wisdom of putting faith in such things as the Shroud of Turin. My character defects of skepticism and being opinionated were clearly on display but I still respect their beliefs. I regret we were not there on a Saturday night when 5000 believers would be within the walls of the cave worshipping.

From the Church of the Cave we headed back into Cairo for an hour excursion at the shopping market. Again the shop owners were extremely aggressive, at least the first fifty meters or so going into the market. At times they would literally grab hold of your person to try and pull you into their shops. Accompanied by Adam and several of Wahid’s MELTI staff we fared well and I negotiated for T-shirts. Erick and Alicia called it a day so I went with them to retrieve my bag from their driver’s card. After affectionate good-byes, I put on sunglasses and my game face and barreled through the gauntlet of aggressive vendors at the market’s entrance. Catching up with our team we visited some quieter shops deep in the market where Adam knew the owners. At one I bought a large number of small Coptic crosses made of camel bone to give to my support team.

After shopping it was back to the Fowler House for a quick shower and then off to Wahid and Laila’s house for a dinner which was attended by both their mom’s and other family, Adam and some others from MELTI, their leadership ministry, and some missionary friends of Adam. At dinner I discovered Adam and I had a mutual connection; the pastor of his home church in Tulsa is Alex Himaya who I knew quite well from when he was youth pastor at First Baptist in Springdale. To underscore how small the world can be, one of his missionary friends has a degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Arkansas. Apparently, thanks to Bill Clinton’s connections with the Saudi royal family, that program is well endowed.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal thanks to Laila. We also enjoyed visiting with everyone. One of the aspects of this trip I enjoyed was getting to know Wahid much better. In Syria I spent so much time with the young people I had limited personal interaction with Wahid, but with every new opportunity on this trip I have grown in my love and appreciation for him. While Wahid is going to be with us for a while in Amman, much of his team and all his family was not so the evening concluded with many hugs and kisses and good-byes. We returned to the Fowler House tired but well-fed and loved, and knowing we would have another early morning to be at the airport by 8 a.m.

Sunday May 1, 2011

Sunday May 1, 2011 Fowler House, Cairo

The closing session at Beit Elwadi was still well attended although many families left early on their way home. Rodney and Larry taught on the Recycling Pain- the Sharing Choice, where I yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. Larry did a wonderful job using a coke can as an illustration of how we need to be crushed in order to recycled and useful once again, and of course, his personal testimony speaks directly to that. To one level or another all of us on the team can relate to that message, especially as we share our testimonies in a foreign land. I myself wonder at the awareness God has given me of my own insecurities and penchant to let my mind wander places it need not go and He is still willing and able to use me. Following the lesson there was a time of worship and surrender when conferees would symbolically lay certain issues at the foot of the cross. I have fallen in love with their worship music, most of which is in minor keys with distinctive Middle Easter rhythm patterns. Then our entire team was called to the front where we were each given a metal plate with the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic. The conferees enthusiastically thanked us and we were overwhelmed with their appreciation, love, and requests for photos and email addresses. One young lady came up to me and thanked me for coming, saying “Because of all of you we now have hope.” How humbling; how thankful I am that God can take testimonies of ordinary people and make them into a vehicle for His hope.

After the extended good-byes, Wahid and his son drove us to our hotel for the night, the Fowler House, which was a guest house for the evangelical church in Cairo. It is near downtown and we drove so close to Tahrir Square we could see the burnt out NDP building and the elevated road where clashes took place last January. We were treated to lunch at a fast chicken outlet and then cleaned up before meeting a number of Wahid’s team at the big mall in Cairo called City Lights for an evening of shopping and dining.

I have an old high school/college friend, Erick, who was stationed as a geophysicist in Cairo last June and so I packed my overnight bag since we had talked about me spending the night with them. I had tried sending him a text earlier since I had international text plan, but I did not have the country code right and all efforts were getting no where. As a sign of our times, I ended up sending my wife in Arkansas a text, who in turn, was chatting with Erick’s wife Alicia via Facebook and so we arranged to meet at Fuddruckers at the mall. After dinner I left the team with Erick and Alicia for a cab ride to their home in the suburb of Mida. Erick had us bale out of the first cab because the driver refused to listen to him, insisting on running up the mileage going to long way, and we flagged down a second cab whose driver was honest. But it was a precursor to some of the shenanigans I would experience the next day at the pyramids.

Erick’s birthday was in the morning, and they had taken an overnight excursion into the countryside southwest of Cairo to an area called the White Desert. At their flat we stayed up for some time, drinking tea, visiting and looking at the surreal photos from the White Desert as the Starbucks coffee I had drank earlier in the evening. Today was one of the first warm days of the year, well into the 80’s F, and since it would cool off at night and I was used to sleeping with open windows and they had yet to turn on their AC, I thought I would be have no trouble sleeping. Little did I know my morning was to have a very early start.

Friday & Saturday, April 29 & 30

The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance. Isaiah 19:25

Beit Elwadi Saturday April 30, 2011

Sitting in the conference center I am a bit blown away by how packed the past 48 hours have been. My memories are a blur of seven teaching sessions, testimony, worship and small groups and numerous personal interactions. At best a few scenes vividly stand out.

Larry and Angela, who had been traveling 24 hours behind us due to Angela's school schedule, arrived early the second day and immediately went into action, no small feat given the rigors of travel and the difficulties they faced (On the trip over Larry had lost his laptop containing his lessons and testimony). Nonetheless they shared and taught powerfully and effectively. I myself taught twice the second day, first on the Hope Choice, where we earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that he has the power to help me recover. That Friday evening I taught on the Housecleaning Choice, where I openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. Like most people when I first heard of the concept of sharing my darkest secrets with another person, my initial reaction was no way. In the Middle East with their priorities of not shaming their families, severe repercussions if they do dishonor their families and the lack of trust between even close friends, the idea of building a human relationship where you trust being totally open is a tougher sell than in our own isolated, Horatio Alger culture. Unlike Syria were the idea when presented generated an extended Q&A and discussion time, some group dynamic times were built into early teaching sessions and so the initial presentation was accepted without much discussion. Time will tell if the concept grows on some, if not all; I know it took a while for God to bring me around and I did not have near the cultural restraints these dear people face.

These people truly are amazing. A mixture of Coptic, Catholic and evangelical believers, these are undoubtedly some of the most God-loving believers in Egypt. This was a long holiday weekend in Egypt and they had given up their free time to come to a conference on healing. Their love for the Lord is evident in their approach to worship. Various groups led at different times, most were fairly young, 35 and younger, which reflected the conferees, and the culture in Egypt as well. Their singing seemed to spring so naturally from them it was as though it were just part of their lifestyle: you could almost picture them breaking out in song sitting in a sidewalk café or walking as a group down a street. They would intersperse the heartfelt music with prayers from the conferees. Even at night while Don and I slept exhausted, large groups staying up into the wee hours of the morning praying together.

For me it is difficult to grasp what some of these people have been through, even before these past few months. I remember chatting at dinner with a young mother of two, who was working a job and going to theology school. But under the Mubarak regime, she and her children had been picked up for questioning by the police because she had appeared on TV talking about her faith in Christ. You see many young Coptic believers with the Coptic cross tattooed on their inner wrist as a witness to their faith. You heard stories of people banning together to protect their neighborhoods; of gun shots randomly being fired in the middle of the night, of the lack of business since the revolution.

Yet in all this they are still people with the same heartaches and issues we face. Drug addiction is no stranger, from pot to percocet to heroin based drugs. Their satellite feeds contain something like 62 pornographic channels. There is divorce; there are problems with family members; they struggle with anger and resentments. Then on top of that you add in a revolution and political uncertainty.

Another amazing group was a core group of about fifteen leaders that God has been preparing to bring Celebrate Recovery to Egypt. They had already begun working through the step study participant guides and were hungry to learn more and more about CR and how it compared to Life’s Healing Choices, and about the dynamics of leading a step study. I met two that had gone through drug rehab; one expressed the shame he sees in peoples eyes when he talks of his past yet he is willing to embrace his weakness in order to see God work the same wonders in others lives as he has experienced himself. Since returning I have been praying for them almost daily.

We had our share of light-hearted and fun moments. If it were not for the kindness of a young man in my group I am not sure we would have ever gotten internet access, for while buying a card with ten hours access for $6. was easy enough, it took someone with a local MobilNil phone account to receive the authorization code. Probably to the amusement of many conferees, Don and I started taking advantage to the sports facility. When few people were there to observe us we would slip on swim trunks (I had jammers) and goggles and swim laps in the outdoor pool. As we adjusted to the time change a bit we would get up early enough to go for short runs around the perimeter of the complex.

Early Saturday morning at 2 a.m. we got up early, through on a few clothes and met everyone in the lobby to Skype into the CR worship at home on Friday night. Our hearts were warmed by the familiar sights and I felt such gratitude that these brothers and sisters who were supporting us so powerfully by prayer as well as financially. More than once Don and I would discuss the wonder that God could take such two old coots with such deeply rooted character defects and yet allow us to be a part of this process. God truly is amazing.

April 28, 2011 Cairo

April 28, 2011 Cairo

The best thing to be said for the flight into Cairo was that it was mercifully brief, just about two and half hours. It was shortly before midnight before we finally took off from Istanbul and the seven hour lay-over in the airport had been a bit mind-numbing. A friend had given me a book to read, Lightforce, by Brother Andrew, which deals with the church in the Middle East over the past twenty years. I had made a good start on it, reading about Brother Andrews trips to bolster believers in Beirut as that country spiraled into sectarian violence, with Christian militias being just as indiscriminate in their violence as any of the others. By now we had been traveling almost 24 hours and fatigue was setting in. That made the cramped seats in the older Boeing even more uncomfortable.

We touched down in Cairo about 1:30 a.m., which of course is just thirty minutes before the military curfew goes into effect. We processed through customs relatively quickly; the only hitch came when we were buying our visas, which is fairly nominal at $15. We initially tried paying with $100 US bill but they would not accept the older currency; they only wanted the newer, more yellowish bills. Fortunately they did take smaller older bills and soon we met a driver from the airport hotel, the Novatel who had been asked to pick us up. After checking in we were perplexed by the lack of electricity in our rooms until the porter showed us the key slot into which you slipped your room key to activate the power, a common feature in Egypt and Jordan we were to discover and a nice energy saving feature which was new to me.

By 3 a.m. I had showered and was in bed but was surprised at the length of time if finally took me to fall asleep. Since I had only unpacked my overnight bag and had showered I was able to sleep to almost 8 a.m., but we had instructions to have our bags down in the lobby by 8:30 to be transported to the conference sight. So 8:30 a.m. we found ourselves meeting Magad, a familiar face from Syria who works for Wahid’s organization. An observation I began to make about Middle Eastern culture seemed to play out with Magad, a most energetic and diligent man. While the Middle East takes a rap on punctuality, it seems that early morning appointments are usually on schedule; it is just as the day progresses and life and relationships happen that, by evening, there is no telling when things will transpire.

Magad quickly disappeared with our bags. Wahid and Laila were to pick us up in an hour which gave us time for breakfast and a devotional. In eating we all were careful to avoid any fresh fruit or vegetables that may have been washed but not subsequently cooked. All of us had learned valuable lessons last August in Syria about embracing everything in the local diet. Wahid was timely as well and soon we were whisking through freeway traffic in Cairo, where traffic lanes are half-hearted suggestions and it is nothing to be able to reach out and shake hands with the driver next to you, even at 50 mph. We broke up our drive with a pit stop at an Egyptian version of a convenience store (which is quite like our own except they fix the coffee for you) for a much needed cup of coffee. The area where we were headed is called Beit Elwadi, which is roughly half way between Cairo and Alexandria. Long an area of Christian influence, prior to the Muslim conquests the number of monasteries in the area numbered in the hundreds. Even today four still remain. The conference center is of fairly recent construction, just about five years old, and really caters to Christian sports camps during the summer. The complex has a pool with lap lanes, a covered soccer field and a robes course and climbing wall. Adjacent to their property is a drug rehab center, reputedly the best on in the Middle East.

The highway to Beit Elwadi had several areas of construction and congestion. We saw several vehicles with Libyan car tags, a reminder of the problems in that neighboring country. Several times we saw cars abandoned where there had been accidents and vehicles rolled and totaled. In fact, where we left the highway to exit to Beit Elwadi, which is but a few km off the highway, there was no real exit so we just followed others who have cut across the sand median and across opposing freeway traffic to get to our road. Right there we saw the aftermath of an accident and later learned that some of Wahid’s people had witnessed a car go airborne right at that exit and roll three times. Miraculous the two men in the vehicle walked away but the car was toast.

Settling in we met some familiar people and met many new ones. Don and I roomed together and the first night we had an extra roommate, a musician/videographer from Tulsa who had been there a week shooting film for a organization he is involved with called Serving Copts. http://www.servingcopts.com/index.html He shared how they had mounted a small HD camera on a front of their vehicle and went driving through Cairo’s narrow streets. Sounded awesome; I still can’t wait to see that footage, because Egyptian traffic is something you have to experience to believe.

Unlike Syria where we had a six days to present the material to conferees, the time schedule at Beit Elwadi was tight, with eight sessions scheduled over three days. We were blown away by the attendance. They had closed registration at 240 and had a waiting list. Through Laila’s TV connections the entire conference was being recorded and after editing will be used on the Christian satellite channel in the Middle East. We were warmly greeted and jumped in with both feet that afternoon. I was so glad Rodney was teaching because I was unsure I could string together two coherent thoughts after all the travel and lack of sleep. Rodney taught on the first choice, the Reality Choice, where we admit we are not God and that areas of our lives are unmanageable. We broke into small groups and I facilitated an interesting mix of businessmen, young professionals and even the unemployed. Many understand quite a bit of English, several spoke quite fluently so translation was never an issue. I enjoyed when the men would share directly with each other, forgetting I was even there. There seemed to be an eagerness to open up to each other.

The day ended with dinner about 8:30 p.m. By then Don and I were done and after very little visiting we slipped away to our room and called it a day,

Day Two: Istanbul April 27

See, the Sovereign Lord come with power and his arm rules for him.

See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. Isaiah 40:10

April 27, 2011

Late in the afternoon we arrived at Istanbul airport. The disorientation and adjustments have already begun. The flight to Chicago O’Hare had been short and uneventful although we were treated to spectacular views of the downtown area as we flew in and the clouds opened up and poured late day sunlight across the cityscape. Moving through security and into the international terminal the environment began to already pick up a Middle Eastern flair, from the dress of many people, to the languages spoken to the baggage handler saying his evening prayers on his prayer rug in the corner of the corridor.

Our flight to Istanbul was long (over ten hours) but was manageable, no small part due to the ability to spread out because of low occupancy, at least in the back of the plane where we were seated. First I enjoyed probably the best airline meal I have ever had (not that I travel that much) of fish and fresh veggies and fruit, followed it up with a light comedy of “Get Smart” and then thanks to a couple of Advil PM caplets I managed six hours of very deep solid sleep. After waking up I did a bit of Bible study on Isaiah which brought about a conversation with the lady seated behind me. Turns out she works for Samaritan’s Purse as a comptroller and was headed to Khartoum, Sudan for a four week rotation. I was impressed with her courage to travel into such a troubled area. My Texas Longhorn hat also initiated a conversation with a man from Austin who works security/logistics for a construction firm in Iraq.

After purchasing a $6 cup of plain coffee I began to realize how expensive food is at the airport in Istanbul. Being my first time to Turkey, I was a bit surprised by how modern the people dressed and acted; but of course, Istanbul is half in Europe. Fortunately I had packed a fair amount of food and so avoid the $16 chicken nugget dinners although I did mooch quite a few French fries from my companions.

Our team is certainly an odd collection for the Lord to use. Half of us came to believe in Christ later in life, myself seventeen and half years ago when I was 43. Some of us have been in jail; more of us had done things for which we should have done jail time. Only two of us have worked in ministry as a living; one of those is our team leader and recovery pastor, Rodney, and that is a recent development in the past five years. As a group we are extremely ordinary in a lot of ways. While we all have our own individual gifts, there is little that jumps out as outstanding. Rodney has a strong baritone voice he has developed well, that is about the only remarkable attribute to our group. Otherwise we are a housewife/farm girl, a coffee barista who is in grad school, a commercial real estate agent, a small town photographer and a recently retired pharmacist.

There are two common themes among us. One is that in one way or another, God has helped us face areas of personal weakness and in facing them have experience His healing in strong and dramatic ways. The other is a level of obedience to the Lord.

A great example of that obedience is how we got to be here at all. About three years ago one of our team, Larry, had responded to a call to go to Cairo to introduce a group of business men to the curriculum of the Influencers with whom he worked. In that he met Wahid and Laila who have a long established ministry based in Cairo organizing Walk Through the Bible seminars, ministering to teens through a TV program and working with Saddleback Church in translating and distributing Purpose Driven materials. Larry shared his involvement with our ministry, Celebrate Recovery, which struck a chord in their hearts. In 2009 John Baker, founder of CR, wrote his book Life’s Healing Choices along with a church curriculum, which Wahid then translated and asked for a team to come to the Middle East to teach it. Due to the Larry connection, Rodney was asked to put together a team to go to Syria in August of 2010. Five of the six of us were on that team. The reception of that conference was so positive that Wahid had put together two more for us to do, one near Cairo and one in Amman Jordan.

Back in January before we were to go initially, I had struggled with what I, just a nobody from Arkansas, would have to offer to people who experience persecution and violence as a reality of their faith in Christ and where women have been disenfranchised and abused systematically for generations. In that struggle God was faithful to give me a verse from the book of Isaiah which a bible study I was involved in was currently studying,

You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain.

You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout,’

Lift it up, do not be afraid, say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!” Isaiah 40:9

All I had to offer the people I would meet is the story of how God has worked in my life: Here is your God. I prayed that God would give me the strength to be faithful to that purpose.

Just two verses later underscored my need to trust the Lord, that He is the good shepherd who will not harm his flock. Instead

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;

He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11

Leaving NW Arkansas

Prologue

April 26, 2011

Late in the day four of our team, Don, Rodney Luanne and I, sat in an American eagle jet on the runway as we watched storms approaching from the west. Rain had been constant over the past week with roads to the airport closed due to flooding just the day before. I wondered what a long strange trip it had been getting to this point.

Originally we were scheduled to return to the Middle East at the end of January to hold Life’s Healing Choice Conferences in both Cairo and Amman Jordan. Some 140 people had already signed up for the Cairo conference. But the week going into our departure saw the Revolution erupt in Egypt, with the internet going down and culminating in our trip being cancelled 28 hours before we were to depart. The emotional let down was dramatic but we were all a bit surprised when a bit over a month after cancellation, the conferences were scheduled, beginning April 28.

While February was an ideal time for me to take a leave from work, April is my busiest month of the spring, with my last job scheduled only five days before departure. After some thought and prayer I committed to the trip and trusted the Lord to get me through April. Everything had to click to pull it off, and so it happened although I ended up working 29 out of the thirty days leading up to departure. What was toughest was that when I get stressed for time I seem to sacrifice my morning devotional times first, which is a bit nonsensical. The silver lining was that even though my personal time suffered, my focus was keen. There was no time for peripheral distractions so I stayed spiritually fairly well focused, leaving little time for sinful thinking much less acting out and I seemed to seek out opportunities to be with the family of God, whether it was church, Bible Study, community group or Celebrate Recovery and felt blessed by a strong team covering us with prayer.

Having been to Syria the preceding August my outlook was quite different. I recall only one morning waking up with a feeling familiar before the first trip, a feeling of panic as in: what I am doing. More common was wondering why I put myself through such things as the pressure of getting everything done before leaving was ever-present. God as always was faithful. The day we left I finished the last of my packing with about thirty minutes to spare before Don and Bonnie came to give me a ride to the airport.

So it seemed a bit ironic as we waited for takeoff that our flight might be delayed due to weather after all that transpired the preceding months, from revolutions to work schedules and other commitments. But even as lightning was visible in the near distance our jet lifted off and slowly climbed away from the storm and cloud cover to avoid turbulence. We were on our way to Egypt.