June 18, 2007

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Beit Il Salaam, “The House of Peace,” the Egyptian Presbyterian conference center overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Our family is now at our seminary’s annual faculty family retreat. It’s an important time for the faculty and our families to look back and look forward as we gather for fellowship, discussions, prayer, and worship. This year it is also a significant time for our family in particular, because we are finishing our initial term of service in Egypt and, after this retreat, will head to the United States for our first official home assignment.

"The ironing guys" are some of many shopkeepers in our neighborhood we will miss during our six months away from Cairo.

We have mixed feelings about leaving Egypt for six months. We really look forward to reuniting with friends and family, to sharing about our life and work here, and to experiencing how green and clean America is in comparison to Egypt. But at the same time, our family has worked hard to make Egypt our home, and we’re quite happy to be here. We enjoy Egypt’s history, deserts, and seas. We love seeing the Nile, the pyramids, and the medieval aqueduct and fortress as we drive around town. We love walking downstairs and around the corner to buy fresh-squeezed mango, orange, grapefruit, guava, watermelon, and strawberry juice. Egyptians, including Muslims, are very friendly and welcoming toward us. There’s a lot to like about Cairo. It’s true that we get tired of being in one of the world’s most crowded and polluted cities, but there’s also never a dull moment when 18 million people try to live in one place. Cairo is invigorating.

Beyond these things, we appreciate the sense of purpose that comes with being here. We have the chance to address some of the world’s deep needs as we go about our daily life. We get to be in relationship with Egyptian Christians and to encourage them, hopefully, at a time in history when that encouragement is vitally needed. We get to be in mutually encouraging friendships and partnerships with other Christian workers from overseas. We get to use our Arabic constantly and live in an essentially Muslim neighborhood. Our daily life brings countless opportunities to build trust and understanding with people of the Middle East. At least on good days, we feel like we’re getting to play a little role, on a grassroots level, in bringing peace and openness to the gospel.

I (Dusty) continue to love being a professor at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC). I love the eagerness on my students' faces as we study the Bible together. I love training them in skills of interpreting Scripture, knowing this will always help them in their teaching and preaching and in their ability to hear God’s voice in Scripture. I love the seminary’s chapel services and retreats, when I hear and watch and join my students as they worship in Arabic with all their hearts. I am also inspired by the example my colleagues and students set as they willingly go through hardships and make many sacrifices for the sake of the gospel.

Ten of this year's graduating seniors, all now beginning as pastors of churches in Egypt. Dusty has enjoyed teaching all of these committed young men.

It’s gratifying to train pastors and leaders in the Arab world, where the Christian faith is so far from predominant. The need for training Christian leaders here is so evident. From Morocco to Iraq, there are only a handful of seminaries and professors to teach in them. Whatever my colleagues and I are able to accomplish, it’s something that otherwise wouldn’t be done. And that’s also true of our 41 new graduates, as they go forth to lead churches and ministries in Egypt and beyond. Whatever they’re able to do, there’s a huge need for it. The opportunities for ministry here are gigantic.

Please keep this part of the world, the seminary in Cairo, and our family in prayer. ETSC has been growing rapidly; please pray that God will give its leaders a large measure of wisdom in guiding this growth, so that each student receive the particular training and encouragement that he or she needs. Also pray for our family as, for the first time, we go six months without a home of our own. We’ll be going through extensive transitions and traveling this summer and fall, and doing home school along the way. It’s a little scary to put that into words! Please pray that we’ll have patience,  that we’ll take care of each other’s needs, that as parents we’ll maintain consistency with our sons, and that our communication as husband and wife will be blessed.

We thank you for your friendship and partnership with us in the gospel.

Love,

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158