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A letter from Brice Rogers in Egypt |
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Summer 2004
Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the
Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the
earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and
the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for
the coming of the Lord is at hand.
(James 5:7,8)
Greetings All,
Patience. What a difficult attribute to embody! Throughout the
centuries, from biblical times until now, living patiently has
not gotten any easier. If anything, it has gotten more difficult.
Between email, mobile phones, and rapid transit, living patiently
in any large city has become virtually impossible. Here in Cairo,
everyone is in a hurry. Horns are blaring nonstop from 5:00 a.m.
to past midnight throughout the streets. Incoming mobile messages
and calls are a constant interruption. The metro system is a place
of continuous motion, people dashing to jump on and pushing to
get off, shouting “yallah bina” or “hush hush”
(the cultural equivalents of “move it or loose it, buddy”)!
Even in pedestrian-only areas, in a city where nearly 17 million
people are trying to get somewhere, one dare not stop suddenly
for fear of being run over by all the people coming along behind. |
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Brice visits with children at a Sudanese church near Cairo. |
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Even indoors, patience can be a hard quality
to obtain. Here at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo,
I had expected that the recent departure of all the resident students
to their four-month summer internship locations would mean a lull
in the activity of the seminary. Instead, I have found things to
remain quite busy, between Web site development trainings, maintenance
and renovations of the campus buildings, and continuing organization
of the funding and partnership office. |
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The departure of one of my co-workers,
Mariam Farid, for Alexandria, has meant the need for training of
a new office assistant (who happens to be named Mariam as well).
Additionally, the Reverend Darren Kennedy, who has been overseeing
the office for the last several years, is departing for doctoral
study in Edinburgh, Scotland, meaning I must take on a greater responsibility
in this area. |
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Brice stands with villagers near El Minya. |
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Given all this activity, I find
myself in a constant need for patience—patience with my
own lack of knowledge, and patience with others who learn at a
different pace than I do. As my Arabic study continues, I find
a constant need for patience in learning the same words and grammatical
tenses four or five times, and constantly asking “naam?”
(pardon?). Patience, patience, patience.
As I was complaining recently about some of the little things
that are frustrating me in my life right now, a friend told me,
“Look, here in Egypt you will learn patience one way or
the other. Either you will be patient, or you will be patient.”
The easy way, or the hard way. |
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One of the things I have learned about patience
recently is this: to decrease expectations is to increase patience.
It is better not to expect to accomplish something and then be surprised
at your success than to expect to do many things and be frustrated
when conditions or personal abilities do not allow it. Most importantly,
reducing our expectations gives room for God to do the unexpected. |
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Left to right: Hassan, Wassim and Heydar. |
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I saw a great example of this
in my friend Wassim, from Iraq. Wassim is a student here at ETSC
involved in a prison ministry. For over a year he has been working
with an Iraqi citizen who has been jailed for lack of documents.
A few months ago, the man was severely beaten in prison to the
point that brain damage resulted. Thanks to a lot of patient work,
Wassim was able to get Heydar transferred to a mental hospital
(here in Egypt, a much better place than a prison). Recently Wassim
confided to me that he didn’t know what to do—the
cost of keeping the man in the hospital meant that Wassim could
only find the funding for a few weeks, and his supervising pastor
was ready to give up. “What will happen after that?”
he asked me. I had no idea. Blessedly, Wassim was able to contact
Heydar’s family in Iraq. Recently, his brother Hassan arrived
here to see Heydar for the first time in 14 years. Between Wassim’s
fundraising work and Haydar’s family, they were able to
come up with enough money to get the man back to Iraq, after the
hospital released him to his brother’s care. Thanks to Wassim’s
patience, and God’s unexpected providence, the family was
reunited and this man is now back in his own country.
Please join me in praying for patience—for myself, for
all mission workers in their various fields, and for students
like Wassim serving throughout Egypt and the Middle East in difficult
ministries.
Yours in Christ,
Brice Rogers
Contributions to my ministry from individuals may be sent to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Individual Remittance Processing,
P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Please write the title
and ECO number on the subject line of the check (Brice Rogers,
Mission Volunteer International #E074031) and on your cover letter
as well. Churches should use their normal receiving sites. Whether
church or individual, please send a copy of the cover letter to
Victor Makari, Area Coordinator for the Middle East and Europe
at 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
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