December 24, 2006

Season's greetings,

I will depart from my usual devotional approach to writing letters and just go with a theme of thankfulness. I write this on the day before “Western Christmas.” Here in the Middle East, many churches celebrate instead on January 7, the date the Orthodox Church remembers Jesus’ birth. Evangelical (or Presbyterian) Christians here often struggle to decide which date to celebrate—the Western Christmas of their friends abroad or Catholic family members, or the Orthodox observance, which many of their family members often still celebrate. My favorite approach is to celebrate both!

What do I have to be thankful for? I come in contact with many people who face struggles much larger and more difficult than my own. In these cases, I'm happy to have my own problems and not theirs! Besides this, I often find that getting to know these people and understand their lives and struggles is an incredible blessing to my life.

One of these blessings is named Tsion, a young woman with an incredible story. Tsion was born to an Egyptian father and an Ethiopian mother here in Egypt. As a teenager, she found her way to the United States and applied for asylum. Her case dragged on for many years, during which time she got married and had two children. Finally, in 2003, her application for asylum was denied, and she was deported. Since her two children are U.S. citizens, they remained behind with family in the United States. Tsion, having no citizenship of any country, was finally accepted in Ethiopia, a country that she had never visited before. By the grace of God she received a passport and was able to travel to Egypt, where I was able to meet her. Now, she has become an Egyptian citizen as well (thanks to her father)! Tsion hopes to return to the United States to see her children again, but surprisingly she is not bitter about the whole ordeal. On the contrary, she views all of it as a process she needed to go through to know and trust God more. Tsion believes God is calling her to serve for a time here in Egypt in ministry among prisoners, with whose experience she is well acquainted.

Another tremendous blessing in my life is my fiancee, Sungmin. We are very blessed that she was accepted to the master’s program here at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, where I serve. Our relationship has been growing and improving as we get to know each other and learn each other's cultures and personal “quirks.” It has been a difficult first term for her (as her first language is Korean and her studies are all in English), but she has made it through by the grace of God. We’ve been blessed also to travel a bit this year on ministry trips to places like Sohag and Aswan in Egypt. These trips have been part vacation and part ministry service with church folks in various locations around the country. By the way, we are planning our wedding for July 7, 2007, in Jacksonville, Florida. Please come if you can make it!

I have many other reasons to be thankful—life, health, many friends, and more—but I will focus on the Evanglical Seminary where I serve. It has been a great blessing in my life to know and serve among my brothers and sisters of the seminary. Their Christian commitment and dedication in such a challenging environment as Egypt is a wonderful example for me to learn from and pass along to others. It is my job to “tell the story” almost every day of what God is doing in this place. And what a story there is to tell! Students involved in a huge variety of ministry and mission in Egypt and abroad; caring, qualified faculty working day and night to serve not only the seminary but also the church throughout Egypt; right down to secretaries and building employees who give sacrificially of their time (the only resource some of them possess) to make sure the lights are on, the floor is clean, and there is paper in the copiers. It’s a blessing to be a part of the story in this place. I can’t wait to see what God will do next!

Thankfully in Christ,

Brice

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 (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, Coordinator Middle East and Europe at 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396.