Waiting to board our flight to Zurich, so I have a moment to continue writing about our trip...
The Cairo Christian Fellowship is not just an international and multicultural church meeting for worship each week, but they also represent a global network of Christians whose spiritual journeys have crossed paths through Cairo in the past 60 years. Their DNA/ethos naturally has characteristics that other fellowships of Christians have to struggle to apply; such as, embracing diversity with celebration, intentional bridge building across denominational and faith lines, and dialogue. They really are a singing church and they love laughter and fellowship. They also have quite a benevolent spirit and are eager to meet needs around them intentionally and strategically. Like many churches, they are losing connections with younger generations and are attempting to make changes to reengage their young adults. These are parts of the reasons we were affirmed for this pastoral role. We had great interaction with several of the older leaders, the whole fellowship, as well as with a couple of the young adults during the past week.
The CCF meet at St. Andrew's Church, conveniently located right at one of the downtown Metro stations. St. Andrew's and CCF have a long and cooperative ministry history that allows for even greater possibilities of partnership in the future. One exciting possibility is discovering how to contribute to their expansive refugee ministry; Cairo is a major center of refugee traffic from throughout the Middle East as well as Africa. Many of these refugees seek to become expatriates in the west, but many simply choose to settle in the growing international metropolis of Cairo. The leaders of St. Andrew's were not only positive of future CCF possibilities, but also being a resource for one aspect of ministry training that we can offer international groups that come through our region.
The Cairo Christian Fellowship is not just an international and multicultural church meeting for worship each week, but they also represent a global network of Christians whose spiritual journeys have crossed paths through Cairo in the past 60 years. Their DNA/ethos naturally has characteristics that other fellowships of Christians have to struggle to apply; such as, embracing diversity with celebration, intentional bridge building across denominational and faith lines, and dialogue. They really are a singing church and they love laughter and fellowship. They also have quite a benevolent spirit and are eager to meet needs around them intentionally and strategically. Like many churches, they are losing connections with younger generations and are attempting to make changes to reengage their young adults. These are parts of the reasons we were affirmed for this pastoral role. We had great interaction with several of the older leaders, the whole fellowship, as well as with a couple of the young adults during the past week.
The CCF meet at St. Andrew's Church, conveniently located right at one of the downtown Metro stations. St. Andrew's and CCF have a long and cooperative ministry history that allows for even greater possibilities of partnership in the future. One exciting possibility is discovering how to contribute to their expansive refugee ministry; Cairo is a major center of refugee traffic from throughout the Middle East as well as Africa. Many of these refugees seek to become expatriates in the west, but many simply choose to settle in the growing international metropolis of Cairo. The leaders of St. Andrew's were not only positive of future CCF possibilities, but also being a resource for one aspect of ministry training that we can offer international groups that come through our region.
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