December 2, 2007

Dear Friends,

Clayton and Christopher engulfed by six months of family luggage. We’re still learning how to pack light.

Our family has come to the end of our “home assignment” in America and will return to Cairo January 2. Though we regret that we weren’t able to see all of you, we’re thankful that we had so many opportunities to spend time with family and with friends old and new across America. From July to November, we shared stories of our life and ministry in Egypt with about forty of your churches. We end this stint with a multiplicity of feelings.

First, to be honest, we feel a certain amount of fatigue and disorientation from so much traveling. It challenged us to be on the road, always moving from place to place. We’d appreciate your prayers that God would restore our minds and bodies.

Second, we end this time in America with hearts buoyed and encouraged by God’s people on our home side of the world. We have experienced kindness from so many of you. Despite being intensely busy, many of you found time to pause and open your homes and lives to us. As we spoke in churches, we shared stories of friends and colleagues in Egypt who have inspired us by their commitment and sacrifice. We reflected on 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, sharing how their lives have been letters of good news from Christ to us. And as we’ve been here in America, you have been a letter from Christ to our family, messages-in-the-flesh of encouragement to us. We have felt strongly that you stand behind us. We also believe you are with us as we go back to Egypt.

Dusty in Cairo. We look forward to returning to Cairo soon!

As we’ve shared our stories, we’ve also had the chance to hear your stories and witness how so many of you are demonstrating the good news of Jesus with your lives. You are preaching Jesus boldly, creatively, and sacrificially. You’re getting to know your neighbors and addressing their needs. You’re working with people from different backgrounds to face your communities’ problems. You’re welcoming families without churches into your congregations. You’re holding retreats for prisoners. You’re tutoring at schools in needy neighborhoods. You’re reaching out to the elderly. You’re befriending international students at local universities. You’re re-building the Gulf Coast. And you’re giving generously to keep us and others in ministry overseas.

We’ve been inspired by what we’ve seen and heard while with you. Our journeying among you has afforded us a priceless chance to witness lives that are faithful in ways big and small. Thank you for this inspiration; we take your examples with us. 

Our third predominant feeling is a sense of anticipation and excitement about returning to life and ministry in Egypt. Sure, it’ll be nice just to get to sleep in the same apartment each night, re-establish routines of school and work, and not have to say goodbye to people we care about so often. But beyond that we also miss living in a mainly Muslim neighborhood, where daily life presents constant opportunities to remove bricks from the walls that separate people. It will be wonderful to see all the shopkeepers and workers around our block, such as the guys who sell fresh-squeezed juice and are always ready for a friendly conversation. We miss speaking Arabic and progressing with it. Our sons Clayton and Christopher miss their beloved Cairo Covenant School. Sherri misses the energy of Cairo and (sort of misses) the crazy, funny things that are always happening to us there. We all miss our friends in Egypt, including colleagues and students at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ETSC). I can’t wait to get back to teaching. When I return, I’ll offer courses on 2 Corinthians and Romans and have daily opportunities to encourage leaders and future leaders of churches in the Middle East.

Cairo feels like a place where we’re always learning and where we’re always getting to make some tiny contribution that wouldn’t otherwise be made. So it’s a fulfilling place to be. Please pray that God will work through us to make a difference for the people around us, Christian and Muslim alike.

We are grateful for our time in the States, and we are grateful to return to the place where God has called us. Let’s keep one another in prayer, and may we all know that our lives are letters that God’s Spirit is writing, letters masterfully imprinted to portray good news to the world. Thank you for your partnership with us.

May your Christmas be merry and the year to come blessed.

Yours in Christ,

Dusty and Sherri Ellington

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