To Laugh In The Face Of Death

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,
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

Recharged

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

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,

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

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.














In His Name,
Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Brent

Christmas In Cairo

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

"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

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