Brents African Adventures

The Bitter Reality

2011-06-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing quite goes as you would expect it to here in Uganda and for that reason, expectations are more often than not, useless.

There are few things that I encounter here that faze me anymore,
I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse,
But there's always at least one thing, every time that I visit, that rattles me to my core,
In a way I'm always glad when it does happen, it helps me to know that God is working with me to work out my faith, but in the
same regard, it's never easy to handle.

Care and Compassion days are always emotionally draining,
On one hand we are given the amazing privilege of spending time with a family, praying with them and finally blessing the family with gifts from the church,
But on the other hand, we hear the stories of their lives, their hardships and their loss, and in the feeblest sense of the word, take up their burdens.
There's often a familiar theme to the stories, echoed throughout this country,
In the lives of the children here on the property and the neighbours down the street,
One that speaks to the devastation of poverty and lack of infrastructure.

It takes a toll in the form of sickness and disease,
Starvation and lack of opportunity,

Yet their faith in God remains unscaved,
I still remember one of the first homes I ever visited,
Sitting on a mud floor of a tiny, crowded thatched roof home,
Hearing the story of a grandmother who had lost all her children to AIDS, her husband in an accident, and was now charged with looking after her 10 grandchildren, not knowing if they'd escaped the disease that claimed their parents,
Struggling to make ends meet she said with a smile, "but God is good."
Without having to ask she continued with her rationale, "I've lost so much in life, things disappear all around me, and nothing is certain. With the exception of God. He is always there for me, and always makes a way. He is the one thing in my life that is sure."

It is mirrored in the lives of so many families we visit,
An unshakable faith in the God who delivers.
A Christ who saved.

However, sometimes we encounter families which the hope is faded,
Where the shame overcomes the desire to converse,
Where there is hope in is something other than Christ.

Such is the story of a single mom and her 6 children,
The husband and father had deserted the family shortly after moving to the community,
And now some 4 years later, her health is fading and they are supported by neighbours alone,
The conversation was brief, the prayers were few and while there was thanksgiving at the gifts of food, mattresses and essentials for her and the children, it was shortlived.
As we parted ways we couldn't help but feeling overcome,
Suddenly as the team left there was a tug on my shirt, the mother knelt and pushed her daughter forward, a pleading look in her eye, begging me to take her daughter and give her the opportunity which seemed unattainable.

What love is this...
So strong,
So sacrificial,
The love of a mother

It always rattles me,
It doesn't get easier,
And I pray it never does,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Warm And Familiar Welcome

2011-06-23T04:49:00.000-07:00

The smells of Uganda,
They never seem to change, even from my first trip (5 years ago) to now, it's etched in my memory and it always greets me right off the plane.
Long before the smiles of the children, or the embrace of a friend and pastor, the smell is there, and it's wonderful.

The drive from Entebbe is one that is relatively timeless as well,
The same partially finished building stands as the first marker, and as we wynd our way through Kampala and out to Masaka Road, the familiarities from past trips are striking.

It's always a source of entertainment watching those new to the journey process,
Hearing their comments and watching their eyes light up.
Comments surrounding signs like "Obama's Jet Carwash" are soon eclipsed by the sensory overload as we turn off the red dirt road and up towards the church.
A welcome party of smiling children, clapping and singing, never gets old and is always cause for a sudden "welling" of emotions.

This particular trip I get to see the eyes of a girl I've grown to love sparkle at the reception.

After some songs and dancing, it's time to settle in, begin the reorientation process and greet some old friends.

A couple days with the kids is always a great way to start a trip,
It's shocking to see how much they've grown.
They're excited to show their accomplishments of the past year and speak their ever improving English.
It's a breath of fresh air hearing the calls of "Uncle Brent" again.

It's with that warm reception that I bid you adue for now.
We're here safe and sound (would have been handy to know before the team left).

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

And Away We Go!

2011-06-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

After blowing the dust of my travel gear, I find myself sitting in YVR International Departures once again, with the rolling green hills of Uganda just 2 short (relatively speaking of course) flights away.
I can never fully express how I feel going back, but it seems I always try.
This time it feels a bit like heading home again.
Once again I find myself in the midst of a team, some of old and some of new, but one in particular who I happen to be a big fan of. It's with a sense of excitement that'll I'll be able to introduce her to my Ugandan family.
A lot happens in a year, and while I know undoubtedly that I'll love it, I count on much growth.
So it's with this final boarding call that I leave you.
Please pray for the team, so we enter into a season of ministry that is always beyond us alone.
And continue to pray for the children and community around Mpigi that I know will welcome us home.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Reflection From Greener Pastures

2010-07-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Time in Africa has an interesting way of sneaking away from you,
The pace is slow but there never seems to be enough hours in the day,

Having been in Uganda a week now, it's as if I never left,
With the exception of the jubilant welcome I received from the children and fast friends, life in Uganda has carried on much as I left it,

From the nerve shattering calls of “Halleluiah,” of Momma Rose before sunrise,
To the singing and dancing of the children after the sun goes down,
It’s no doubt there’s something special here,
Uganda has once again renewed its strangle hold on my heart,

There’s a peace about this place that surpasses all understanding, yet there’s always room for an adventure,

There’s something about walking down a red dirt road, long after the sun goes down, with close friends and nothing but the light of the stars to guide your way, that assures you the night is going to hold some adventure,

From the darkness comes the comments of “eh mzungu”
Safety is not an issue.

Upon reaching the highway we hire a squad of boda bodas and head into town,
The cloud of red dust marks our arrival into the dimly lit yet very busy town center,
Now, to find the match,

Having learned from past adventures, we send our Ugandan friends ahead to confirm the price of entry,
Us bzungus tend to raise the value of the dollar with just one look,
500 UGS is the report,
20 cents, affordable…for us
As we round the corner however the inevitable happens…the price doubles,
Our Ugandan friends are insulted, and vocally announce their displeasure, however we bow our heads and pay the new cover charge of 40 cents.

Decending into the darkness of the room we discover the place very full,
The mix of body heat, the hot air outside and the smell of body oder hits us in the face like a wet blanket,

The allegiances are split down the middle,
Half the room cheering for Spain, with the remainder for the Netherlands,

Tension is high with five minutes to half,
When suddenly we are engulfed in darkness,
The room and everyone in it disappear, we the linger of disapproval hangs in the air,
No power, TIA

Busy hands make light work however and with just 5 minutes left in the half time advertisements the screens, and the few lights in the room come to life with the buzz of the back-up generator,

Instantly the screen dances with commercials of washing machines, high end cars and western luxuries’,
Glued to the screen are the eyes of our Ugandan friends and
It makes you think, the darkness wasn’t all bad.

A tense second half and some overtime leaves Spain the champions,
The celebration that follows here in Mpigi comes only of an ignorance of that which has happened in Kampala,

We awoke the next morning to word of bombings in Kampala,
Just 45minutes away as we celebrated, others fled in terror,

A nation now mourns the loss of 80 of their own, as well as a sense of security that will take some time to regain,

Please keep Uganda in your prayers

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Home Away From Home

2010-07-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

One step off the plane and already it feels like home,
The familiar smell lingering in the humid air,
The accents of the man at customs,

I missed this,

It’s 4am now and we need a place to stay for a few hours before we’re whisked off to the 10 acres and 52 smiling children,

A cheap room for a couple hours, easy,
Ask a driver, give him a tip and before you know it there’s a knock on the door and your friendly, neighbourhood Canadian pastor is telling you to get out of bed,

It’s good to see the Dickie’s again,

Familiar roads, familiar faces and a warm welcome,
I’m home,
And it’s time for some football,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Few Good Things

2010-07-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

It’s rare that I flinch at the inner workings of Cairo traffic,
Having braved treacherous road crossings, survived many accidents and earned my metaphorical strips, I’d call myself a veteran of this madness,
Yet a close encounter between a tourist bus and our taxi has me gripping the handles tighter than normal,

I feel that time and time again I try to describe the Khan accurately to friends, family and other foreigners, yet words always fail me,

The minaret of Hussein’s mosque towers over the high walls casts an omnipresent green glow on the narrow alleyways below,
Shopkeepers, familiar in upwards of 5 languages, spout clever catchphrases (‘how can I take your money?’ and ‘I have what you’re looking for’) in attempts to usher you through their door,
Their minuscule shops lined with everything clichély Egypt,
Busts of pharaohs and the sphinx, sandstone pyramids, perfume bottles and pipes, papyrus prints and scarf’s are the standard,
And if these don’t amuse you, anything you need, want or desire can be found at a price,

It truly is my favorite place in Cairo and it’s where my father and I spent our final hours in Egypt,
Hunting with my local friends for some final gifts for home.
It’s a nice change of pace from the hotel,
Albeit selfish, and consumer, it’s still spending time with my father,
Showing him the vastness of the Khan,
It’s worth it,

The transition from the Khan to the airport was less than seemless,
It was Egyptian,
Bartering for the price of a cab, having them try and raise the price when you reach your destination, argue for a bit, and then find out (after he’s left in a huff) that you’re at the wrong terminal…repeat process,

Next stop, Uganda,
Home away from home,
I can’t wait,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A New Cairo

2010-07-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

The land of hot tea, crowded streets and fine fabrics,
Welcome once again to Egypt,

It’s timeless here,
While years pass, very little about this place changes,

The endless sound of horns still echo off the soaring concrete walls as traffic moves at death defying rates,
Nothing works when you need it to, yet a solution is always offered at a ‘fair price’
And a fine layer of sand and dust coats everything, after a few days here this includes the lungs,

I’ve never experienced Cairo this way before,
Staying downtown in a hotel,
It’s an Egypt removed, quantified.

Take in what you want, then retreat to the comforts of an air conditioned hotel room, relax for a few by the pool, before doing it all again.
I admit my life in Maadi was cushy, yet this takes it to a new level.
It’s easy to imagine how the Egypt experienced by the tourist and the Egypt experienced by those who live here are vastly different.

The perception of the hotel lobby, jammed with the high society Egyptians, smoking over priced shisha and sipping western tea is the most some people encounter before stepping on their tour bus and being whisked off the sights.

While I will be the first to admit there are some welcome changes with this Egypt (ie. the air conditioned room and the comfy bed), I miss the way things used to be,

Shisha down some dark back alley with shopkeepers and regulars,
Conversations about everything and nothing,
And believe it or not the frustration of shoulder to shoulder street traffic,

God keeps some fire inside my heart for Egypt and it mystifies me, yet I love it.
This love and hate relationship that Cairo and I share only grows deeper with every visit, impart due to some good friends.

Enter the Khan,
The narrow alley ways lined with shops, trinkets and crap that I so dearly love,
It’s where I’ve made some fast friends,
Granted the relationships were born out of them trying to swindle me and me trying to swindle them, however, thankfully they’ve grown into something deeper.

A phone called to one of these friends sparked a game of hide and go seek amidst the maze of back alleys before a reunion,
Timeless,

Just like old times I find myself sitting in a familiar shop, with good friends, sipping sweet hot tea and trying to convince some American tourist that they look great in some knock-off Ray-bans…it’s a beautiful thing.

Tonight is about catching up, introducing my father, and watching Africas final team fight for the chance at a World Cup win,

Football (soccer) truly has broken barriers within this little community of shop keepers and locals,
To see these men who typically spit on black Africans, now cheer for the Black Stars is remarkable.

Penalty shots has everyone in this little café on their feet,
A heartbreaking loss, God help the Uruguayan tourist around tonight.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Back From Hiatus

2010-07-03T03:20:00.000-07:00

As the bags are being packed once again I looked at the walls of this journal and realized how remarkably quiet they have been,
Well much has happened in the last year, I've had little if any motivation to write my thoughts into something coherent (not they they are always coherent when I put things up here.)
Before I start something new I feel it somewhat important to recap where I've been this last little while, so in a whirlwind, here it goes, (for those that are looking for the most recent adventure this post is not for you, please check back soon.)

At the conclusion of my last visit to Uganda, I was amazingly blessed to have the opportunity to intern at my church (Peace Portal Alliance) in the outreach department under a man who is both a great friend, and mentor in my life.
As many of you know, I jumped at the chance, which included the commitment to full time studies in the field of International Development.
With that I began a whole new chapter of learning, or more boldly put 'an exercise in doing what goes against the grain'.
While I took to work within the church with ease, I struggled with the academic aspect of sitting in a classroom and listening to lectures.
While I managed to struggle through my first semester, (I breezed through highschool without doing much homework, that strategy does not work quite as well in university), my stubborn ox like temperament was slowly worked down by the collective wisdom around me and by the second semester my newly refined patience allowed me to endure.

Then the sun came up on January 13, and the world saw Haiti in ruins.
The 7.0 earthquake the night before left millions homeless and hundreds of thousands dead.
"I'll go," were the few words said to God that I thought little about, untill a week later when a friend announced her plans to go and asked me to consider and pray about it coming along.
God opened the doors;
Professors freed my schedule, gave extensions and eliminated midterms,
Friends, family and complete strangers prompted by God, donated the needed funds,
And a team was enroute shortly after.

With a strong, well grounded and overall great group of friends, I headed to Haiti just over two weeks after the quake.
As part of a team of doctors and nurses, we provided basic medical care to hundreds of people a day over the course of the next two weeks,
But more importantly, we were able to pray for each and every patient after they had seen a doctor,
A good friend and I had the blessing and honour of being that prayer team,

God taught me a lot through the lives of those people we prayed for,

Those who were believers rejoiced in the Lord for the things that they had,
Trusted in Him for the future, and drew strength from Him for the days and weeks to come.

Those who were not believers came and sat and hoped,
Sharing stories of those they lost and those they hoped to find again,

While my time in both Uganda and Egypt had prepared me for the immersion into poverty, God still used the time to humble me and teach me more about His overwhelming character.

As we flew home and discussed all we had encountered in Haiti, we agreed that despite the chaos, joy is abounding and there is much promise for the Haiti of tomorrow.

A solid few months of catching up in studies followed my return, another round of exams and finally a couple months back at construction and here I am again with my bags packed.

This time I am excited to have my father coming along to experience my homes away from home,
Pray for us and we encounter all that God has instore for us along the way,
And I promise to keep the blogs slightly more frequent than in the past,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent

The "Right" Decision

2009-06-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

When you discover, that just as an iceberg, only the tip on the looming mountain of need is visible,
You begin to find comfort in the uncomfortable,
Stories of families, while still heart breaking, no longer shock you,

As ‘Mzungus’, we represent hope,
There are those whose hope is fading, we represent a glimmer,

It's the story of a young girl,
Her family attacked during the civil war,
Left for dead amoung her silent brothers, sisters and parents in their hut,
Of the 8, 3 survive, bearing the scars of the machete across their faces, necks and wrists.

Yet this young girl grows,
Is happily married, has children of her own,
And while she loses her husband to the lake, she persists, for the sake of her children,

Yet those scars are like a curse, slowly sucking the life from her body,

At word of mzungus, she packs her bag, and her children,
With three little ones in two she makes the daunting journey,
Along road beyond disrepair, through bouts of malaria,
To the church where Mzungus come,

She has heard about our childrens homes,
She's been told we will help,
We will provide for her children, we will give her children an education, a chance,

It's worth the journey,

She arrives to find she's early, the mzungus have not yet arrived,
She's told that the inn is full, there is no more room in our homes,

Yet she clings to the chance to talk to the mzungus,
She's sure that they will have an different answer,
If they just knew her story,

And they do, they arrive,
At church she demonstrates her grasp of the Word,
She helps around the property, clearing land with her one good hand,
How could they deny her?

She waits two weeks to gain the courage to talk to them,
Even then, she paces outside for some time before they notice her,
Too shy, too nervous to knock,

Now she allows the thoughts and the words of the others to creep into her head,
What if they say no?

She enters, not knowing even the words,
She doesn't speak English, how will they understand her.

As if on cue the pastor comes,
But it is not as she hoped,

Her mind clouds,

He knows of her plan, he has come to stop her...

She slips away,
She can't bear it,

Later the mzungu finds her, sitting in the church,
He's with the pastor but,
This is it, he has come to set things straight,
He has come to listen,

He says he feels there was something she wanted to say,
And so the mzungu listens as she tells her story,
As she pleads for him to provide a place for her children,

And as he listens, his heart breaks,

How could anyone say no?
They would have to be heartless,
They would have to be ignorant,
They would have to be this mzungu,

He tries to explain that her children need the love of their mother right now,
He tries to tell her that God is revealing Himself to them through her devotion to them,
He tries to show her the love of the congregation, that they will cover her in prayer,
He tries to comfort her and tell her that God is good, and that He will watch over her and her children,

He knows its true, but it feels like tripe,
She knows its true, but her heart aches,

He has offered to drive her home, to provide some food provisions and to talk to her pastor and community,

The long drive is a silent one, he doesn't feel any better about his decision even though he knows it's the right one,
Upon reaching the home and finding her crippled mother in the field, trying to pick through the forest of weeds, to save her crops,

The community has made a plan,
And the hands and feet of Christ will be put to use,
but still,

How could anyone drive away from this?
And while she musters up a smile and waves as they drive off in a cloud of dust,
He sits behind the wheel, heavy with doubt...

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Mzungu

It Makes The World Go Round...

2009-05-29T03:15:00.000-07:00

Money is an amazing thing,
It holds such a power over us,
It dilutes our understandings of life, love and what truly matters,

When it does not put us out, we are generous to share,
But God forbid we should face financial instability,

As the world begins to count its pennies, people are dying,
As we begin to make 'cut-backs' in "OUR" lives, millions suffer

Uganda is a beautiful country,
And while it is a country that is striving, it is still very dependent,
But there is hope,

On the drive to Kampala today I noticed the sign for a school,
Each school here has it's own motto and this one caught my eye,

"Knowledge-Our Hope"...if only you knew,
That the price of that cup of coffee could pay your school fees,
That filling up my gas tank could cover the cost of HIV treatments,
That my "tiny" room back home in Canada, is bigger than your house for 8,

You wouldn't think of me as a saint little one...

Forgive us...
We forget, we don't realize,

As we think twice about our monthly pledge, that this is our life, and the lives of so many,

They are more than programs we sponsor,
They have life altering ramifications,

And while the buildings will stand, bricks and mortar paid for,
The lives of the children inside will forever change,

What is love without good deeds?
What are good deeds without love?

We were called to look after the widow and the orphan,
How can we deny this?

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

The Pearl Of Africa

2009-05-25T03:03:00.001-07:00

2 flights, 3 airports, 2 thunderstorms and 52 bright smiling faces later ...

This is beauty,
Lush green hills contrasted by the bright red soil,
The landscape of Uganda alone is breath-taking,
Combined with the smiles on the faces of the people here and little compares,

Landing here is always a breath of fresh air,
Always full of adventure and each time I am greeted by smiling faces of 52 beautiful children,

The smiles, the hugs, the shouts of “Uncle Brent”,
These are the things that make Uganda feel like home,

The kids have grown,
Their personalities are shaping, and they are growing bolder,
My longer hair is now cause for laughs amongst the children,
Which in turn, leads to a game of ‘run and hide from uncle Brent’,

There is always something to do here,
And the days move at a pace which allows it all to be finished,
They don’t drag, it’s quite nice,

There is always time for people,
For fellowship and laughs,
For football,

There is a lot of football,

I’m here,
And I’m bringing greetings on your behalf,,
The church sends their greetings back,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Another Chapter Closes

2009-05-25T01:35:00.000-07:00

A day of saying good-byes,
They are getting easier, and I’m not convinced that’s good thing,

There’s something about not knowing if or when you’ll ever see someone again that make good-byes so crucial,

The Sudanese, my class and fellow footballers, facing the decision of going back to Sudan or continuing to endure in Egypt,

The Ex-pats, a group of people representing all corners of the globe and who never settle for long,

And finally my Egyptian friends, representing all walks of life,

So many people and here I sit clinging to a toilet bowl, praying to God that my stomach settles enough to venture out in the 45 degree heat,

There’s nothing flattering about this, of everyone I had planned to say good bye to, of everyone I was making an effort to see, becoming this intimate with the porcelain was not on my agenda,

Though it does provide an excellent chance to think of better times…but let’s be honest with ourselves, anything in Egypt is better than this

The phone rings, and plans are made, I will not be held hostage by this tile floor any longer,

Once in a taxi, sitting in the sea of Cairo traffic, my plans are immediately brought to question, but through perseverance, I pull up to my favorite place, the Khan,

What would a final day in Egypt be without the Khan, and the friends who work here,

Handshakes, hugs and farewells…and then more plans,

What would a final day in Egypt be without a midnight horseback ride by the pyramids,

My friends here at the Khan have been looking for an excuse to try such a thing, and it seems that my departure is an apt reason,

And so as the sun sets over Cairo, I pray to God that my stomach can bear the feat,

Stars, sand, a rouge horse, a few tumbles and 9 pyramids later, and again we say goodbye,

All nighters…Cairo truly never sleeps and neither will I tonight,

Tomorrow I’m Uganda bound,
And I couldn’t be happier,

Grace Peace and Blessings,
Brent

The Elephant In The Room

2009-05-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the darkness of the narrow alleyways, Egyptian life flies by,
Motorbikes pass close enough to our feet to make our toes curl, at times bring a hault to the conversation,
The smell of fresh baking floats in the air, almost strong enough to cover the stench of the mounds of garbage rotting in the heat of this Cairo night,

My experiences and my friends have brought me back to this dingy little "cafe"
Now sitting, probing the depths of Islam and Christianity, mankind and our behaviors, with an elephant of a man.
The conversation is risky, but too important to pass up,

I've brought a friend this time,
He's eager to experience "real" Egypt,
He's getting it,
And now, the three of us work to break down the misrepresentations, the cultural boundaries, between us,
If only the UN was this effective

The topic of relationships comes fourth and the elephant (a term of endearment), proceeds to ask of if we would every marry an Egyptian woman,
"Well if we loved her," it's only a start to our explanation, but already he's floored,
Marry for love eh?

I love making waves...I'm getting good at it.

"What if she was a Muslim?"
We venture the topic of being unequally yoked, trying to stress the point to the rather large Egyptian man, that we do not see Muslims as weaker...

I love watching a light flicker in the eyes of someone wrestling with something great,

Conversation is interrupted now and then for a tea break, or to shake hands,
We take these opportunities to take it all in, the people, the place, and sometimes rather unfortunately, the smells

"There is something different about you two," the elephant says,
"Not many people would come here, and less people would come back, what is it about you two?"

Boom, I've never had such a cliche opening,
But we jump on it,

"But that's not what makes you different, I've met lots of Christians, they aren't friendly, they don't talk to us, "
Others nod in agreement,

The sad reality dawns on us,
The walls are high, and the walls are thick,

They are both higher and thicker than they should be because, we Christians have added the brick and mortar,
Everytime we step outside the doors, our actions, our mannerisms are watched,
Whether intentionally or not, we define Christianity to those who know only the inside of a mosque,

Suddenly, the old "living-Christ-like" saying takes on a very personal twist,
These are friends,

It’s time we live out of love.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Knowing Where To Look...

2009-05-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

Walk down the right back alley in Cairo, and you can find anything.

It's just knowing where to look...

My week here in Egypt has taken on quite different feel than times past,
And while going into this trip I expected some needed healing, as well as a chance to dive into the refugee community again,
The latter has been very true,
Old friendships have been rekindled as I've spent every day with the students and teachers of 'Found',

However, the healing surprised me.
Cairo was a place in which I invested a lot of my life,
Some of my most profound growing experiences, both spiritual and emotional, took place here,

It is also a place where I dated and later, before my leaving, became engaged.

Months after leaving Cairo, for various reasons, I called the engagement off,
Which in turn lead to a period of both very emotionally and spiritually conflict,

Since then,
Through the wisdom and care of friends and family,
The grace of God,
and very little of my own input,

I feel I have never been stronger,

All that said, I thought coming back to Cairo would bring a flood of memories,
That perhaps, visiting and spending time here, would give me some sense of healing that I may have been missing.

I was wrong,

Wrong in the sense that, God had already allowed the wounds to fully heal,
Instead, He had something else in store for me,

Enter the Khan el-Khalili,
The open air market in the heart of Islamic Cairo,
A place of narrow alleyways, jammed with everything a tourist could ever need,

Pushy sales men, with lines like "I have what you're looking for," and "How can I take your money?!"
Stores entirely devoted to scarfs, shisha pipes, and statuettes,
Partnered with the shoulder to shoulder experience of it all,

Wide eyed tourists are often lead astray, paying upwards of ten times the Egyptian price,

Bartering skills are key, and a little Arabic will get you far,

This is the Devils playground,
This is my favorite place in all of Cairo,
Is that wrong?

One could say my self indulgent side in conjunction with my quest for the seemingly elusive Egyptian healing brought me back here,
I prefer to say God did,

Upon snaking my way through the familiar alleyways, I ducked out of the crowded streets and into one of my favorite stores,
Instantly the shop keeper remembered me and greeted me with a hug,
We went back and forth, sharing forgotten memories and recent ramblings,

Apparently buisness has been less than booming for him,
The sheer number of tourists has dropped astronomically since the recent bombing here,

The violent and isolated act of a single person has had a devastating affect on so many,

As the hours ticked on, I had only one item left to find, and my trusted friend told me just where to find it,
So onward we marched through the narrow alleyways, twisting and turning out of the shopping area,
And as I followed him into the depths of Egypt, I tried to memorize the way out,

"No tourist ever comes here, too far, too hard to find,"

I began to think of those words as I walked past the poverty which ensued,

Apartment buildings which appeared to have been standing since the creation,
Children and cats, together sifting through piles of garbage,
The broken and the weary line these narrow streets,

Perhaps no tourists come because it is hard to find,
but would they come if they knew where it was?

This is not the Cairo that is published in travel magazines,
It is far from the fancy hotels, no tourist bus will fit down these street and there is no view of the pyramids here,

We stopped for tea and shisha along the way,
A tiny alcove with an old, wood framed awning,
Weathered chairs and rusty tables,
The green glow of the minaret from mosque across the alley,

As we passed the pipe, the deafening call from the minaret bounced echoed through the narrow streets,
And I excused my Muslim friend as we went to pray,

As I sat alone, I thought of how I ended up here, tracing the last few months and thinking of the privilege it has been,

My friend returned, and sitting as cockroaches fell from the rotting fabric above, we spoke of family, the power of money, the corruption of government and the influence of religion,

He spoke of how we were like brothers in faith,
And I spoke about the vast differences,

The opportunity to talk so freely here is one that should be coveted,
And as I spoken of things unknown, of Salvation assured, I prayed that seeds may be planted,
Tiny seeds perhaps but with God as the gardener...

We continued on through the streets,
His familys house,
His brothers shops,
Greeting childhood friends,
This is his neighbourhood, and I am welcome anytime,

On the cab ride home, I reflect on the journey that has brought me here, and while it is for a short while, I plan to invest,

I can't quite figure out what the draw to Cairo is, but it's nights like these that help define it,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Found Refuge

2009-05-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

In a small, freshly painted office
I sit at a big wooden desk with a bowl of traditional Sudanese lentils in front of me,
There a few food that I hesitate with now, but the sheer appearance of these mashed lentils conjures the contents of my stomach to the brink,

It's rude to refuse food here, and though I've already eaten, the cook stands in anticipation waiting for me to take to first bite,

It took some time, but I found 'Found'.
The Sudanese refugee school has proven elusive this time around, and while I spent most of my time working within it's walls last year, it seemingly disappeared.

Egyptians authorities closed the doors to the makeshift refugee school,
While the sound of the street along side the ground floor apartment can be deafening, apparently the sounds of the children within the walls were cause for complaint,

Such is the life of a refugee in Egypt.

Denied access to public schooling,
Withheld accreditation by the government,
Mocked in the streets,

However, God is good in-spite of the chaos,
And 'Found African Childrens Learn Center' was able to reopen it's doors in a new and improved building,

Education is the basis of development,
Providing these children with a basic education, certified and accredited or not, is a necessary and fundamental step in stemming the hardships that Sudan has faced,

Through a better understanding of the world, science and cultures, partnered with a education based in love, tolerance and Biblical Truths, a new generation of leaders being molded.

And while changed in an already established entity is never easy,
It is no excuse for a lack of trying, especially when change can bring prosperity.

It starts with these children,

'Young Men Alive' is a study I facilitated here in 'Found' during my time here in Cairo,
A chance for prospectives to collide, and understandings to be reached.
A place where these young men, are presented topics, which are otherwise discreet, and given the opportunity to mull them over in a safe environment,

A study which earned me the nickname "Young Man" with the guys,

When I rang the bell for the bell of 'Found' for the first time this year,
The door opened and I was greeted by the hugs, playful punches and calls of "Young Man",
It was like coming home.

I had spoken to the head master here, a dear friend of mine, in advance, to be sure my arriving would not be interrupting,
The response I received has been the most warm since my return to Cairo,
"You are most welcome. You were a part of us"

A community, which has been so devastated by civil war, famine and racism,
A community which has every right to be hard and jaded,
Yet this is a community, were love abounds from,

This is where I will continue to spend my time here in Cairo,
Teaching Bible once a day, and investing in friendships,
Friendships that despite a year apart, continue off where we left off.

Cairo never seizes to amaze me,
And while I continue to take risks and step out,
God rewards.

Not many things are as they appear here,
And for the record, a bowl full of Sudanese are actually quite tasty.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

True Freedom

2009-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

The heat in Cairo is brutal,
Combined with the convined space of a Metro car,
The body heat of a dozen other people, many of which failed to apply their daily dose of deoderant, (which should be illegal here)
And the constant stares of those around you and I began to think that this was some form of incarsoration.

It took only a moment to realize the insensetivity of my thoughts...

Plans in Egypt can change in a heart beat, ma'leesh T.I.A

When I went to bed last night I had a plan for today,
When I woke up this morning, the plans had changed, I just didn't know it yet,

I arrived at the church, ready to head to a maximum security prison,
I was met by an old friend, and told that we would now be heading downtown instead,

...reenter the methodical clacking of train tracks, which is always followed shortly by a pushing match at each station.

It's almost a sport, before the doors open, everyone in the train jockies towards the doors, mirrored by those on the platform, and as they slide open, the onsault ensues,

Like a giant game of red rover, dozens of people push and shove, trying to make it in or out of the doors before they close, which seems to also be a game for the conductor, who will close them at random intervals,

Now safely on the platform, we snake our way through a maze of tunnels, slowly pushing toward the surface, and there it stands, The Mogamma,

Blocking out the blazing sun, The Mugammas shadow looms over the main median downtown Cairo,
Inside what seems like thousands of Egyptians flutter through the halls, trying to make sense of mounds of papers, with little to none organization,

This is where Egyptian bureaucracy is implemented...or attempts are made at least.

No cameras please

Placing my bag on the x-ray machine and I walk through the metal detector, dreading the inevitable; leaving my camera in a "guarded" cubby hole,

But the drowsy guard finds nothing, so onwards we proceed, through the halls,
Frustration is etched on almost every face here, disorder seemingly has the upper hand,

Another check point, another metal detector, another bag x-ray,
This time I'm flagged, busted!

"Open the bag please sir,"
I nod in reluctance and do as I'm told,
The guard reaches in a pulls out my box of granola bars,
"What is this!" He asks, nervously examining the box,
Resistance every fiber of my being, I answer properly, avoiding the witty remarks, "Ackel, enta aize?" (Food, want some?)

He shakes his head and places them in my bags, and with that me and my explosive granola bars are allowed to pass.

Still the maze continues until we finally snake our way to room full of guards,

This is where the prisoners are held, those who entered the country illegally, stayed past their visa, or are waiting deportation,

The guys that we are here to meet have just served a twenty year prison sentence,
The men that we are here to meet sit amoungst the sixty others here, in this dark and gloomy little holding cell, yet these two shine,

Two men, who twenty years ago, made a foolish decision which they have been reminded of every day, for over 7,300 days.
It has been their thorn in their flesh, yet they have persevered.

"Do we look old? Do you think we have many years ahead of us?" ask the two men almost in unison,
It feels like I'm walking into a trap, but the worried sincerity on their still young faces tell me otherwise,

"You have many years left my friends, a sentence and some,"

They smile.

This a country where murder will get you 3-5 years, drug charges 15-30.
A country where foreigners in prison, must quickly learn to get along,
A jail sentence here can steal a mans identity, can steal his willingness to go on,

"When we started, we were overwhelmed, at times we thought, 'How can we go on,'"

As I try and think of what it equates to, my mind can't fathom my life minus a year behind bars.
"I can only imagine, but I don't even want to do that," comes an insensitive yet honest answer from my lips,
Again they smile.

"God has given me everything I have needed, and I have used it, courage and patience"

Patience to sit amidst the doubt, the taunts and seclusion, to wait.
Courage to stand firm in the God who has found them in those cells,

The joy on their faces, as they speak about families back home in the Philippines, a world that has changed so drastically in the two decades they have been hidden away.

The anxiety of paper work to be processed, hands still cuffed, is none existent.

They stand humble in front of their shackled peers, as they ready for transport to the airport.

I comment on the love that they exude, he turns to me, smiling brightly and eyes beaming,
"That is my verse, 1 Corinthians, that is my verse, for my life, thank you so much"

As they walk down the halls now, there is a strength about them,
Two men who spoke of looking old, now look like children on their way to Disneyland
And when the sun finally hits their faces, a wind blows across the court yard.

"It's a wind of change, a wind of freedom, true freedom"

From here they make the journey home together,
They board a transport which, will eventually put them on their plane home,

They're traveling light, no bags in tow, only a spring in their steps and a power testimony in hand.

Suddenly, the Metro ride home doesn't seem so bad,

Grace, Peace and Blessing,
Brent

Melting Pot

2009-05-04T02:23:00.001-07:00

Cairo has truly become a melting pot of nations around the world.
I had Chinese food for lunch yesterday, met in 'Second Cup' for meeting and played soccer in the streets with Egyptians.

The area that I have come to call home during my Egypt journeys is a haven for Expats,
Embassies, diplomatic residencies and foreign companies line the streets of Maadi,
Our church is host to 50 different nations, spanning across the globe.

It's safe to say it's easy to retreat to the comfortable, to disengage from the reality that is Egypt.

Yet step back for a second, open your eyes, and quiet yourself,
Allow yourself to take in the sights and sounds of Cairo,

The vision of the streets crawling with people, struggling to make ends meet; %51 percent of the population lives under the poverty line.

The sounds of car horns and squealing tires; 8,000 people die a year on the roads here, 30,000 plus are injured,

The eerie echo of mosques across the city, signaling a time of prayer; with a mosque on every other corner here it's no wonder they out number schools more then 13:1

Now add in the mix of over 100,000 refugees, fleeing from regions of war and persecution.

Suddenly, the little bubble of comfort seems to burst,
Our 'Second Cups' and 'Pizza Huts' here seem to push the boundaries, almost flaunting a lifestyle that the majority of nation only sees on billboards.

So where is the line?

Is it alright to enjoy the luxuries of our Western world to which we've become so accustom or should we now turn from them with this new insight?

Are the excuses we now make in our heads justified or do they come from denial, guilt and possibly a reluctance to let go?

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

And It Starts

2009-05-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Another sleepless night,
My nemesis, the running toilet, got the better of me last night,
Again refusing to be drown out by the soothing twang of country, or the sounds of gunfire and Transformers,
The toilet succeeded in waking me at all hours of the night,
As the sun broke through the windows, the sounds of the toilet was joined by the honking of horns and the random rhythm of hammers down the street, I submitted and rose from bed reluctantly,

Patience with Egyptian pluming were again tested when I drowsily stood beneath a trickling shower head,
Apparently there was more water pressure in the toilet then the shower,
I laughed and hung my head at misfortune and proceeded to take the world longest shower, and not because I wanted to.

Dragging my bag down the elevator and up to the front desk,
I declared "I'm checking out",
A blank stare greeted me...
"Oh oh, sheeking owt shir?"
'Yeah that will about do it,' I thought slapping the money on the table...once again, legally robbed in Egypt.

The guys that I will be staying with are great,
Renting a little flat across town, they seem to be the only westerners in the area,
Therefore when I shlepped out of the cab with my bag in tow, I became a spectacle.

After retreating inside to some English conversation and laughs, I put my bags away, claimed my floor space, and headed out once again for a cup of coffee and some food,

Traffic puts a spring in your step, it never slows,
Side mirrors come dangerously close as crossing the street becomes a game of real life Frogger,

While my Arabic is getting better, it leaves a lot to be desired,
And while taking a wrong turn on the way home, I stumbled upon some street kids who had found a soccer ball,
After going back and forth for awhile my Arabic was exhausted and I resorted to all I had left,
We organized a game of soccer,

It started out everyone against the lumbering foreigner, but they quickly took pity on me and gave me the smallest ones,
Apparently between the massive height difference on my team, it brought the average down, and with that they were happy,

Me and the ankle biters took a quick lead, and after a few high fives, the other team got fired up,
A few goals, many fouls and lots of laughs later, my team still retained the lead,

Suddenly, an sad sense of reality kicked it,
A group of Sudanese refugee children walked past and something twisted happen with the soccer teams,
The boys turned to me and pointed at the Sudanese then proceeded to act like monkeys, calling after them.
I yelled, telling the boys off, but they proceeded, and as I turned I watched one of the boys throw a rock at the now retreating Sudanese children.
I grabbed his wrist and yelled at him and the other, to stop, calling after the Sudanese children, "Ana Aseiff" (I'm sorry),
But it was too late, the damage was done

I turned now to the Egyptian boys who seemed quite pleased with themselves,
Scolding them in both Arabic and English,
They had no idea, and questioned me as to why I was angry.

It's terrifying, the lack of reason, the lack of understanding,
The sins of the father, a whole generation.

How far is ignorance allowed to proceed?

And while my explanation may only be a drop in the ocean of frustration, and racism,
I pray that God uses it and the ripples continue.

And who knows, maybe we'll have another game of soccer tomorrow, en sha allah.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Keeping Pace

2009-05-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

There's something a little nerve racking being the last Westerner to clear Egyptian customs, especially when you have a track record.
Leave it to this clown to pick the slowest moving line, and there you have it.
However, despite the long wait and the many questions, this scruffy looking trouble maker was allowed in.

Cairo hasn't changed, I've been gone almost a year now and it's like I never skipped a beat.

The same crowded, half-complete airport.
The same heated arguments over price which lead to,
The same death defying taxi ride,

Once on the road again, my Arabic was tested, having to direct the once sure taxi driver along the highway and through the back streets of Maadi,

The original plan was to hold up at a coffee shop until the morning at which I would head to church and grovel for a bed, a couch, even some floor space, but when it's 3:30 in the morning, my mood had changed somewhat and I pulled up to a hotel.

Another argument with the taxi driver ensued over price, at the end of which we both parted ways feeling shorted, and I marched inside past a sleeping guard, who woke with a start when I set off the metal detector.

The receptionist was less than pleased when he too was woken just a little after 3:30, and insisted they were full up. However in his sleepy deprived state, he mentioned a room being held by reservation, which I may or may not have per-swayed him to give me the key to.

The room is small, with a hard single bed in the middle.
The ensuite bathroom door does not fully shut, and the toilet constantly runs, but it will serve me well.
I dropped my bags inside, and headed back out.

Somethings never fail and after a short march through the darkened, stray dog infested, Maadi streets, I came to the coffee shops, which were indeed open.
However, the internet provider techs seemed to have gone to sleep, and the long awaited call home, had to be postponed.

A quick visit to the automatic currency converter and a glass of fresh guava juice later, I was back in my room listening to the running toilet, which despite all my efforts, my country music just wouldn't drown out and it was to this that I fell asleep.

Weekends are different here in Egypt, and it just so happens that church is on Friday mornings.
Not a few hours after I had fallen asleep did I find myself in a cab heading to church.

Nostalgia, friends and memories greeted me,
And after two services, a quality message, and two rounds of communion later,
I have a floor to crash on, friends to meet for lunch and a refugee school to paint tomorrow.

Things happen quick here,
I just hope I can keep up.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Pig Fever

2009-04-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

With an English twist,
Who would have guessed that the flight landing beside mine today on this gloomy English day, would be, you guessed it, direct from Mexico.
There's something a little uncomfortable about standing in line with a couple dozen people in hospital masks.
That said, after what seemed like a relatively short flight, (I think a fell asleep before take off, and woke up somewhere over Iceland), and a Starbucks, I sit here in Heathrow terminal 5 waiting.
It's a four hour layover and then I'm on my way to the sand soaked land of mosques, pyramids and camels.

Part of me is stoked to head back, there are a lot of good memories in Egypt,
A few friends still remain there and I can't wait to get back into the Sudanese refugee schools,

But there is another part of me that questions why,
My time in Egypt was the most straining, exhausting year of my life, albeit rewarding.
It brought me to God for the first time out of desperation rather than my what my relationship had been in the past.

This is no doubt going to be a healing trip, a somewhat selfish trip, but I know God can still use me none the less.

Whether it's a door closing or an eye opening leg of my trip is yet to be determined but we'll see what God has in store.

For now, it's time to enjoy another flight in cattle class.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

And We're off...

2009-04-29T19:52:00.001-07:00

When I say "we're" I really mean me and "off" really meant heading back to Egypt,

I sit now, as the sun slowly sets over the beautiful place that I have call home, staring out the windows at YVR.

The only thing that stand between me and that dust filled place is a trans-Atlantic flight, some very burley security men and the ominous customs line-up.

The real question is, "Will they let me back in?"

Apparently some of my antics were less than appreciated during my last stay, and we're not too positive that the mosque dotted mother land will be as hospitable as last time.

Never the less, I'll stand at the door and knock...we'll see where it gets me.

Rhetorically Speaking...

2009-01-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

A generation of wanders,
With a heart to do “God’s will”, yet clueless to see where they fit into the grand picture,
Whether a path is right,
Whether their hearts align with God’s,

Born out of good intentions and a love for Christ, yet this hesitance turns to a plague,
Afraid to be led astray,
Afraid to leap without a sign,

As one fails to act, the world continues to spin,

The cords of injustice tighten and the shackles of the oppressed grow ever increasingly heavy,
The glisten of freedom within this life, seems to fade.

The world continues to spin, struggles continue to arise, and without a generation to stand upon Gods promise, the Evil One rejoices,

Is God silent admits the strife,
Why does He not point the chosen path?
We need not a booming voice, but only a clear sign to show us “what is right”

Thousands of callings,
Thousands of paths,
Each different, each diverging,

‘You are the God that created us,
You know us better than we know ourselves,
“I know the plans I have for you,” you said,
Just show us the way!’

As urgency arises, we call out in desperation,
We know the way of the world,
We want to stand for you Lord,
We just need only to know where…and how

We are fearfully and wonderfully made,
Yet fearful to look inside ourselves,

Could it be the answer lies with us?
Could it be that God doesn’t have anything inparticular?

What would it look like to follow a path that we want,
Would it be wrong?
Would it be self-indulgence?

Blood Ballot

2008-11-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

While the timing is wrong, the conviction remains.
I had to write this...

Thrust into a life a fear,
A time when turmoil and pain are the only constants,
Where convictions are forgotten and freedom fades.

The shouts of propganda and the threat to those who do not conform,
The sound of a gunshot ringing out,

It's the story of millions,
The story of injustice and corruption,
The story of a country on the brink.

A world away...

Lives of complacency,
Of complaint without action and a failure to recognize the freedoms held,
Of ignorance and bliss,

Unaware of the importance, of the strife and the trouble a world away,..

As one man tosses his ballot away, another dies clutching his

Out Of Africa

2008-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Time in Uganda is priceless,
Whether it's spending that time with playing football with old friends,or finding yourself in a familiar tiny embrace, singing and dancing or generally making a fool of yourself (see singing and dancing),
Uganda has a way of making every moment a special one.

The children, with there smiling faces, individual and unique personalities, make every day an amazing one.

There is little that can compare to their unbridled joy,

This is what Christ meant when he said we should be like children,
This kids are alive, alive in a way that is indescribable,

The way they observe things, the way the enjoy creation, and the way they humble themselves,

Harriet is a child that has spent her live suffering with HIV and AIDS,
In her short life she has faced more challenges, more heartache then most experience in their entire lives,
She has lost family, she has lost friends, and yet, she smiles.

Harriets story could have jaded her, could have taken her impressionable mind and twisted it,
But Harriet is one of the kindest, happiest and humblest girls I have ever encountered,

She doesn't have the energy to dance and skip and run with the other girls,
But Harriet sits and watches and smiles, her heart is for others, and she is genuinely glad that the others are having fun,

Listening to Harriets story, it is easy to question where God has been all her life,
It is easy to say that God doesn't care, and it's easy to say that our God must be an angry God to allow this little girl to suffer as she has,

But to spend a day with Harriet, is to realize that God is there,
God has cradled this little one, and stolen her away from death time and time again,
And what's more, God has instilled in her a joy that is incomparable,

The relationship that Harriet has with God is deeper than anyone could possibly imagine,
And it's evident in the love that she has for HIm,
The way that she sings and the way that she prays,
The way that she worships and the way that she carries herself,

Where her trying past and long sufferings could have hardened the hearts of many,
Harriet has let it soften hers and it has brought her closer to God,

Spending time with Harriet has taught me these invaluable truths,
And her life speaks more to me than she could ever know;
And it's her story and testament I take with me this time,

"Thank you Lord for this beautiful little girl,
Thank you for the way that you cherish her, the way that you comfort her and the way that you bless others through her life.
Lord I pray that you continue you to keep her close to your heart, and that you continue to use her in the ways that you have.
Thank you Lord for all the children, and I pray that you continue to hold them close,
Give them good health, and grow them in their understanding of you Lord.

Lord, allow us to trust you,
Because trust is all we have, we can never comprehend your plans for this world and our lives Lord,
So help us to live by faith, for I know you only want the best for us.

You are a glorious God,
The One True King, and Father over our lives.
And it's in Your Name I ask all these thing My Father,
Amen"

Grace Like Rain

2008-05-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

It's a shock to the system,
Flying into Uganda, looking out the plane window;
Fields of green, forests, mixed between the red dirt roads,
Rain clouds, and the lake, water for the soul.

To touch down in Entebbe was a piece of Heaven for these weary travelers,
Nothing short of bliss,

There is a feeling here,
It lingers in the air, and on the smiles of the people,
It is gentle and warm,
It is refreshing.

This is country alive,
The culture, the people, the environment,
a stark contrast to the heaviness of Egypt.

We are happy to be here,
And as the rain continues to fall outside,
Our souls are lifted up.

The faces of friends, and the familiar smiles of the children,

I am "Uncle Brent" and she is "Aunty Joy",

The schedule is full for us, however, the burden is little,
and together with Shaun, we are the Mzungus here in Mpigi.

We are here,
We are safe,
And we are in love with this place.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent & Joy

A Historic Chapter Closes...

2008-05-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

Like a blur it has come and gone,
I sit now, reflecting on what has been,

Cairo is now a part of me,
It will hold me in it's warm embrace and yet, haunt my dreams in the dark of night.

I look back with no regrets,
I've grown more in this time than any other period in my life,
A year is nothing, and yet it is everything.

I found myself driven with passions, slowed...by passions,
A daunting culture and a desperate need.

Cairo aches still,
I didn't even scratch the surface of it's festering wound,
It still bleeds.

Cairo was for me,
It was a test, it was a challenge and a breeze,
It cut me deep and yet it, brought me Joy (no pun intended)

I'm leaving as a different man,
I'm leaving with a greater knowledge of myself and yet, more mysteries.
I'm leaving with a greater desire to seek out God,
I'm leaving exhausted,
I'm leaving...

My path now takes me to rest,
My path leads me to hope,
My path leads me to familiar places, and still, to the unknown.

God has given me the greatest gift from Cairo,
God gave me Joy, the woman with whom I want to spend the rest of my life,

Together we embark on a deeper journey,
A journey which neither of us truly know,
But we rest in the knowledge that God goes before us.

And why should we doubt,
Amidst the trails and triumphs that was Cairo, He was there, He told me, He told us.
And now, on this leap into the unknown, we trust in Him and know that He will cushion our landings.

We seek to know Him more, we seek Him together.

If Cairo has shown me nothing, it has shown me that God, my God, is a patient God,

A God that will be there when we turn to face Him, and pursues us when we don't,

It will be some time before I know fully how Cairo has grown me, has God has grown me in Cairo,
It will be some time before I see all the fruits, and the scars,

I look forward to it,

And now, Uganda,
That country, those people, who have captured my heart,
The burden on my heart that I want to share with Joy, a burden of love,

God go with us,
Friends follow us here,
We'll post when we can and share what we experience,

For now, pray, please,
Pray that we will be filled to serve,
Pray that we will find rest in the midst
Pray for the people we meet,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent & Joy

Persecuted But Not Abandoned

2008-05-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

To flee your home with nothing but the clothes on your back and your kids in your arms,
To come to and grow up in a foreign country where you are persecuted based on nothing more than the colour of your skin,
To face many of the same hardships in this "country of refuge", as you did back home...

All because of a civil war that has raged for more than 40 years,
Because of intolerance and racial profiling, ignorance and religion,

The Sudanese have flocked to the land of Egypt, Christians and Muslims alike, to avoid the constant heat of battle, to avoid death and destruction, rape and pillaging,

Hoping to feel the warm embrace of a country at peace, the Sudanese have been anything but greeted warmly,

Mocked and spit on, refused services and jobs, here in Egypt, the Sudanese refugees as faced a new form of persecution.

Children and teens suffer the brunt of this discrimination on their walk to and from their learning centers,

Denied access to the public school system, the Sudanese have been forced to open their own "Learning Centers",
With no set curriculum and no officially trained teachers, these centers would never be recognized nor accredited,

However, they have served their purpose, allowing refugee children the access to a basic education,

Property is a hard thing to come by in Egypt, and as a result most of these learning centers exist out of a the bottom floor of apartment buildings,
Contracts must be signed, cultures must agree to terms, and cohabitation must exist... a delicate balance.

This week the balance shifted, and one such Learning Center abruptly found itself closed for the year,

The same Learning Center I have spent the last 5 months in, was closed when the landlord decided he wanted out of the established contract.

Rather than addressing the Learning Center or the faculty themselves, the landlord of the property took the matter straight to one of Cairos largest newspapers, El Ahkbar,, exaggerating situations in his report with claims that; many Egyptian Muslim students were being forced to take Bible courses.

Evangelism in Egypt is not permitted legally, and there are severe ramifications for anyone caught "preaching the gospel",

For a Sudanese teacher, allegations such as these can result in immediate imprisonment with deportation to follow.

The school was swiftly closed and tension thickened, when the Egyptian police and state security officers barred the doors,

The following day, when attempting to retrieve the learning centers finical paperwork, classroom registers and stamp, the headmaster was arrested, detained and threatened.

The word was simple, without a permit, the school would not open, and should it try and open without, the teachers would be rounded up, arrested, and finally deported.

A Sudanese refugee "Learning Center" striving to obtain a permit to operate from the Egyptian government is futile, and the state security and police know this. And so they sit, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

It seems as though without the intervention of the Sudanese government or the Egyptian government, all hope for completing this year is lost.

And yet again the Sudanese suffer.
Poverty and Injustice, the life of a refugee.

The light in the darkness, the education they had, seems to be fading, and there are few options to turn to,

The first causality of war seems to always be the childrens education,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
In His Name,
Brent

The Band-Aid Effect

2008-04-10T17:01:00.001-07:00

What does it really mean to be healthy?

As we stand at the brink of ministry, questions like these plague us, and it leaves us wondering, who is it that we should be helping and how?

There is a village high upon the mountain top,
It is a village deep with tradition,
Men spend their days hunting deer and swine in the dense forests,
Women tend to the rows of potatoes and carrots all the while keeping a watchful eye on their children,
As their mothers and fathers did before them, so do the people of this village.

Perched atop the steep cliffs,
The village stands alone, and solitude is treasured,

Solitude proves a burden however, when the men of the village need to trade.

The only neighbouring village is five kilometers from the base of mountain,

The steep trail down the mountain had claimed many lives,
One miscalculated step near the edge and men would plummet hundreds of metres to the base.

Men would be carted, dead or alive, to the neighbouring village along rocky narrow roads, on the back of donkey carts to the medical facility there.

Trading was mared with death...tradition...
Until one day,

A minister from another country had heard of this village, and he was determined to help.
After a long journey and a challenging hike, he sat down with village leaders.

It was unanimous, the village needed an ambulance at the base of the mountain.
The donkey cart was just too slow to transport the wounded to the hospital in time, many men died in transit.

And so it was,
The minister went back to his church, and through his congregation, they raised the funds and, as promised, he returned to purchase an ambulance and train a driver.

The ambulance worked beautifully and it wasn't long before the shortened trip had saved a life, then two.
And the minister left knowing he had made a difference.

Until one day...
On a routine trip to the hospital, the ambulance caught a corner going slightly too fast,
It turned over, snapping the axle and damaging the engine in the wreak,
The ambulance was out of commission,

Word spread back to the minister and he returned to the country and fateful village,

The villagers demanded for him to fix the ambulance, but he was a clever man,
He knew it was likely for this mishap to happen again and it would only a short time before he was back here again with the same problem.

He knew it would be more cost effective to build a clinic at the base of the mountain rather than continuously paying for maintenance of the ambulance.

It was time to cut his losses and push forward.

He proposed the idea of the clinic to the elders of the village and immediately he was praised for his thinking.
The clinic was to be built, local labour, local staffing, a total solution!

Not more than a couple months later, again with the funding of his church back home, the minister saw the completion of the clinic.
And again, the results were promising,
The doctor saved many lives, only feet from the site of the accident,

But again the winds of change swept in,
The clinic filled to full capacity during the raining season, and the doctor had his hands full,
There was not another medical professional to be found to lessen the burden and no one was willing to be trained.

The excitement and the joy of helping soon fled as the surge of people continued, and the passion drained from the doctors heart.
It was time for him to move on, and with that, he packed his bags and moved along.

Again word spread to the minister about the misfortune, but this time there was nothing he could do,
His congregation was growing, and while they were still very much interested in missions, the twice unlucky village was no longer at their hearts.
The minister reluctantly hung up the phone, and severed the ties.

Years passed and the village continued to face the same problems,
The remnants of the wreaked ambulance and forsaken medical clinic served to mock the villagers and harden their hearts.

And then the day came when two more travelers passed through the mountain top community,
The cold stares and the shut door, tempted them to ask one friendly man, "Why are we shunned?"

The story was told of the minister and his "solutions" and the travelers were intrigued,
They asked to meet with the village leaders to hear the full story.

After much discussion the solution seemed simple,
Find the root cause and tackle it from there using the resources available.

"What is the real problem..?" The travelers asked.
"We don't have any near by medical services to help us when we're injured," was the response.
Still the travelers pushed, "But why do you need the medical care?"
"We mountain is steep and the trail is treacherous, many a man falls to his death."
"Right, but why is it you fall to the base of the mountain?" Further pushing the subject
"Nothing obstructs us, the tree grow on at the top of the mountain," the villagers replied, nearing a solution

Finally one leader stood up excitedly, giddy with a possible solution, "We move some trees to block the narrow curve of the path!"

I took only a little time until the villagers agreed that a fence, rather than a row of trees, was the correct solution.
And with the instruction of the travelers, trees were chopped down, and the fence was built.

The villagers gather and stood with pride and a new sense of confidence infront of their new fence,
And as time went on, the fence proved to be an effective, natural, internal, cost efficient means of prevention.

It's a simple story,
It's the story of our times,
It's the story of modern ministry,

We need a change,

Relief is a method for times of crisis, but ultimately we should focus our attentions on development.

Development with the idea that one day, we, the outsiders, will have to leave, and the responsibility of the community will fall on the hands of that it serves.

Money, food supplies, blankets, clothes, etc. all have their time and place, but if a community continuous diets on these alone, without working to build an infastructure, it will breed dependance.

So what does it look like to build a sustainable community?
What is a healthy community and who are we to judge?

Health is not just a physical state, it is emotional, and it's spiritual as well.

It's four tier.

A healthy relationship with God, with self, with neighbour and with environment

If someone is lacking in one area, can we truly call them healthy?
If a community is lacking in one or more area, can we truly call it healthy?

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
In His Name,
Brent

The Land Of The Lost

2008-03-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the hardest blogs to write.

At risk of sounding negative, over critical or at times, all inclusive, I feel I should tell you that not all, nor are the majority of my adventures in Cairo troublesome.

Sure the occasional taxi catches fire, a few office chairs break and paint can lids aren't fastened tight enough. Sure crossing the street is a test of faith and bartering for everything can be tiresome.

But my life is Cairo is cushy compared to the people I'm here to serve, compared to the sights and sounds I see everyday.

That said, everyone is allow an "I hate Egypt day."
A day of mini melt down and venting.
And provided this is done in an appropriate matter, it can be a major release.
Allowing us to push forward and serve better.

However, misplacing this 'aggression' can be dangerous, as can be holding on to it for too long.

I... have been holding it in for too long,

In a culture that is so oppressed, it makes sense that there would be rebellion.
It might even be justified.

But rebellion against "Allah," is reason enough to be killed here, even rebellion against the teachings of his "prophet Muhammad" would hold a similar fate.

In a country where religion is law and there is no separation, no distinction between "matters of church and matters of state",

In a country that has more than 65,000 mosques and only 5,000 schools.

In a religion where even the term Islam means "submittion" and the term Muslim means "one who submits"

There is no room from new ideas, there is no room for difference, and no room for rebellion.

Agression, frustration, ...misplaced.

A day in the life of,
The spiritual battles, and the physical.

Egypt is a battle ground,
It's the trenches and it's a exhausting, a daunting place for a recruit to be molded and shaped.

Every day I am stretched,
Every day I am grown,
And every day I face the very reality of flautering in the midst of anger or frustrating.

How far and what extent did Jesus really mean "turn the other cheek"?

I step outside the door with Joy at my side and we face reality.

Every day and seemingly every moment,
The perverted stares, the sleazy comments and the attempted gropings build a hatred within me,
And the love of Jesus just seems so far away.

My fists clench and my heart hardens towards these lost,
I'm broken inside

The words spewed from the minarets play a constant reminder to where we are,

الله اكبر اشهد ان لا اله الا اللهاشهد ان محمدا رسول اللهحي على الصلاةحي على الفلاحالله اكبرلا اله الا الله

"Allah Akbar, Ash-hadu allā ilāha illallāh, Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasūlullāh, Hayya 'alas-salāt, Hayya 'alal-falāh, Allah u akbar, Lā ilāha illallāh"
"Allah is The Greatest, I bear witness that there is no lord except Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, Make haste towards prayer, Make haste towards welfare [success], Allah is greatest, There is no lord except Allah"

A country, a religion,
Where propaganda, one sidedness, and fear dominate.

I grasp firmly to my Lord, my Savior and my Light.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Surely it will,
And then will come the day where the minarets fall silent,
The day when the ground will shake and the mosques will come tumbling down,
The day when "allah" and his "Mohammed" will tremble and be exposed for the frauds they really are.

And my God, the One True God will reign triumphant.

Untill that day may myself and others find comfort in the love and the presences of Jesus Christ.
May my armour hold steadfast, and may your prayers carry me,
And may I continue to be a witness for Him.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

To Laugh In The Face Of Death

2008-02-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

Life in Egypt is nothing short of an adventure,

Cairo is a city that breathes,
It's always in motion, always busy and always full of noise,
You can't escape the madness that is this Middle Eastern city.

Therefore, there is always something to new, exciting or terrifying about this place,
Ask anyone who lives here and they will have more than a few stories to tell of a typical day in the life of;
And of those stories, my favorites seem to be those that involve taxis,

Now you must understand,
In Cairo no two taxis are the same,
And after traveling across Cairo everyday to visit Joy,
I've become somewhat of an expert in the field of taxis,

The key is to look for a cab which;
1) Is Comfortable (but not too comfortable, everything comes at a cost)
2) Is Spacious (An hour and a half in a cab, crouched down/hunched over, makes your shoulders scream for mercy)
3) Has an older driver (young drivers will try an gouge you where and when they can)

With the amount of taxis in Cairo, these three stipulations, should be easy enough to come by,

That said, when you do have to settle, you'll almost always get a good story out of the deal (even if you do have to pay for it),

As I said,
I have been in a fair share of taxis in my day,
Having a girlfriend across Cairo, makes for a daily commute which last anywhere between an hour to two hours...on a good day.
But given the choice between mass transit, ( a hot and sweaty underground box car, chalked to the brim or a micro bus, also chalked to the brim), I'll take the comfort of a taxi when I can afford it.

In every form of transit here in Cairo, there are lessons to be learned,
Every day you learn to be a little more at peace with the fact that this taxi ride could be your last,
You learn what a steady prayer life really is,
You learn to laugh in the face of death,
You learn that the other driver is always wrong...no matter how many lanes you just veered across,
You learn that a bus does NOT have the right of way...no matter how fast it appears to be coming at you,
And most importantly of all,
You learn that every "rule" you think you might know, can be broken or adapted at any moment, for any reason, no matter how close the police are.

Now that you have been briefed, you must know that we all find ourselves in unavoidable situations,
That once sound taxi that you hopped into, can suddenly turn out to be a steel cage of death,
And that "fun driver", can quickly turn into a maniac once the doors are closed,

I have developed a wealth of stories, however,there are three that take the limelight...

Hasheesh Anyone?

It was a late night in Mohandiseen, and for what seemed like the first time, the street ran dry with cars,
During an hour when most should sound asleep, I walked down the street, desperate for a ride home,
When all seemed lost, lights flashed, a horn sounded, and my rescuer appeared on the horizon,
As he slowed to crawl, he yelled out his open window in muddled English, "Where you go?!"
"El Maadi?" I yelled back, a hint of desperation in my voice.
"Meshi, Yalla!" he said ("Okay, let's go") as he stopped,
I pulled the door open and sank back into the chair, 'finally, homeward bound.'
We banterd back and forth for awhile.
Between my broken Arabic and his cracked English, we discussed the depths of our lives...
And as I listened, I gazed out the windshield,
Suddenly, a left turn...
A new way, every taxi seems to have a new route, but by now I thought I'd seen them all,
A quick right puts me in a spot I know...nowhere near home,
"Enta Aize?" ("You want?") He asks, jamming a pack of cigarettes in my face,
"La, shokran," I say with a smile, ("No thank you") dismissing the cigarettes,
It's not uncommon to be offered cigarettes by a driver, however what came next was quite a surprise,
"Ah, I know, I know what you want," he chuckled at me, the English bouncing, rather than rolling off of his tounge,
"I have what you want."
Puzzled, quite worried but yet a little intrigued, I watch as he pulls out another container,
"Hasheesh!"
A row a marijuana cigarettes, and the smell that goes along with them, were now being thrust into my face.
I chuckle, "La, shokran, ana mis aize, ana mis sherupt" ("No thank you, I don't want it, I don't smoke")
He looks at me appalled, turns, and lites one for himself,
Thick smoke fills the cab, as the hasheesh cigarettes lites up in a flash,
In minutes it is gone, and another is at his lips,
He's chain smoking hasheesh!
I can't do anything but chuckle nervously as we veer around the corner,
The car stalls,
I opt to stay in the car, getting another cab would be quite hard at this time of night, and I'm farther from home than when I started,
We start rolling again,
A sharp corner, lands us in the back of another car,
I can't believe this!
Stalled again, resting in the dent of another car,
The other driver hops out yelling,
Our car starts again and with a flash, we are past the angry motorist and on our way again,
This is Cairo!...
Alittle while longer, a few more turns, and two more hasheesh cigarettes and I'm lost again,
My directions are normally quite good, but this is ridiculous,
'Where the heck am I?' I think to myself,
The citadel on the horizon tell me the answer,
Another sharp corner and we stall again,
My gut tells me to get out of the car, I could get out here, he's still trying to start it up again,
One look around the area suggests otherwise,
This is dead city, a city of graves, inhabited by the poorest in Cairo,
'What can I do really but stick with it,'
God is good...
Nearing Maadi now, barreling along the highway,
'10 more minutes and I'll be home,'
We stop...'why?! what now?!'
My driver is looking a little ill,
"Mish kayla eh?" I ask, ("What is the problem?")
"Ma feesh mish kayla," ("There is no problem") he responds reaching for his drink in the console,
Taking a swig, he cringes a little, then offers me a sip,
One smell tells me there is more then just tea, some sort of ridiculously strong alcohol is in it...
"La shokran," I say again, reassuring myself that it's just 10 more minutes,
My arabic isn't good enough to tell him this isn't a good idea, and I don't have many options if he kicks me out here.
We're on the way again soon,
And as we round the corner to my home, I prepare the fare,
25LE is normal (less than $5) but he is asking for more,
Happy to be alive, I stand firmly on 25LE, call him crazy ("Enta megnoon") and retire to my house, with another Cairo story.

Two Doors Are Better Than Four

The metro is the cheapest option to get anywhere in Cairo,
For 1 LE (20 cents) you can jam yourself in a smelly little train car,
Shoulder to shoulder with about 100 Arab men, some of which snicker at the foolish white man, other which taunt, some still which try and come on to you, and more that just stare,
It's normally an awkward situation, especially after work, when the metro is at it's busiest time,
You never know who is touching you and whether or not it is intentional or not,

The metro line however, does not run all the way to Mohandiseen,
(I'm not sure if this a blessing or a curse),
So once downtown Cairo, I must take a taxi the rest of the way,
A rusted out old taxi is a luxury compared to the metro cars,

On this particular day, I hopped in the first "black and white" I saw,
The driver was friendly, and we chatted as much as we could given the language barrier,
But once conversation dissolved, I resorted to resting against the door and gazing out the window,

There are many bumps in the road in Cairo,
both literally and metaphorically...
And it was this particular day that I learned the consequences of a well placed bump,

Veering off the bridge, we hit such a bump, and to my shock, my door flung open,

Now you must know, that seat belts are not worn in this country,
Seldom does a car actually have them, and if it does, even less seldom are they worn,

I now found myself dangling outside the door, gripping the seat with my legs, scrambling to pull the door closed,
It was as I was doing this death defying act of clownery, I gazed at my driver,
Who, while gripping the steering wheel with one hand, was performing the mirror act.

After pulling both doors closed,
We shared a chuckle, shared a prayer of thanks giving,

"First time," he said, wiping his brow,
"Last time," I laughed, "En sha Allah" ("If God Wills It")

It is with this last story that I leave you,
Hopefully chuckling,
Come to Cairo and we'll share a cab,

Tinderbox

After a long night of shopping with Joy,
We both decided that the majority of our energy was spent on braving the cabs,
And so we hailed a cab,

It's funny how what should have been a 5 minute taxi ride spawns the almost unbelievable,

Traffic was heavy, as it almost always is in Cairo,
And it was during this stand still that Joy turned to me,
"Something smells as if it's burning," she said.
I sniffed the air like any man would,
Something was burning,
The smell of burning plastic and glue was not unfamiliar,
This is Cairo after all, strange smells are a part of life here,
And dismissed the comment, "It must be outside."

Not a minute after I had said that, did a whisp of smoke past between us,
I turned quickly, and noticed the smoke coming from the speaker between us,
Foolishly, I passed it off as another "taxi gadget",
It wouldn't be totally unimaginable to think this guy had a mini smoke machine in the back seat,

Joy is smarter than me,
(I'm really not giving her enough credit, as it's really not that hard to be smarter than that thought of mine),
And as the whisp turned into a cloud,
Both her and the driver yelled to get out of the cab,

He pulled the car to the side of the road not a moment too soon,
As we piled out of the back seat, it lit up in flames,

Men came out of the wood work with fire extinguishers,

The driver pulled at the back seat, and as he wrestled it to the ground,
The flames shot through the back of the car,

A police officer fought the trunk open as both Joy and I stood in disbelieve,

I caught a glimpse of our stunned driver, as he stomped on his back seat,

Joy and I discussed what to do next,
Do we pay the man?...we hadn't gone but around the block.
How much should we pay him?

Flames burst out of the now open trunk as several men tired dousing them with their hand held extinguishers.

And here we though we had seen it all,

The spectacle was drawing a crowd,
Police and on lookers were everywhere,
It was time for us to go,

I handed the driver double the fare,
And he took it dumbfounded, as he looked first at me, and then to his smoldering car.

'What do you do with that?'
'What do you do when your taxi lights on fire?'
'How much do you pay?'

Questions that still plague me....

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent & Joy

Recharged

2008-02-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

I stare through the crack windshield of the taxi cab,
Removed now, what once was a terrifying ride has become an everyday routine,
In the corner of my eye I catch glimpse of the dust covered air freshener,
The stale dust covered pine tree sways with the rickety old engine that struggles along the roadway,
Cars swerve around hollow shell that is my taxi,

I chuckle to myself thinking of my family's first ride in one of these steel coffins,
White knuckled (no pun intended), gripping the seats as if to let go would be to let life slip through their fingers,
Faces frozen with fear as each near miss with pedestrians and other cars,

In the 5 months I have been here I have learned at least one important lesson,
The right taxi driver makes a world of difference,

Alright so I have learned a lot more then just that,

I think back to my familys visit here,
How quick it came and went,

The excitement and culture shock,
Frustration and a sense of adventure,
The double edge sword that is Egypt drew them in,
And I was glad for the visit,

The embrace of home and family while thousand of miles away brings a lot of comfort,
And while they have left now, I feel a recharged,

I am now ready to take on my next challenge here in Egypt,
And it comes in the form of a Young Mens Bible study group,

A group brought together under the dim lights of one of Cairo's few refugee schools,
Within the walls of pain and despair, there are a group of young men that are searching for something better,

The idea was spawned after much thought and prayer,
A calling for the time I have left here in Egypt,
A charge to help answer some of the more difficult questions then young men of this world face,

The questions they face, but face alone because no one dares to bring up the topics,
Things such as Sex, Sexuality, Relationship, and Money are things which most young men of this culture struggle with on their own.

Some of the life's most daunting topics, and they are left to fend for themselves.

So what is my role in the matter?
Why me?

In no way do I feel equipped enough to answer some of the harder questions I expect to be raised,
In no way do I feel I have all the right answers nor the experience to tackle some of the tough issues,

To bring these men of the future together,
To talk it out, to think, to hear others opinions and to bring knowledgeable leaders into help stir their minds.

The darkness seems overwhelming,
They don't have to be alone in this struggle,
To bring the light of God into the matter, the darkness shall flee.

The taxi veers to avoid what could have been a fatal collision, and I'm snapped back into the present.
The dusty, old pinetree still swings, in the corner as my eyes and other senses focus once again on my surroundings.
Engine grinds, and my driver mutters something under his breath, as if to coax the failing, steel beast along.
The smell of gas stings the the nose as it seeps through the rusted engine compartment and the cool Nile breeze whips through the open window and against my face,

Egypt is home for now, and I intend to enjoy it,

Grace, Peace and Blessings
Brent

A New Year Ushered In

2008-01-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

As the hands of the clock pass 12 morning, so ushers in a new year.

2008 marks a new chapter in my life,
Half way across the globe, I find myself once again reflecting, this time on what the future holds in store for me.
It's with confidence I can say I am excited to see what God bring about.

I have 5 months left here in Egypt and I plan to finish strong,
I have a renewed sense of urgency, as time ticks away, that I need to stand up and continue on with the work I have started.

After my time in Egypt has past,
I imagine I will leave with a certain sense of accomplishment, regret, heaviness and excitement.
Accomplishment because of the tasks I took on and completed, and regret that I couldn't do more,
Heaviness will fade as I leave the battle that wars over Egypt and excitement will remain as I venture, once again, down to Uganda, this time with Joy.

I continue to be grown here,
I've been asked to give the opening prayer this week at Maadi Community Church.
It is with a certain amount of hesitation and reluctance that I excepted,

Hesitation stems from the fear of public speaking, reluctance, from the idea of writing out a prayer that will be repeated no less than 3 times.

Prayer should be a conversation with God,
The idea of a rehearsed speech bothers me slightly,
The intimacy and the flow of ideas is ruptured by the correct placement of words and grammar,

But never the less,
The finished and polished product is here,

May God transform my heart,

When I praise Him, may my praise fill His heart with Joy,
When I thank Him, may He continue to pour out His blessing,
When I ask Him, may what I ask be the wants of His heart as well.
And when I speak to Him may there be an intimacy with Him that only our Father God can grant,

"Lord Jesus,

We come before You now full of thanksgiving and awe.

Lord, there is none like You,
No God so strong, no Savior so loving, no Spirit so true.

We thank You for Your presence,
We thank You Lord, that You continue to seek us out and Lord that Your light floods the darkness.

You pursue us when we’re stubborn, and You pull us out of the muck and mire Lord,
We are so truly unworthy,

We take this time Lord, to recognize that without You, without Your love, justice and mercy, we are forever lost.

Thank You Lord for this new year you have ushered in,
Thank You Jesus for all the amazing and powerful things You are going to do this year,
And Thank You Jesus, that another passing year only brings us closer to the day when You return for us.

So Lord, with this new year fill us again with an urgency for the lost, your children in the darkness,
Equip us to reach out Lord, may Your light shine through us, and may it draw others near.
Continually remind us of Your calling Lord, and reaffirm in our minds that we are Your hands and feet here Jesus.

Lord we thank you for our host country Lord,
We pray that you continually bless Egypt with an abundance of your love and mercy,
Shower her leaders with knowledge, discernment and a want to serve You and serve your people.

Thank You Lord that this church is growing,
Thank You that You know exactly where we will expand to Lord,
Lead us there, and give us open eyes and ears so we follow without question.

Thank you Spirit that you gift us uniquely,
Gift us with a pastor who will lead this church through this new adventure,
May he be strong in you and may he be called here by you and you alone,
Gift to us as a church body discernment to know that he is the one, and do likewise for him.

Lord we thank you that you are a God that feels our pain,
You are the God that mourns and rejoices with us Lord,
And You are the God that consoles us,
Jehovah Rafa be with those in our congregation that are hurting or mourning Lord,
Bring about Your peace and reach down Your healing hand into their lives.

Lord, allow us to grasp this year with a renewed desire to give our all to You and the furtherment and strengthening of Your Kingdom. For You are our Lord Creator, You are the selfless Savior, You are the Spirit the leads us on.
And it’s in Your Name that we pray,

Amen"

Happy New Year to you and yours!

In His Name,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Reflection

2007-12-27T05:26:00.000-08:00

As we squeeze the final days out of another year,
I sit and reflect and thank God for all that has come to pass,

Thanks in part to my travels, my friends and family, the churches I have come to call home, and all the Glory be to God,
In this last year I have grown, been shaped and experienced more than I could have imagined.

So here are just some of the many memories of this year,
A couple favorite photos from each spot.

Walking Like An Egyptian...Round 1

From Egypt I stopped over in Barcelona for a wee bit...

And then there was pain, backpacks, travel and full body burns DO NOT mix

After some rest and relaxation and a lot of Aloe Avera cream, I was on the road again, this time to 'The Pearl of Africa', Uganda, the place that has stolen my heart.

3rd World Bungee...Into the Nile

If anyone tries to tell you goodbyes are easy...they're lying.
But we push on, and there is nothing like some animals and team time to raise the spirits.

And then came the mountain,
The rooftop of Africa, Kilimanjaro,
A big mountain, a lot of elevation and a good friend.

And so the story goes, the mountain was conquered,
Matt and I escaped Tanzania by the skin of our teeth, leaving nothing more then my finger prints behind.

I returned home for what was just over a very short month and then back again to Egypt...
And here I've found myself, basking in Gods glory, found in the most unlikely place.

I'll leave you with a quick word of thank you to all those who have helped make this dream a possiblity through prayer and financial support.
Your love is a huge blessing to me and pray that in the following months I can continue to do you proud by being the hands of feet of Christ here in Egypt.

Here's a couple of clips from Egypt...round 2.

And this beautiful young woman, is Joy,
If my parents hadn't already told you, Joy and I have been dating now for a short while,
She is an amazing support to me and I truly do love her with all my heart,
I'm excited for you all to meet her.

In His Name,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Christmas In Cairo

2007-12-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

It is true,
The older you get, the faster the days turn into years.

Christmas is once again on the doorstep,
But it seems, for me, it's not knocking quite a loudly as it has in the past.

Cairo, 19 degrees today and sunny,
The streets look the same as every other day, cleanly swept yet still dusty.
There are no decorations lining the street lamps, no tinsel in the store windows, no "Merry Christmas" sign shamelessly hung from the balconies.
The only lights that are hung are those that have yet to be taken down from Ramadan, but you know what, I'll take it.

Needless to say, Christmas just doesn't seem like Christmas this year.

Now I sit and reflect on that thought and it scares me,
What is Christmas without the decorations, the songs and the friends and family?

Why is it that without all the consumer nonsense, the fancy packages and the flashy lights, without jolly Saint Nick and the tree adorned with presents, why is it that Christmas feels like just another day?

As I walked to work the other day, I bumped into a familiar face,
My neighbours boab, greeted me with a smile and a Merry Christmas!
My first "Merry Christmas" of the year and it was said through broken English by a Muslim...

Did he truely know what it meant?
Probably not, but he knows I am a Christian and it's important to me.

His smile told it all.

I was so caught up in my first Christmas away from home, so caught up in having my host family and Joy (my girlfriend) head back to England, I was so caught up in what I was missing this Christmas, that I had forgotten what I do have.

Shameful really,
A day to remember the birth of Christ, our Savior, God incarnate and I've seemed to forgotten.

Christ was born in Bethlehem, The Son of God, to live as the ultimate role model, to teach us of the Father and His abundance of love and then in the end, demonstrate it to us, obedient to death on the cross.

Christmas is here again, and this year I'm going to focus of the truth, the reason.
I'm going to dig beneath the glitz and the glam and I'm going to find my Savior there.

Merry Christmas Everyone,
May God Bless you abundantly and may you and your families have a moment to reflect on the truth of Christmas.

Grace, Peace and Blessings From Cairo,
Brent

Battle Cry

2007-11-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

"Suit up soldier, We're going to Egypt!"

It's a picture etched in my mind;
God standing there, speaking to my heart and myself eagerly nodding.

I got here to Egypt and dove into things just as eagerly as when I left home,
Things worked, weeks flew by, but I grew tired.
Nothing had changed to my work load, and while yes, it is a challenging place to live sometimes, Egypt itself hadn't changed any since I'd been here.
I got frustrated, I got angry with myself.
I continued to trudge through, not knowing why this tiredness was happening or what had caused it.

I failed to fully recognize that when God sent me here, He didn't send me alone.
I began to grow tired because I was fighting through things under my own strength alone.

Looking back at the picture now, I hear the words, "WE'RE going in."
I hang my head in shame, stupidly I had jumped the gun.
I forgot one of the most important truths of my faith, God is always with me.

I broke ranks, and as soon as I did, I was surrounded, exposed and outnumbered.

Our God is a God that lets us learn our lessons,
He doesn't let us take on more then we can bear.
Our God is great.

Just when I felt helpless, I realized why.
With my mind focused on God's strengths and truths the fighting got easier.
Nothing compares to Gods strength, darkness cowers at His voice.

God has been fighting here much longer than I have,
He has been using others in more powerful ways then I could have imagined,
and that Truth is humbling.

God has lifted my up and set me on a rock now,
I'm spending time with Him and learning more about His character as I do so.
As I spend some time reflecting I go back again to the picture of God instructing me.

"Suit up soldier, We're going in!"

I was suited up, I was strong, but when I stumbled, I found the holes in my armor,
The things I thought were hidden became my weakest points.

With God at my side, I have started on re-crafting my armor.

As part of my internship here, it was required that each of us take "Cell Pastor Training."
A course which focus' on raising up cell group leaders for the purpose of leading new church cells.
An aspect of the church which works on the Upward, Inward, Outward and Forward life of the church body.

Through my time in the course and through this newly focused time with God,
He has made it blatantly clear to me that I need to start a young mens study group within the refugee schools here.

The weakness that have been exposed are those that every young man struggles with on some level and with the insight and training that God has been granted me through this experience.
In no way am I set apart for this task, in no way do I have all the answers, but I have some experiences, some mistakes others can learn from.

The goal will be to provide a group in which these young men will feel comfortable in talking about the challenges they are wrestling with and through God's word and body, find restoration and a battle plan against that.

This time I suit up in confidence, with careful consideration for my weak points and a knowledge that God is fighting with me.

Thank you to you Jehovah-Nissi, The banner I carry forward.
Thank you to you Jehovah Shammah, The Lion at my side.

Onwards and Forwards,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

The Lonely Wanderers

2007-11-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to Egypt,
Allow me to set the scene.

The unforgiving Summer sun has given way to it's meeker Fall counterpart, as a warm breeze gently wafts down the Nile valley.
A vast assembly of vehicals continue to jockey about the tiny streets of the city, time after time sounding their horns in a chours of disapprovement, humbled by nothing less then looming mounds of pavement placed in less then strategic spots admist the streets.
Mosques litter the skyline, spewing opression over the city 5 times a day, shouting skywards to their deaf god.
The streets bustle with smiling people, chatter of Arabic and shouts of, "Welcome to Egypt!"
My replies of "I live here," fall short.

It's a short walk to the church every morning.
Familiar faces, dodging traffic, the little things in life that qualify as routine.

I have long since begun my work with the refugee community here,
And as I've sunk my teeth into the situation, I've realized in many ways, I've bitten off more then I can chew.
I've established relationships within the refugee schools, met with such organizations as the UNHCR, Caritas Egypt and Tadamon group, but the most impacting thing is hearing the personal accounts of war, famine and flight.

Refugees flock to Egypt from all over Africa and the Middle-East, and while each story is similar, they are all unique.
Some have come to escape war and perscution, others thinking Egypt will provide work and opperutnities, while more hope to make the seemingly short jump to Europe or North America, the much anticpated, just out of reach, "lands of milk and honey."

It's the footballer hoping and praying he'll be signed by a major team, each day passing him by as rent and cost of living compound.
The story of a grandmother and her grandchildren, fleeing an never-ending war, hoping for a chance at an education.
The journey of a million people, thinking that Egypt will provide them something more,
A million people, lost in a country, a system, a shattered dream.

It's a sea, a flood, and we've just made a ripple on the surface.

I do not mean to say that all is hopeless however,
Our God is a God who provides, Jehovah Jireh.

Each day it seems a new organization springs to life here in Egypt,
The want to help is strong, but often lost in the sea of despair.

It seems it's much easier to focus on the negitives in life, the faults, the failures, the short-comings.
It's a broken world, it's a more then a sea, more then an ocean and it has a vicious under current.

But God has ordained us, He has set us apart, He's lifted us out and granted us the ability to walk above it all.
Carefully we seemly tread, afraid to fall back in, unsure of the new ground me stand.
And while we may slip, we may begin to sink again but when we cry out Our God lifts us out.

Our God Who Walks With Us, Jehovah Shammah.

While we still remain with the tide beneith us, we are set apart.
And as we stand up straight, we are able to see the amazingness that is this world, the beauty within it, the good, the true and the tested.

The same is true here in Cairo,
In knowing God is true, and seeing the good that He has already accomplished,
The sea seems a little bit smaller.

With countless organizations working towards refugee rights, education and access to healthcare and affordable housing, we can approach the situation from all angles.

And while the stories of hurt and heartbreak will remain memories, may they be numbed by the breaking light on the horizon, the knowledge that someone cares and the peace of Jesus Christ.

No matter where we seem to find ourselves, God is still there with us.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Ramadan Halas

2007-10-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

The new moon marks the end of fasting and ushers in a time of celebation...
Fire crackers pop, mosques echo and Muslims find satisfaction in a full table.

Ramadan Halas...
Ramadan is over for yet another year.

Let there be eating in the streets,
May there be flowing water,
And let us enter the chaos that is عيد الفطر (Eid ul-Fitr), 'The Festivity of Breaking The Fast'.

For Muslims, this is a week of eating with friends and family and reflecting on god.
For everyone else, 'it's time to get out of Dodge.'

Eid ul-Fitr presents a time of rest for all, as it is a week long holiday for most Muslims.
Meaning most stores and business close.

I took advantage of an opportunity to hike through the mountains and valleys surrounding Mount Sinai.
Climbing with friends, encountering God in the amazingness of His creation.

It was a time of much needed rest, quiet contemplation and fellowship as we weaved our way through dry river valleys, climbed and scampered our way up and over daunting mountains, and discovered the secret beauty of hidden garden oasis'.

Our three days in the mountains was guided by a local Bedouin man, who we affectionately gave the title, "Bad Ass Bedouin."

A man who spent the first day hiking without food or water, never missing a step as he gently tread over loose rock and up steep slopes in nothing more then a humble pair of sandles.
This is a man with feet like leather, hands like asbestos and a worn face that tells the tales of a life in the mountains.

A man that is constantly surrounded by the awe of God's creation and yet continues to bow before idols.

Islam, Lucifers twisted creation, a chilling deception.

How can something point so bluntly towards God and yet be steered so far away.
So far away from His true love, and mercy and sacrifice.

For many here, the end of Ramandan is God's great mercy, a sad extent.

Time on the mountain is reflective, quiet praise and contentment...

*Enter Cairo*

It's nothing short of astonishing...the vast differences and the subtle similarities.

Life here is busy, days are never the same but things are always entertaining...depending on how you spin it.

The only things you can rely on here are your friends and call to prayer.

The echo from a dozen minarets encompasses the sounds below.

I never knew God was hard of hearing... until I arrived here. (Excuse my sarcasim)

The sound of oppression...it's scary how to some, it sounds like freedom.

God is always good though, and while their god refuses to act,
Mine is constantly at work, constantly pursuing, standing ever faithful, and loving.
My God hears my whispers and humbles me at my shouts...I need not shout,
While their god sends only prophets, mine sent Himself and remains with me still.

Who could ask for more?

Reason's Gone...Damage Stays

2007-09-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

An eerie screetch...laughter ceases...a scream...a crying child...headlights...horns....
Life in slow motion.

There lays a woman in a heap at the side of the road, her baby in the middle of the highway...a car speeds off.

I run...we run into traffic, traffic which continues to race by, slowing in the slightest.

Another cry of pain turns the stomach as we dart across the 3 laned highway.

The woman stirs, a dim hope.

The baby stirs as cars pass by him closely...prayers.

More cars, I slam their trucks as they pass...anger.

In Egypt crosswalks are non-exsistant, religion is law, and life just is not fair.

Crossing streets here is gambling with your life, car rarely slow, traffic swerves around those who drive with caution and lanes are non-exsistant.
A careful eye and some blissful ignorance allows forgieners to cross the congested streets and the occasional close call gives an added thrill.
Egyptians cross the street to get to the other side, simple.
They know the risks of taking your time, they've experianced the real danger of a misjudged step, this is their life and it's not a game.
44 people die for every 100,000 KM driven in Egypt, and when an estimate 80.5 Million people live in Egypt with roughly a third of them being drivers...statistics scare me.

The night is dark, there are few headlights.
She is dressed in a full veil, view restricted, black as the night...She takes that step.

Religion is law here,
It dictates everything from how time is spent to attire.
Attire...

The black figure flies over the hood, and rolls off the windshield and comes to rest in a black rumbled heap.

A child, dressed in red, thrown into tired, hectic traffic.

A car speeds away...

Here lies a woman and a child, faced with the very real danger of death.

Still not a sound from the child, though he stirs.

We do what comes instictively...
Some run away, while others run to, or stand strong and pray.

I pluck the child from the road, while two other interns block traffic.
I hold the child close to my chest as tears well in our eyes,

Suddenly there comes a cry from his mouth, a realization that not all is well...shock has worn off as quickly as it set in.

I check him quickly from broken bones, torn skin or bruises...nothing.

Mircles happen every day, I have witnessed this.

*God is good!*

The crowd around the woman is large now, many yell in Arabic and hustle about...I don't understand.
Cell phones...help is on it's way.

I walk with the child in my arms down the center divider...away from the chaos, he doesn't need to see or hear this.

He trembles as I bounce him in my arms, I whisper.

I look up to the side of the street...a dozen Christians pray.

*God is merciful.*

Minutes go by...

A man comes and places his hand on my shoulder, his face is soft.
He says something in Arabic, and motions to the child.
Sometimes don't need a translation, I hand the child off to him with a quick whisper.

I move towards the woman, she lay moaning, trying to right herself, others kneel beside her.

I take up spot and stand directing traffic with the others,

The crowd grows, traffic grinds to a hault...it's time to go.

We move through the traffic towards our friends on the sidewalk,

Hugs, tears and encouragements...

We walk to some taxis, and drive away.

An ambulance races past us.

More prayers....

A driver now sits at home, his car parked on the street below his flat...damaged, a haunting reminder.

He sits up tonight, He doesn't know the outcome of the accident, he doesn't know that the child lived, he doesn't know that the woman never got up again under her own weight.
His life is changed...He didn't stop.

The Ugly Puppet Show

2007-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

The curtain opens and there you stand,
A puppet on strings, a ventriloquist doll or a beautifully creative artist?

One who goes about life holding on by a string,
One who speaks only what they are told to speak, without a second though,
Or one who crafts something which is both pleasing to the Creator and spectator?

As the dust settled I grew strings, strings which were used to both hold me down, and steer me away from what I saw as right.
As the dust has begun to clear, I have noticed the ugly hooks which remain in myself,
And while the strings have been severed, still remains the potential for something to grab hold of me from the outside.

Hooks, embedded deep within the flesh, ugly things which cause the affected to oouze discontentment, discouragement, fear and sin.
Slowly I have begun to work the hooks I have found outwards...out of my being.
To tear is to damage, wounds become infected.

*Praise be to You, Jehovah Raphah*

The thought of being controlled by something other than God, terrifies me to my core.
I am not a puppet, not even God uses us as one.

We are free...to choose...to move...to listen and discern.

*Praise be to You, Jehovah Shalom*

The depiction of man on strings is a scary but often real representation of life here...and all across the globe.

All the world is a stage...
A fanciful cliche, or a scary truth?

As The Dust Settles

2007-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Desert sand coats everything here.
If you let anything sit long enough, either inside or out, it collects a flim of girtty flith.
Even now as I write, I sit atop a dust caked chair on a belcony overlooking the suburb of Maadi.

I have been here in Egypt two weeks now...
I have since left jet-leg in the wake of a fast paced life style, full of language classes, meetings, tasks and homework.
However, despite the lack consitant intermissions, Egypt has begun to feel like home to me and when the opportunity to surface and rest presents itself, I have found myself in the sweet embrace of the couch and a pizza box.

God has been both the forefront and distant longing in my heart over the last couple months.

Since arriving home from Africa in July, I retreated from myself.
I told the story of my travels but never really processed it, and I went from a "Spiritual high" into a cement wall.
I still was around God but never came before Him, never really focused on Him...
Dust settled.

The thing about dust is, unless it's on a hard, flat surface, it doesn't come out easily.
It collects in groves and poors and it piles up...

God didn't make us hard, nor did He make us flat.
It says that God shaped us and He continues to mold us.

We are incrediably detailed, carefully constructed beings and it's because we are so detailed, that it's so difficult to get all the dust out when it gathers.

My prayer life began to suffer, my want for more for decreased and God felt distant.

I know He never was, nor will He ever be, but I felt cut off, choaked in dust.
I was too embarrassed and too stubborn to ask for help.

And so I was off to Egypt...on a plane this first time more alone then ever.

I continued to struggle,
At prayer meetings I felt as though I was talking to God through a wall,
Alone I found it hard to come before God, I felt ashamed.

God is Good...All the time.

It was at church this weekend that some of the dust came off,

The amazing thing is we don't have to let dust settle, God doesn't want us to let it settle because when it does, it masks how beautiful we are and makes it impossible to continue to grow.

All the time...God is Good

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Comfortable Discomfort

2007-09-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's funny how...
No matter how far away you are from home, no matter how different the place you're in, or no matter what surrounds you, you still have the choice whether or not to engage or stay at arms length.

I'm in Egypt,
It's dirty, it's hot and it's dusty.
The language is problematic, the culture is forgein and call to prayer brings everything to a stop.
It's different here, but it's beautiful all the same.

I love it here in Egypt, it's stretching, it's not always easy but it's nessesary.

This internship I have chosen to take part in subjects us to the harsh reality that is a broken world.
We are given the opportunity to engage a part of life, a part of this world which brings us beyond our comfort zone, and in some cases shocks us to our core.

It shakes us to our moral core, and brings in to questions what really is right and what is wrong and what is "wrong" because we just don't want to face it.

It seems a lot of time to face something, to question some things, allows God to present us with an opportunity to change.

Am I being blunt, or criptic?

One persons negatives are anothers way of life.

Who am I to ask for a change which better suits me and my western ideals?

I have been presented with a beautiful home here in Egypt. Thanks to the beautiful family I am staying with and the items from home which I have brought, I could chose to be very comfort and trust me, there will be days in which I will chose to.
To stretch too far is to break but to make a habit of it is to ignore God and His calling on our lives.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Smooth Sailing

2007-08-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

With a title like that I shouldn;t have to write much else.

I am here...or there, which ever way you care to look at it.

I landed in Cairo, Egypt at 12:41AM Egyptian time...10:41PM Yesturday for you folks on the West-coast.
Unlike my last journey, I made it soundly through security, picked-up my bags and my bike and met my friend outside the gates.
The wash of desert heat covered me as I stepped into the night air, it's not something you can really prepare for. At 1 in the morning, the 25 degree heat messes with your senses.

We loaded up the car and drove towards Maadi, through the streets crawling with night life.
Traffic, no stop lights, blarring horns, and yelling. Welcome back to chaos.

I'm staying with a young family here in Maadi. They have two cats, a 11 month old little girl and one on the way.
They were asleep when I arrived, and we tip-toed around the apartment as not to wake them...They returned the favour in the morning.
I was to sleep on the couch for the first few days, they had guests. It won't be long untill I move into the currently occupied penthouse apartment.
The family left me a note, some water and a granola bar and after devouring all but the note, I went to bed.

I awoke at quarter to 12 in the morning to the sound of the maid, busily cleaning the house.
I dressed introduced myself and then headed out towards the church.

40 degree heat greeted me outside.

The church is a short walk away, maybe 10 minutes...I got lost.
I met many new staff and saw many more familiar faces.

Once arriving home again, I finally met the family. A very friendly American couple, and a very cute, very talkitive little baby.
We sat and ate dinner together and learned a little about eachother.

It's a great little set up I have here, a good couple to stay with, a great apartment and some amazing work ahead of me.

I'm looking forward to all the Egypt has in store.
That's all for now.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

English Breakfast Anyone?

2007-08-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

Once agin I find myself writing to you from London Heathrow Airport...Terminal 4.
After a relatively eventless flight and a sleepless night, I'm on the brink of Egypt...One flight to go.
I've hunkarded down in a little resturant, and I'm greeted by the smell of a traditional English breakfast...with a chocolate milkshake, my own little twist.

I'm tempted by the Enlgish chocolate the lines the hallways of the airport, and a flash of Prision Break Season 2 in the window of HMV has caught my attention.

People.
From all over the world, different languages, saying good-bye, shouting hello.
There's fear, stress, nervousness and excitment. Whether it's seperate or mixed, it hangs in these halls.

I'm beginning to feel as if I'm a veteran of traveling now...this is my fourteenth flight in the last 4 months.
I haven't quite decided what I'm feeling just yet, but I think it can be described as the "in-transit".
I'm not yet excited, it's on hold untill I arrive, there's still things to deal with.
I'm not nervous, though I'm sure when I land in Egypt I will be...if not right away then as soon as we get in the car, driving there is a test of nerves for anyone.
It's just the sense of what needs to be done, check-in, get on the flight, get my visa, get my bags, get to my ride...and then I can breathe.

For now I'm going to dig into my breakfast and wonder these halls.
I'll post again shortly after reaching Egypt.
For now,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Walk Like An Egyptian

2007-08-07T18:12:00.001-07:00

Dear family and friends,

And there you go, already your minds are racing, ‘a generic greeting, followed by a corny joke. He never sends us letters, he’s must be asking for something again.’

It seems I just returned from one of my adventures, it’s true. I still haven’t begun to process all that God has shown me from my two and a half months on the continent of Africa. However, the truth of the matter is, I do not think I will ever be able to wrap my mind around those experiences, as brief as they were.

During my time in Egypt I was invited to apply for an internship offered by Maadi Community Church. The position would be in the Outreach and Development department of the church, at which I will start as a general intern until I begin to shape and focus my interests and heart on to one particular project or ministry.
I was accepted and given time to re-evaluate my commitment to this opportunity.
I spent several weeks in talks with God, as well as friends, family and mentors, discerning where my heart truly lay.
I have decided it would not only be in my own best interest to go to Egypt for this year, but I believe it is also in God’s plans for my life.

That said, having spent a month in Egypt previously, I can already safely say my interests will be focused on the Sudanese Refugee Schools in the Maadi area.
I witnessed first hand the struggles these children faced in attaining a proper education in a setting which is both nurturing and inviting.
I feel that no child should have to fear going to school, nor miss meals to provide the funds for education.
You can not teach hungry, scared children.

Yes, I may sound naive to some. I know I can not change the whole world at once, however I can fight to better parts of it, over time.

I believe Maadi Community Church is the perfect place to facilitate my ideas and drive, while providing a sound Christian community and teachings for my foundation.

Having said all that, this is the interactive part of the letter.
I can humbly say that I cannot walk this path alone. Both the financial and spiritual commitments are too heavy for me to bear alone.
I am asking for your help.
The cost of this internship will be $9,000 CAN, which will include my flights to and from Cairo and all my costs for the year in Maadi. All donations are tax-deductible if made out to “Maadi Community Church” with “Brent White’s Internship” labeled in the memo slot.

While money is an important matter, it is only a temporary thing. Above all else, I would value your prayers while I am gone.
I know this will be a time of deep spiritual learning and shaping and I ask that you would continue to pray that God use me and mold me towards the man he wants me to be.

Off one plane and on to another.
God has called me, and I have been blessed to be called at such an early stage in my life.
I have been more so blessed to have such a strong, loving base of family and friends.

Thank you for your prayers and support and most of all for your friendship.
May God Bless you and keep you,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent White

P.S.

A letter can only say so much. I would love to hear from you in person. Please feel free to give me a call anytime at 604-836-2082 or email me at ppac.uganda@hotmail.com. I will also be continuing my blog while in Egypt, the address is www.brentgoestoafrica.blogspot.com

A Troubled Mind

2007-07-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding this...

I've been home now for just over a week, embraced once again by North American culture.
I sit now, at home, warm, healthy, feed...but uncomfortable.

I think the greatest irony lies in this fact:

I just spent 2 and a half months in Africa. A place where creature comforts are the way of a distant world, a light that shine on the horizon, a hope for future generation.
I slept in a tent, I was hungry at times, at night I was cold...and yet I was comfortable.
I was more then comfortable, I loved it.

Life continues now, it's good to be home, but I hate it at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, my home life is great. My family amazing, as are my friends...it's just that almost indescribable want for more.

I knew the transition was going to be tough, I've been here before, but it's safe to say as each day goes by, it increases my longing to go back to Africa, more specifically Uganda.

Not a day goes by where I fail to see the smiling face of one those perecious kids, nor where I forget the love, the welcome, the longing for God.

There is something about Africa, something about the uncentainity, the unrelaible, the lack of much.

I've have been offered an internship at Maadi Community Church in Egypt, and after much thought, prayer and council, I have decided to accept it.

I'll be away from home for a year, positioned in the Outreach and Developement department of the church.
I'll be working along side of the Sudanese refugees, the forgotten people in Egypt.

It is an amazing oppertunity, and I would be foolish to pass it up.

I'll need to raise support for my year away to cover such things as food, room and board and other such expensis.

I leave at the end of August.

This is my first firm step towards my goal of becoming a Missionary in Africa.

I'm standing at the beginning of my future...

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Hell and High Altittudes...

2007-07-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Won't slow us down.
Matt and I are safely back at base level after an amazing 5 days on the tallest mountain in Africa.
Needless to say we are both a wee bit knackard, however we are both in high spirits.

Our journey began 5 days ago.
The two of us, 4 porters, one cook, an assistant guide and our guide, Safiel, piled into a van and drove to the Muchme gates.
There we unloaded, signed in, met some other teams and finally started our much antisipated hike to the 'rooftop of Africa'.
4 hours of relatively easy hiking through lushous rainforest, we were at camp...
We were shocked, the climb was going to be easy if this is all Kili had in store for us...
It wasn't.
6 AM wake up call the next morning, breakfast and then started our grulling uphill hike some 2000 metres. We left well ahead of our porters, as they had to pack up but not an hour into the hike they passed us.
These porters are amazing, they carry everything on their heads, sometimes some 50pounds, as they navigate the wyndy and sometimes quite challanging trails.
Matt and I arrived first at the camp, it was quite the stroke to our egos, the mountain was ours for the taking...
6AM day three quickly changed our minds. Hiking up to a lava tower some 4,600 metres up, then back down through a valley to our camp, which lay 600 metres below...
Both Matt and I were not excited for the slow decent through the glacier fed valley to the camp, knowing that every step down ment we would have to climb again tomorrow.
The camp site was amazing, they all were, but this one especially. The glaciers lay above us, looming some 2000metres above, and the forest below, what seemed like 4000metres straight down.
We were awe struck and spent some much needed time in God's presense as we gazed at His emense creation.
Our guide snapped us out of it a little while later while explaining our route the next day, all he had to do was point to the monsterous wall beside us and both Matt and I felt like mush.
It was one of those trails you should be tied in for, and as we embarked it the next moring we both hugged close to the walls.
The wall climbed what looked like a vertical 200metres above the campsite, with the only thing to break your fall being the forest canopy the 4000metres down.
We made it however, and the view was amazing.
From there it was another 3 hour push to the next campsite. The longest day in my books and much of it was strenous uphill, meet by hazardous downhill, and then again more uphill.
Some 20 mintues from camp however we stopped for a much needed game of target practice on some rock trail markers.
We made it to camp, napped, ate and were awoke at 11 sharp for our summit attempt.
Headlamps ready we snaked our way up the switchbacks from our camp, we passed some other groups but everyone was set one watching their feetwork and keeping their minds off the cold, biting winds.
It was 4:00AM when we reached the top, it was time for the final push to the summit, Uhuru Peak, the tallest point in all of Africa.
We pushed for another 30 minutes fighting fatique, -20 degree winds and he slippery glacier which lay below our feet.
We fought and won,but it hurt.
The mountain stripped us of most of our pride and we made a hasty gateway after a few photos.
Altitude sickness hits hard and fast. Matt started to feel it near the summitt and we needed to get down.
We decended back down to camp, skating along scree slopes, the accent took 5 hours, the decent not even an hour.
From there we headed quickly to the basecamp.
27,500 feet in just over 12 hours,
We're both back in the hotel now, one day early but very thankful.
The high altitude camping, freezing temperaters and rock hard beds are the things that memories are made of, however we're quite happy to be resting our heads in a hotel tonight.
We have a couple days in town yet, we fly on the 11th, home on the 12th.
We're both ready to be heading home.
We're both feeling well, kings of our own worlds and are getting along great.
That's all for now.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent (& Matt)

The Rooftop Of Africa

2007-07-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Let the final leg of this african adventure begin...
Matt and I are now safe and sound at the base of Kilimanjaro, we start climbing tomorrow morning.
We left the team last night at Nairobi airport, and it was really then that life began to get a wee bit hectic.
I checked in with my confirmation number and found out I was bumped from the flight. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.
After a little bit of prayer from both Matt and I, the Kenya Airways rep came back and said he could put me on a flight from Nairobi to Mumbasa and then down to Kili.
I would arrive an hour later then Matt...not ideal but the best we could do...and I only had 15 minutes to catch it.
Matt and I relucantly and frantically parted ways and I hustled to catch the flight.
I arrived in Mumbasa at 12:15AM...my conecting flight was at 9:30AM, it was time to hunker down again.
The airport is almost completely outdoors and at 12:30 in the morning everything was closed, safe one cafe.
I grabbed my bags, and lay down in the corner of the outdoor cafe.
I was awoke many times by staff, "The mosiquitos will bite you," they would say.
At 3 in the morning I woke to a security guard offering to buy me food, it was shift break and a bunch of them stood around chuckling at the 'fuchio muzugu' (crazy muzungu).
I thanked him but opted for some more sleep.
The airport began to come alive around 5:30AM with many people standing in cue for a flight to London.
The cafe owner woke me again to check if this was my flight, and when I said no she instead bought me breakfast...I was very grateful as the ATM's were broken.
I checked in and went upstairs to the lounge, hopped on the internet awhile and waited for my flight.
At 9AM, half an hour before my flight was suppose to leave, a Kenya Airways rep came in and told me they had cancelled my flight.
Again!
They instead gave me more tickets, I would reach Kilimanjaro International Airport by 3:30PM...but Matt was expecting me at 10AM.
I had them call for him in Kili and inform him of the change of plans.
I now boarded a flight bound, first for Zanzibar then Dar Es Salam before changing flight to bounce up to Kilimanjaro.
5 Airports in 24 hours...just a small feat.
Upon ariving in Kilimanjaro Internation Airport I frantically searched for Matt, asked if anyone knew if the message had been passed along, or if there was a message for me...Nothing.
Should I go to Moshi? Or Should I stay and see if Matt would show?
I opted for the first option and headed out to the car park for the free shuttle.
A taxi driver spotted me and asked why I looked so worried.
I told him the story and he had just so happened been at thye ifo desk when Matt asked for our company.
He took me to the place where he was staying.
After about 45mins of driving, I arrived, was informed that yes indeed Matt was there.
We were both very happy to see each other, all he was told is that my flight was cancelled.
At 5 we sat down for a briefing on the Mountain, went and grabbed some gear and here we sit now.
7:30, dinner time.
We climb tomorrow at 8:30AM.
The mountain look gorgeous and we are both very much excited, but almost ready for home.
6 days on the mountain and a couple of flights later we will be in Vancouver at 3:30 on the 12th.
For now,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent (& Matt)

Alive And Well

2007-06-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

Alright so I've come up for some air,
I figured a couple weeks without any blog activity may have caused a couple people to start worrying (ie. my parents)
First of all, sorry for the lack of communication, I have not found myself with a lot of time to sit at a computer.
Secondly, internet here is very slow.
I've tried postng a couple times but the posts and emails have timed out.

So a quick update from Uganda.

I spent my first two weeks here with the Jeff and Shannon and their three little ones.
I ventured into Jinja for a five days to visit, raft and bungee into the Nile river and oh wow do I have some stories...you'll have to wait for.

The time spent at the 10 acres was preping for not only the arrival of the team but also 20 young kids which now call Suubi house their new home. (Until I find a way to sneak them home.)

I've been busy, God is good and I am healthy.

Lots of things to think through and process however.

The team is here and busy, it's a great team and they are thriving.

Time is running out.

Will post again soon.

Grace, Peace and Blessings ,

Brent

Nostalgia

2007-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I sit now, overlooking the lush green hills of Mpigi Uganda.
I'm surrounded by the sound of happy children, light african music and boda boda drivers yelling, "hey Mzungu, you need ride?"

The smell is the same, the smiles are the same but much has changed.

I flew in under the cover of darkness once again, landing in Entebbe airport at the un-godly hour of 3:45.

After much work (and a long story) at customs, I was on my way out the doors, greeted by the tired yet smiling faces of Jeff Dyck and Malumba!
After a warm welcome we hopped in Micheal's car and we were off to Mpigi, a 2 hour drive along the dark, the pot hole invested streets. Jeff handled the car well though and we arrived unscathed, (had I been driving it could have been a different story.)

After sleeping in the on site Medical Clinic for all of 2 hours I awoke to the sound of the Dyck children and Rebekah in the doorway, it was time to get up and prepare for church.

One of the first must do's was visiting the childrens homes.. there are two full homes now, and a third one which will be filled when the team arrives in two weeks.
The kids have grown so much, so remembered me, some did not, but it is amazing to see them all again healthy and happy.

A quick greeting to the church, many happy encounters with old friends and a renovation of sorts I write to you now as the sun sets on my first day returning to Uganda.

I must go now, but I am safe, I am very happy and I am ready for my next adventure.
More to come soon.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Long, Expensive Contemplation

2007-06-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

I sit, writing to you now as I wait for a plane out of Madrid.
I've been hunkard down here for the last two days, trying to get out, but to no avial.
I arrived two days ago by train via Barcelona, the plane was to fly stand-by on the next flight to Cairo...it didn't work. Instead, I had to seek refugue in a hotel on the outskirts of Madrid, waiting for my schedualled flight out.
I would have rather spent a couple days extra in Cairo before departing for Uganda. It would have been considerably cheaper, more exciting and fun, but God has a funny way of working.

Until two days ago, I had been constantly busy, on the move, with people. I had not had time to sit and reflect on my experiances thus far, I hadn't been able to soak it all in.

Now drop yourself in Madrid, alone, with nothing to do but sit and wait...and reflect.

Things become almost overwhelming.

Looking back on the past month was all one big blur, a series of leasons, events jammed into a rather short amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, in no way is this a bad thing, quite the opposite really.

I've learned more about myself, my God and life in these last weeks then ever before.

I've in these last two days, I've slowly been able to make sense of God's calling on my life and the person I am.

Have I figured it all out?

Of course not, I think it takes a life time, but little by little things seem to clear up.

Life has been relatively easy for me but I understand that Life is rarely easy, nor should it be.

Where would we be if not for the pitfalls?

The times when we've had to pick ourselves up, or needed someone else to pick us up.
The times were it felt like we've crawled on our knees to get through a day, let alone a week, or even a year.
The times were we needed to sit, reflect and lick our wounds before pressing on.

Is it worth it to sit in the comforts of this world and never let yourself be broken?

“ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:3 (NKJV)

Is it worth it?

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Sleepless In Barcelona

2007-05-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

And there you have it, I'm in Barcelona.
I arrived yesturday morning at 4:30AM, the airport was quiet and the sun still hidden.
I hunkerd down in the airport, waiting for the world to wake. I didn't have a hostel for the night, and there was no point in venturing into the city at that ridiculous hour. So there I waited, trying to catch so valuable hours, if not minutes of sleep...but sleep never came.
The airport slowly began to come alive around 7:30,
I had decided I was going to tent it on the beach, the Mediterranian waves crashing, stars shining. Besides it was only for one night, I had a hostel booked for the next few nights. However after a few long exhausting hours in an airport, camping under the stars doesn't sound so appealing, and I still had the rest of the day to look forward to. I quickly hopped on the internet and began the frantic search for a hostel in the downtown area...they were all booked.
Perhaps a hotel then, slightly more expensive but it would be worth it for a hot shower and a comfy bed.
I had to pick up the girls at the train station downtown so I found a hotel near there, grabbed a few euros at an exchange hut, jumped in a taxi and away I went.
The hotel was a literal 50metres from the train station and they just so happened to have a relatively cheap, (in comparison to other hotels) room ready for me.
The hotel was beautiful, The Torre Catalunya Gran Hotel, The room came equiped with a two showers, a bath tub, two double beds, a television and view of half of Barcelona city. It wasn't too bad ;).
After settling in I began to explore the rest of the hotel, it was then thatI discovered the resturant on the top floor.
Situated on the top floor, the entire outside wall consists of windows, providing an amazing view of the entire city and surrounding area. And it just so happened to be serving an all you can eat breakfast, equiped with every breakfast to brunch food you could possibly imagine.
Everything from hashbrowns, to freshly cut deli meats, to chocolate covered pastries, to fresh fruit lay before my greedy little eyes and hungry stomach.
Needless to say I got my moneys worth.
I retired to my room catching a valuable hour of sleep before my requested wake-up call did just that.
It was time to venture over to the train station and find a meeting spot.
After much work (I vastly regret not taking Spanish in highschool) I finally found the train platform and it wasn't long before Kristin and her friend Kerry appeared.
After a short greeting we found our way to the underground system and went on our way to their hostel.
The underground ride was quiet as sleep remained a distant dream for all of us.
We soon found their hostel, they got settled and we decided on a night of exploring this forgien city.
We walked and talked, trading stories, getting increasing lost in the streets of Barcelona and enjoying each others company.
After much aimless walking we found a Starbucks, (a much needed stop) as well as a Subway. We decided dinner was much needed and grabbed a couple subs.
We continued our walk after dinner and spotted some spotlights in the sky, instictively we decided to head towards them, and after much walking, we discovered the source. A fantastic parliment like building with a large fountain in front of it.
The fountain had drawn quite a crowd as it threw water about in step with classic music which was being belted out from the center of it. It was quite amazing.
After the show we decided it was time for bed, so we hopped on the metro system, I dropped off the girls and I headed back to my hotel.
I checked out the next morning and made my way over to the downtown core, grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe and waited for the girls before checking into my new home for 4 nights.
That day we continued to explore, hopping on a tourist bus and seeing some of the "must see" sights of Barcelona.
This place is a very beautiful city. (Pictures to come).
That night we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe just off the main strip and enjoyed a very "Americana" meal after which it was time for sleep.
I have enjoyed sleeping in Barcelona, I didn't sleep much in Egypt, so I seem to be making up for it here.
Yesturday was beach day, we hopped on a train for 45mins to a place called Sitges, where the beaches are beautiful and the Medditerainian waves pound the shore.
I spent most of the day frying myself to a deep red colour, both on the beach and in the ocean.
I paying for it today.
After several hours out in the lovely town of Sitges, we came back to Barcelona for dinner, a couple drinks and more sleep.
And today here I sit, my final full day in Barcelona.
The ladies travel tomorrow bright and early and my goal is to bump up my flight to Egypt.
I am suppose to fly out of Madrid on the 1st of June, spend 24 hours in Cairo again and finally hop on another flight down to Entebbe.
If possible though, I would love to fly out either tomorrow night or on the 31st, spend a couple extra days in Egypt and then head down to Uganda.
We'll see what my travel agent has to say however.
Alright, this is it for now.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

2007-05-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

So here I stand, bags packed, friends behind me, ready to board a plane again.

I've fallen in love with the work I have been doing here in Egypt, with the friends that I have made here and now I'm boarding another plane and leaving.

Was three weeks enough time here?

Not by any stretch of the imagination, it was just long enough to get a small taste of what Egypt has in store.
There are so many flavours here, only God could have dreamt up such a place as this...and now I'm leaving.

They say you should never look back because you never know what lies ahead, but it's impossible not to, just as it was impossible not to when leaving home.

Am I excited to keep traveling?

Yes of course. I know I have so many more adventures ahead of me, so many more chances to grow within myself and within my relationship with God. I want to continue traveling, exploring the world and walking the path that God has set before me but I also want to return to Egypt.

I have applied for an internship here within the Outreach and Development department at Maddi Community Church, and I have been praying that God will give me the chance to fulfill that role, it's just a waiting game now. Waiting and praying.

As I stand again at the edge of comfort I can take knowledge in the fact that God will never lead me astray, He has His hand in my life and as long as I chose to go where He leads I will be Blessed.

Please continue to pray for me as I embark on my next journey.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Lost In The Moment

2007-05-18T16:30:00.001-07:00

It seems a lot of my posts have been rather serious lately,
I'm not going to apologize about that, however, I think it is time to lighten the mood for a moment.

I can't say it enough, Egypt is continuing to grow me and shape me and I'm beginning to love it here. I know God is doing some amazing things here at Maadi Community Church and I very much want to see that.

I've been indulging in many adventurous activities here as well, it's not all work...in fact, there has been a very healthy balance of play as well.
I've taken dinner cruises down the Nile river,

I have sailed on a couple Faluccas down the river,

I've been to the Giza pyramids 5 times including once on camel back.

I;ve crept into the heart of these monsterous structures and seen people of all cultures conversing in which once was someones overgrown tomb.

I;ve ventured through tombs, seen mummies, and seen their life stories written out in hyrogiphs.

I've driven through cities of garbage, and cities of crypts.

I've seen churches carved into the walls of a canyon.

I;ve ridden horses through the desert, at night. Watched the pyramid light show from the sand dunes, on horse back.

(Pictures to come)

I've wined and dinned with the who's who at the British Embassy.
I've dodged Egyptian traffic, biked my way through a maze of streets and cars.

I;ve climbed my way up and elevator shaft to the top of my building just to take photos.

I've eaten at more resturants then I can count, eaten the Egyptain staple foods, and the delicousies, including bird tounge soup.

I've made friends with ex-hit men, diamond smugglers, Marines, military, security officials and taxi drivers.

I've enjoyed everything I've seen and done here in Egypt but it seems as if you would need a full life time to see and do it all. I've hardly ventured outside of Maadi and Cairo and I still haven't see it all here.
Mount Sinai is here, the valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor dam, all recommended, however it's just too far and I;m too busy to get down there.

The history in the place is amazing, the people in the place are awesome and God is doing some amazing things.

Please pray for Egypt,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

The Uphill Fight

2007-05-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

I have been challenged in my faith many times over the course of my life,
I have stumbled, I have questioned, and I have grown through it all.

God has remained faith to me even when I haven't been.

I was in a discussion today with a man about sin.
We had differening opinions and what was and what wasn't a sin, without going into too much detail, I took a little more conservative approach while he went for more of a liberal standpoint.

He is a very intelligent man, well read and very quick and he brought up many reasonable questions, to which I had some replies, some opinions and some stock answers. All of which I trusted, few of which had been tried by fire.

He came then to the "7 Deadly Sins" and pointed to the fact that they are not addressed in the Bible.
Now I'll be the first to admit, though I am ashamed of it, I have not read my Bible cover to cover.
I trust in it, it's the Word of God.

That said, I couldn't tell you if they are or not.
However, he assured me they are not, we pressed on and he challenged me to explain how some of them were practical.

Practicality, it's a pretty broad term really. What is practical?
Is Pratical just another way to say easy.

We don't seem to like to do unpractical things, because it isn't normal, it takes us out of our comfort zone.

But is the call to act "Christ-like" an easy thing to pick up and run with?

We're called to set ourselves beyond reproach, not to be of this world, only in it.

Sin is of this world, it causes us to faulter. It causes us guilt and shame.
Guilt is a useless emotion, it's a tool for Satan and his minions.

We lose sight of God when we fall into sin, we turn a blind eye to the green pastures He offers us.

But The Lord is gracious and compassionate, He's slow to anger and rich in love and He constantly calls for us.

No man or woman is above sin, we all fall short, we all deal in sin, it is all around us, we sin constantly.

Yet does that give us an excuse not to fight?

Did Jesus ever say it was too hard?

We're called to be "Christ-like" people, it's not an easy call.

It's time to get off our high horses and crawl to the foot of the cross.

He will be waiting with open arms and a wash of forgiveness.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent

Darkness Festers...And Fails

2007-05-11T12:46:00.001-07:00

What does it mean to wrestle with your demons?
Is it just a phrase or does it have a deeper, more literal meaning?

I've been in Egypt a week now, and met some great people, some new friends and formed bonds I know will last for many years to come.
Through my encounters with new people I've learned more and more about myself and God is showing me my stregthens and weaknesses.

I've met a man who has wrestled with his demons in a very literal way, he's not only wrestled with them but he's walked with them. He used to call them, use them and abuse their powers. He was a dark man and he lived in the darkness.

But it seems that no matter how dark the room is, no matter how tightly the door is closed, God's light finds a way in.

He told me once, "I used to fight Jesus off with a stick, a stick with a nail in the end of it. I used to yell at Him to stay back, but He just kept coming. I kept swinging, but He just kept coming and finally He grabbed me and wrapped His arms around me."

He's never been the same since. He'll live with what he's done for the rest of his life, but he can take comfort in the fact that when he finally did ask for forgiveness of his sins, it was given to him.

He still sees the demons, but he doesn't bow.

In another conversation with me he turned to me and said, "It's very easy for me to believe in God because I've seen, I've seen both sides, I've been in the darkness, and yet God still found me, I don't have to believe, I know!"

So what does it look like to truely know God?

Many of us walk through life believing in God, trusting in Him, reading His word, seeing all that He created and living in the flesh that he knit together, but still many of us never hear the voice of God, we never see his angels, we live our lifes through faith.

We can take comfort in His word, we can take comfort in the historical facts that Jesus lived, but it takes more then that to walk through life.

It takes faith.

We can't even begin to understand the will of God, we can't begin to phathom is being and if we were to stand in His presense we would tremble and fall to our knees.

Yet what we do know is that God loves us, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. He bore the wait of all our sins, past, present and future on His shoulders.

With that understanding, with that comfort, we can come to the cross, bow, acknowledge, pleed and find forgiveness.

Even a man so deeply rooted in sin that we walked and talked with demons and find salvation through the Son.

There is a war going on, we don't all see it, we can't all feel it, but it's there. It's a fight for our salvations, it's a fight for our lives. It goes on all around us and there are many casualities.

We need to pick up our arms and fight.

In the end God will win, there is no doubt about that.

However, where will you be when the dust settles?

The war is being fought for you, it rages on constantly.

We need to pick up our arms and fight for God.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Egypt...Where Worlds Collide

2007-05-11T04:04:00.001-07:00

I'm staying in an area of Egypt, Maadi, largely populated by Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Aussies and Kiwis.
Some are here to make a buck, some are here to help. Some of them resist the local culture, some of them dive head first into it.

There are places here strictly devoted to certain groups of people, you have to 'be someone' or know someone to get in.
They are walled, they are guarded and they are exclusively, exclusive.
Yet down the street from all this money, refugees from Sudan, Nigeria, and everywhere else in Africa fight to get the basics.
Food, water, education does not come easy if you do not have money, if you do not have white skin.

The church here in Maadi is working for change, it's working for equality.

My time here has been largely spent in the schools for refugees.
These schools are dark buildings, where the water drips from the taps and the walls struggle to stay upright.
The books are old, tattered and outdated and the standard level of education is low.
The children struggle to learn, but the world seems to over power them.

You can't teach hungry children.

Maadi Community Church has recogized these problems and is fighting for and with these schools to bring them up and over the National bar.

My time has been spent catologing books as so we know which textbooks, work books and story books each school has.
But most importantly, a large amount of my time has been spent profiling children, assessing there level of comprehension, and the care that they receive.

Many of the children enter the schools and are thrust into a grade level that best suits their age grouping, not their education level, therefore these children begin a needless fight to stay a float in a curriculum that is already over there heads.

There is no thought of the long term effects these children will have on the world once they have grown and matured.
With the proper education these kids will thrive and accel in the world of tomorrow.
They will be able to support families of their own, hold jobs in a competitive market and advance in life.
Without this education, they will be thrust into the world, blind, alone and scared.

I have met seasoned teachers who have come to Cairo to help and found it overwhelming.
I have met members of relief organizations who don't know where to start.

In my opinion, it starts with the children and yes, it is overwhelming. But we can't leave it like we found it. It's our job to fight on behalf of those who can not fight for themselves.

Sometimes when you venture behind the walls of the clubs, these refugees become a topic of conversation, sometimes they are forgotten about.
Yet you walk not even 10 minutes down the road and you bump into the schools, the children, the struggle and you can't help but wonder why.

Cairo is an interesting place and I know God is showing me much through my time here.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

A Reflection From Egypt...

2007-05-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

So I've been here for over a week now,
I've seen a lot of the sights, I've been exposed to the culture, there's been excitment, drama and action...
I could write a book, but a blog will have to do for now.
I've meet some great people here in Egypt, and they've kept me pretty busy in my down time...and that's a good thing. I like to stay busy, and social.
The other night we went to the bizzare downtown Cairo. Narrow streets, clogged with people and dust, with shop vendors every 5 meters.
There are a lot of things to see, and even if you're not into that kind of thing, it's an experiance.
The night consisted on myself and friends here (who happened to be women) walking, exploring and buying all sorts of loot.
It's a different culture here. Every store we past it was either, "I have what you looking for? What do you need?" or "Come here and I make very special price for you." To which we tended to have sarcastic replies.
They were in your face and they were physical, however, when I had had enough all I had to do is growl the word "Shokran" (Thanks but no thanks) and wave my hand and the men would back of with a "Sorry, sir."
The girls on the other hand had no such luck, no matter how forceful, no matter how frustrated they were, the sales men were relentless...I think this is why they brought me along.
After a short while, I would growl "Shokran" and every and anyone who approached us trying to sell something, at which point they backed off, it was then that the girls would decide if they wanted anything or not.
I must say it was kind of fun playing my authority roll but it got old quick.
The other part of going out with a bunch of women, is the fact that the men stare...
The metro (their equivilant to the skytrain/subway) ride there were men who sat down right next to the girls, uncomfortably close, and in the bizzare the men offered me camels to marry the women "I give you 200 camels for that one!" They would yell.
How is that right anywhere?
Cultures clash, and there seems to be little room to work inbetween...
Egypt has thus far been an amazing, eye-opening and testing experiance.
Only God could prepare me for what is happening here.
He is working here in Egypt, (He is working everywhere) it's strong here, you can feel it.
I look forward to the things the Father continues to teach me, and how He continues to mold me.
I hope all is well back home, I apologize for the lack of communication.
I'll work on staying on top of that from now on. It's daunting when I'm behind a couple days, so much happens in a day here.
I'll work on it.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Pyramid, Camels And Mummies...A Typical Day In Egypt

2007-05-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

So I've been here in Egypt a couple days now. Jetleg has worn off, I'm quickly getting used to the heat (it's 38 degrees here today...and it's going to get warmer over the next few days,) and I'm "finding" my way around town (there has been a lot of trail and error. The streets run in every direction in no particular order.)
I decided when I got here that I would do all the touristy stuff before I dug into my work here at Maadi church, so today was the day I ventured out to the pyramids.
The tour guide picked me up outside my apartment at 8 this morning. He was recommended by a women in the church here and he turned out to be a very nice man. His name was Ramone, and it turned out he had been working as a guide for 7 years. He knew his stuff.
After about a 45 minute drive, the tops of the pyramids became to show themselves above the skyline on Cairo.

It wasn't long before we hit the outskits of citylimits and were in the desert, the only thing standing between me and miles of sand and khamseens (sandstorms) were three rather large pyramids and a cat-like man.

Ramone told me all about the history of the pyramids, then before letting me go and take pictures he warned me about the local "business men" that preyed on tourists.
Almost as soon as he turned back to the car a several men came up to me, "Shokran," I said many times (meaning thank you but no thank you) and they slowly realized that I wasn;t wanting any of their trinkets.
I took out my camera and took a few photos, then another man came up to me with a smile, I knew he wanted my money.
"You should be in photo," he said, "I take your picture, you be with pyramid."
I chuckled and responded, "Ah, but you want money for it."
"No no no, I just take your picture," he said and reached for my camera.
I withdrew for a second. He was an older man, it's not like he could take it and run from me, besides military and "tourist police" were standing guard almost everywhere.
"Alright," I said handing him the camera, "but I have no money for you."
"No no money," he said and began to size up the shot. He knelt down and got up almost immedately, "You too close, not see pyramid. Come over to side, you get whole pyramid in picture." He began to walk away, my camera in hand.
I liked the idea of being in a picture with the pyramids, however I knew this man had something up his sleeve.
As we walked, another man came up to me, "Ah sir, you get picture taken?" It was his back up. "You with group?"
"Yes," I lied, "I should stay close stay close."
"Ah yes, you just be over here," he insisted. The other man still had my camera and he charged ahead.
We reached the edge of the pyramid and there were a couple camels standing there. Once again, I knew where this was going.
The man with my camera kept walking past the pyramid, right up to the camel riders, "Ah yes, you get picture here." The other man slapped a flase head garb on me. The man knelt down once again stood up, "You need camel, camel and pyramid for picture."
"No no no," I insisted but the camel was brought over and knelt down.
"Cheese!" the man said and the flash went off... 4 times!

"Now, you give me gift!" Stated the man with the camel, at which I refused. "I give you gift you give me gift!"
"If you give me that camel I will give you a big hug and that will be my gift to you," my humour was lost on him.
"You give me gift, English money."
To be quite honest, I was rather sick of the two men and reached into my wallet to see what I had. It was either a toonie and a 5 or British pounds...I opted for the Canadian. It which they looked at me disgustedly, yet reluctantly relinquished my camera.
I was out of there, the story and the photo only cost me $7CAN...It was almost a steal, plus I kept the head garb which they seemingly forgot about.
I snapped a couple more shots and headed back towards the car.

We drove to the next, slightly smaller pyramid, which I decided to venture inside for the mear price of 50 Egyptian Pounds (about $10 CAN).
It's a rather colstrophobic decent into the middle of the pyramid, at which I was crouching all the way down 35m into the based, which opened out into a cavernous room where the king (read mummy) was kept.
It was amazing, the sheer idea of the calculations, brute force and over all skill it took to build such an amazing stucture. Each stone is exactly the same size, tightly packed together. Thousands of years ago....Blows your mind.
As I snuck out of the pyramid into fresh air, (the air in the pyramid is hot and dry to preserve the mummy,) I reached the surface to find Ramone waiting eagerly with a camel and rider.
I hopped on for 40 pounds and rode a camel for about 15mins. It's a crazy little experiance, do it if you get a chance.

The sphinx was the next stop on our little tour, and again I could go on for awhile, but I'll spare you the details and show you the pictures instead,

So what else is there to see in Egypt you ask, how about the way ancient Egyptians made paper?
Papyrus paper is strong, woven and interlaid. It can be used as paper but is more often used as canvus. It's quite facinating. I bought a couple beautiful pieces.
And then the final sight, The Egyptian National Musuem, no cameras inside sorry, but there are some amazing sights. The Royal Mummies have two rooms. It's crazy to stare at their faces and think they were once living, breathing people who had talked, had thoughts, and in most cases ruled over Egypt.
Caught a train home, walked the half an hour walk home and then off to the church for an African service. The refugees in the area have bible study every Tuesday and Wednesday and start the study with an hour of pure cardio wroship, it amazing.
Finally, after all that, we had youth here tonight which I helped set up for. Quite an awesome youth group, not as good as home, but very good.
Now it's time for bed, off to the schools tomorrow to help out there for wee bit.
Thanks everyone and we'll talk to you soon.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Welcome to the desert...Organized chaos

2007-04-30T13:06:00.001-07:00

So here I am, in Egypt, safe and sound.
I arrived last night at 12:30AM local time (10 hours ahead of you back home.)
The plane ride was rather uneventful, minus a crying child and some turbulence here and there.
Flying into Cairo is rather interesting, you can only see the shoreline lit up with lights and just as you think you are past the city, the plane pulls a hairpin turn at 1500 feet and turns back.
The airport is on the outskirts of the city as I'm told and when we walked in a band of Egyptian military men were there to meet us.
I hadn't been told a lot about my stay here in Cairo, I didn't even know who would be picking me up at this uncivilized hour, but I was told someone would be there for me.
After a short walk through the airport there stood a row of men holding signs and I quickly found the one with my name on it. Upon telling him my name he grabbed me by the arm and wisked me over to the "Passport Control Line-up."
He said something in broken English and when I asked him to repeat himself he said "Where is you Visa?".
When I explained to him that I was told I could buy one here, he only grunted, and pulled me back to another room, where he rummaged through a desk until he found to stamps. He licked them and stuck them to my passport then proceeded to drag me back to Passport Control.
"I be on other side," he said and disappeared, leaving me with my passport and a blank stare.
I turned to the white man standing behind me and said to him, "Can you tell I'm new here?"
He just chuckled and looked at my passport, "Ah, you're a Canadian," he said.
I laughed and asked him sarcastically, "Is that a bad thing?" At which he responded with a smile, "Just means we have to stick together."
It turns out he currently lived in Egypt, was born in England and was raised in Ottawa.
We said our good-byes at the desk and I handed my passport to the man behind the class, where upon he stamped my passport and handed it to another woman who scanned it and handed it back to me.
The man who has so forcefully pulled me through thus far was waiting on the other side. "You get bags, then we go," he said and walked me over to baggage claim.
My bag slide down the conveyor belt much to my relief and I grabbed it and walked towards the exit through a crowd a taxi drivers who all very much seemed to think "You need taxi, come to my taxi."
Outside the doors another crowd of people waited and it was there where I spotted another man with my name on a sign.
I hollered to the man who I had thus far been dealing with to stop and he did much to his dismay as he marched back towards the other man.
I introduced myself to the other man and after checking my passport he said, through a heavy accent and with a smile, "Welcome to Cairo, Egypt Mr. White."
I instantly liked him much better and told 'Mr. Forceful' I had found my ride.
They argued briefly in Arabic and then Mr.Forceful went back inside, with so much as looking back when I called after him "thank you."...I never did learn his name.
However, the new, more friendly man was named George and he gratefully took my backpack from me and loaded me on to the bus back to the parking lot.
I talked the best I could to George on the bus, he knew quite a bit of English but it was still a very large barrier.
I asked him if he was the man I would be staying with and he said yes, and proceeded to tell me about his family at home, two sons and a wife.
We hopped in his car and drove, and instantly I knew I was back in Africa, not only was there the scent but also the driving.
There are no rules to the road, people go where they want, when the want. There are no lines on the road so they drive in the centre, on the shoulder and even down the cement divider if they find away (which was demonstrated to me by one man who passed us.)
George heard me chuckle to myself and said "They not drive like this is Canada uh"
I laughed, "No, not at all, I think I would be better at this driving."
We laughed together and he told me about the one time he had been to the US of A and how beautiful it was there. He had not been to Canada.
As we drove he pointed out many things, most of which I nodded to, not fully understanding what he had just pointed too.
I couldn't believe how many people were out and about at 1:30 in the morning.
After about 45 minutes we showed up in Maadi, the wealthy part of town. Down the main street McDonalds, KFC, and other American fast food places lit the way for us.
"You eat?" asked George.
"Not here," here I responded, "I came to get away from this."
He laughed because I did, I don't think he understood.
"You look for building 4," he told me as we turned on to a side street and I did. It should have been my first clue.
After a little while I asked where to look.
"Here, soon," George said with a smile.
We came to a round about and he stopped to talk to a man, he came back and I asked, "You know him?"
"Yes," he said again.
We turned a couple more times and George stopped again to talk to another man and I eyed up a good bush to go to the washroom behind.
A man walked out from behind it and looked at me, almost knowing what I was thinking. I decided I would hold it, besides I didn't want cultures to clash.
George came back and as we drove he started to fret.
"Not this one, not this one, what number is that one?" he would say as we passed buildings.
I started to wonder if George really knew where he was going, it was my second clue.
Finally he hopped out once more for just a moment and came back looking very pleased with himself.
"I know where we now must go," he said.
We pulled up to a building that didn't look so much unlike any of the other.
We unloaded my bags and walked in the lobby of what was and is my apartment building.
The door man asked us where we were going and George looked to me expecting me to answer.
That was my final clue, I really wasn't staying with George at all, once again I didn't have a clue.
George hopped on his cell phone, once again spoke in Arabic, nodded and hung up and then said something to the door man who escorted us into a tiny little elevator.
We stopped at floor 4 and rang the door bell...nothing.
George rang again and a dog barked and something moved...but still nothing.
Finally one more ring from the door man and the door opened, there stood another white man, who had clearly just been woken up.
I introduced myself and he did like wise, "John Miller," he said with an American accent and showed me upstairs to the roof top apartment, George followed.
After showing me around, I thanked George for everything and he left, John got me settled, we shared some stories and then it was off to bed for the both of us, him back down to his apartment and me in mine on the roof.
The last time I looked at the clock it was 2:47 AM.
I awoke at 1 the next day, (I hadn't slept any on the plane so give me a break) dressed and found a note from John's wife on the door, telling me the family was out until the afternoon but to go downstairs and the maid would look after me.
'Maid?' I thought, this was far more then I had expected, here I thought I brought my tent, sleeping bag and mat for good reason but here I am going down to ask the Maid for some food.
Shahair showed me around the apartment and Kerry, (the mother) showed up soon after.
After a brief chat we headed out to the church, where I was finally able to place a face to the name of my contact here in Cairo.
Marcus was not at all who expected him to be. He is a fairly young guy from Oregon. At 24 he manages outreach there at Maadi Church and organizes the several inter and outer church outreach programs there.
After a tour of the two office buildings and meeting almost everyone on staff (20 plus people), we headed out back to my apartment, ducking a dodging traffic as we went.
As I headed into the apartment I was greeted with the sound of clashing swords and the smell of deep fried chicken, that right, fencing and delivery KFC!
My every idea of Egypt was rocked with one sniff of that grease-baked-chicken.
I sat down to a full meal with the Miller family, where upon I told them a little bit about myself and they shared as well.
I got to know the two boys, Lucas and Daniel. Lucas is 15 and is into fencing and softball. He's being taught to fence by the coach of the Egyptian National team.
Daniel is 13 and is witty. He has adapted to his roll as the youngest with a sharp sense of humour and takes advantage of any stab at his older brother. He's a bright kid.
After dinner the boys and I played around with the boys and their plastic weapons and then headed to the softball diamond around the corner with Lucas to watch some games.
It seems to be where the out of towners like to play. It is America's game after all. It didn't feel any different from home, safe the 20 degree dry heat.
I biked home after a couple games, once again dodging traffic by inches.
Now here I sit, typing this epically long blog entry.
Safe and sound and very much comfortable, watching "Broken Arrow" on Satellite television...
I must say my eye have been opened to culture gaps...I mean the movie is subtitled in Arabic.
Please please note the sarcasm!
Anyhow, Wednesday is the pyramids and the Egyptian National Museum, tomorrow is touring the town.
I thank you all once again for your prayers and love and I will keep in touch in much smaller doses from now on.
Grace, Peace and Blessings to you all,
Brent

The view from my apartment:

London Calling

2007-04-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Losing Battery so we'll make this quick,
Safe and sound in London,
Rather uneventful flight,
Waiting for my gate to Egypt...
Thanks for the prayers.
Grace,Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Nervous...

2007-04-28T00:57:00.000-07:00

I flying tonight...
I'm not fully packed...
And I'm getting nervous...
Wish me luck!

Where, When And Why...

2007-04-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

Alrighty,
So yes, I am indeed traveling to Africa in 10 days, but the questions remain...
Africa is a very large continent, and I'm gone for 2 and a half months and yes, there is a lot to do there.
So here are the details...
I'm off to Egypt on April 28th, and I'm not going to lie to you, I'm feeling a mixture of excitment and nervousness. I'll be there for 3 weeks working with a couple of Missionaries there in their home church. It's looking like I'll be doing some work with the Sudanese refugees there, teaching some English and sports.
However, nothing is yet ironed out, and for those of you who have been to Africa, you know plans can change. What I do know is, I will be there for three weeks and will be kept busy enough.
After my time in Egypt I'm bouncing over to Barcelona for a week...
I'll be meeting up with a friend of mine who is backpacking Europe. We'll be soaking up the sun, and playing on the Mediterrainian, and playing the tourist role for a couple days before we part ways.
At which point I jump aboard a train to Madrid and fly out to Entebbe, Uganda...
I'll be in Uganda for a good month, (from the 1st of June to the 1st of July) and I'll be working along side Peace Portal Community Church on the 10 acre property in Mpigi. The same place I spent my August last year. The same place I left my heart with a bunch of runny nosed, beautiful little kids :P.
In Uganda I'll be doing everything from white water rafting the Nile to working in the childrens homes, to care and compassion missions into nearby villages.
After a month in Uganda, I hop on yet another plane and travel to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro,
after 11 days of climbing and unwinding I fly home...
So home again, home again on the 12 of July.
Let the adventure begin I say.
Thanks to everyone for your love and prayers and I'll be sure to keep you up to date via this blog.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Love Brent

Testing...

2007-04-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

So the common concern seems to be that I'll fall off the face of the planet for the 2 and a half months that I'm gone.
Therefore, to calm the fears of...well my parents, this blog has been created.
I'm hoping to Update it as frequently as possible during my trip (keep in mind that I am in Africa, and reliable internet spots are few and far between).
So follow if you will as I embark on this adventure of mine.
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent