March 28, 2006

Dear Friends,

It’s been a little over a year now since the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) sent our family to Cairo, Egypt. Our lives are so filled with new lessons, relationships, adventures, and especially a deep sense of purpose that we’re frankly quite happy.

The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, where I (Dusty) am a professor of New Testament, is thriving. I feel a huge sense of privilege to be serving a seminary that has such a hand in God’s work in the Arab world. Our students go on to be pastors and leaders of Arabic-speaking churches throughout Egypt, the Middle East, and beyond. The seminary is going through a period of significant growth in the number of students and programs. Please pray that God will give our leadership energy, health, and wisdom to manage and funnel this growth. Pray that God’s hand will be upon our professors who are completing PhDs in preparation for future service here. May God guide the faculty as we teach, preach, and prepare our students for a life of ministry. Pray that our influence on the students will be deep and that we will also keep one another encouraged.

The seminary becomes increasingly a place of joy for me as I begin to understand and communicate better with the students in their language. Please pray for our continued progress and for our ability to keep making language learning a priority as we encounter many needs around us.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of our time here so far has been observing how God uses us as a family and each of us individually to build grassroots trust between East and West and with people here who aren’t Christians. This has been one of the most important and enjoyable aspects of our time here, even though it tends to happen almost by accident. Every day creates opportunities for us to plant seeds of trust with shopkeepers, taxi drivers, classmates, neighbors, and the many others who fill our lives from Cairo’s overcrowded sidewalks and streets. Our family really stands out everywhere we go, and with this comes a beautiful opportunity to preach the good news with our lives. Please pray that God will go before us to increase and deepen this joyful work.

This reality weighs on me and Sherri. It means so much to us when you pray for our safety on the roads. We do have a safe car, but either Sherri or I need to travel most days in taxis that don’t even have seatbelts. This lack of seatbelts is indicative of a general lack of attention to safety in this part of the world, so we’d appreciate your prayers for protection from all forms of life-threatening accidents.

Even though terrorism is statistically not a great danger in comparison with risks due to traffic and negligence, we would still appreciate prayers for God’s protection from the actions of anyone who might want to harm foreigners or Christians in Egypt. We’re thankful that we’ve not really encountered hatred so far. Please pray especially that our sons’ school and our church’s services of worship would never be targeted.

We feel as strongly as ever that we would like to be in Egypt long term. For this reason, we’d appreciate prayer for God’s blessing on our relationships with extended family in America and that we will be able to keep these commitments alive and thriving despite our absence. Please also pray for the long-term financial ability of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to keep us and other mission workers on the field. We are learning from the PC(USA) headquarters that the deepest budget cuts in ten years lie around the corner and that some mission workers may be required to cease their work and go home. If your congregation supports the PC(USA)’s Basic Mission Support, thank you! You are supporting the work of the gospel around the world, including our ministry in Egypt. If your church would like to designate support for us specifically, our PC(USA) number is MI910055. This is not a DMS (Directed Mission Support) number, like most mission co-workers have, but a a number of the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands, which is a special project to raise funds for mission personnel and racial/ethnic church development.

Remember that your prayers enable our life and ministry here. We thank you for being our friends and our partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Dusty, Sherri, Clayton, and Christopher

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 165