| The canvas we see seems essentially
dark, only occasionally interspersed with contrasting patches
of brightness. Yet, as a painter uses chiaroscuro to highlight
the subjects he portrays, we want to share some of these bright
points in our lives, in the seminary, and in our graduates' ministries.
The intent is neither to confine the brightness to the church
alone nor to understate the generally pessimistic environment.
Our hope is simply to point out some of the things for which we
are immensely grateful.
Indeed, times are hard in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, we can joyfully share that we as a family are doing
well. On May 20th, we will celebrate the passing of three years
since Calvin was born here in Cairo. He continues to grow more
sizable, more verbal, and more capable of outwitting his parents.
He loves his friends here at the seminary, has a good number of
ecumenical friendships from his Roman Catholic day care, and seems
to thrive on life in Egypt. Elisabeth continues to teach biblical
languages, both Hebrew and Greek. With several years of teaching
both languages under her belt, she now finds more time to think
creatively about methodology, and her students seem to genuinely
have fun learning these traditionally tedious subjects. This year
she developed a new course on premarital counseling which she
enjoyed co-teaching with an Egyptian colleague. I am in my fourth
year of studying Arabic and continue to love teaching systematic
theology. On the former, I try to look on the bright side of my
slow but steady progress, realizing the truth of a former missionary's
wisdom that "the first 50 years of Arabic are the hardest."
On the latter, I feel blessed to see progress both in my own learning
and that of my students. In addition to all of this, we as a family
love our colleagues, students, and friends here. Life in this
community is rich and we are grateful for the many blessings of
serving here.
Nevertheless, we can joyfully share that the seminary is doing
well. We feel deeply honored to serve alongside our Egyptian colleagues.
Though many of them work in both teaching and administration,
they carry their heavy loads with devotion and cheer. Likewise,
our students are growing both in number and in quality. This year,
our enrollment went up by around 20 percent. We are receiving
more students who have been discipled and encouraged by recent
graduates. While the majority of our students continue to be Egyptian,
this year we also have students from the Sudan, Syria, Iraq, and
Palestine. God has blessed the seminary with development in both
human and structural resources. The seminary is now renovating
the library, faculty apartments, classrooms, and administration
building. Moreover, the board and administration are working hard
to restructure our seminary's leadership patterns to make it more
able to pursue its vision for developing leaders for the Middle
East. We have real hope for the future of God's work in and through
the seminary.
Nevertheless, we can joyfully share that our graduates are doing
well. We have the privilege of working at the hub of the Protestant
churches in Egypt. Our graduates all find their way back through
our campus periodically to visit and take advantage of seminary
resources. They also bring reports of ministries they are involved
in. While many face incredible challenges, they also bear testimony
to the faithfulness of God. One student recently shared with us
the joy of working with a new-church development in a poor region
in the south of Egypt. Another is helping to build a church in
one of the new "satellite" cities surrounding Cairo.
Yet another (see picture) just finished a year of prison ministry
and will soon be ordained by the Egyptian church to be sent back
to his homeland as a missionary from Egypt to Syria. Our graduates
are serving in most every part of the Middle East, both those
that are relatively stable and those that are particularly troubled,
such as Palestine and Iraq. We count it an honor to work with
these young men and women. Please hold them and the people they
serve in your prayers.
We are not oblivious to the very real problems many of you may
be reading about in the press. If anything, we feel like the press
is missing a large portion of the true problems and difficulties
facing the Middle East today. The outlook is not particularly
bright. But it is not without hope. There are good things happening
here in the Middle East and we praise God for his faithfulness.
Thank you for your love and your devoted support of our ministry
and the ministry of the Evangelical Theological Seminary here
in Cairo.
Yours in the strong fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
Darren, Elisabeth, and Calvin Kennedy
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
142
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