(January newsletter will be sent soon--if you're not on the email list, email us so you can get the exciting, superbly-crafted first issue of 2012!)
As we conclude January, we should remind you that we have not yet been here a month--that won't take place until February 7--but here are a few reflections on our first few weeks...
0 We hope none of us are ever as sick as Zeke was a couple weekends ago--that kid went through the ringer!
1 One of our favorite people that we have met from the community is Ahmed. Ahmed is one of the gatekeepers at the community school the kids attend. Ahmed is learning English and he is happy and downright excited to practice with us when we come through the gate--and since we have been encouraging him and conversational, he especially likes to see us coming. Ahmed's English is slow, deliberate, and simple--if you are not careful, you may take Ahmed for being slow and simple--but he's not! He's just learning and applying a very different language from his native tongue. Today, he asked me to help him pronounce "drawers" from a list of household furniture items he was learning; (stop and think about that one, because the "d"-"r" sounds quickly followed by the "w"are really kind of tricky). Ahmed makes me smile--and he makes me nervous--because soon it will be us being slow, deliberate, and simple in our speech as we look for patient, understanding and encouraging native-Arabic speakers to help us!
2 Speaking of language, though we won't begin formal language training until later in February, we are picking up a few little things here and there as we interact within the community. Two important phrases here in Egypt are "inshallah" and "alhamdulillah". Inshallah means "if God wills" or "if God wishes"--basically, "God willing". This is used in nearly every case of anything related to the future: "I'll see you tomorrow, inshallah"; "My train arrives at 6 pm, inshallah"; "The repair man will be there tomorrow, inshallah"--engrained within the language and culture of the Egyptian people is this fact: if God's not in it, it ain't happenin'.
"alhamdulillah" is another concept engrained within the language and culture of the people; it means, "praise to God," or "thanks to God". If you ask someone, "how are you?", the reply will never simply be "good"--it's always, "good, alhamdulillah". Any positive state of being, result, coincidence, etc. is always accompanied with a praise and thanksgiving to God. Isn't this our Biblical understanding, that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." (James 1:17).
3 We have been able to meet with three younger adults of the Cairo Christian Fellowship on our own, and we have had a really positive response from them. They are all eager for things to begin. Similarly, we have enjoyed a very positive response from all the members of the CCF, and they too appear to be in a hurry for things to happen and change a bit. Though we had intended to come in, get our bearings, and begin to lead slowly toward larger, different ministries, we have come to a group that has been waiting for more than a year for a pastor, and the younger ones have been waiting far longer than that for something different to happen.
4 We have a great team in Europe and Middle East -- four families ministering across the region have been praying for us and encouraging us with regular emails. Three families are in Germany: Aaron & Nicole Varner, Kelley & Rhonda (& Christian) Phillips, and our coordinators Patrick & Jamie Nachtigall (& Marco); along with Dave & Kathy Simpson in Bulgaria. The emails have included their own ups and downs, as well as helpful stories to facing the challenges of acclimating to a new culture. We haven't experienced any overwhelming culture shock, though we're told that comes sometime between months 2 and 6, but we're glad to have the support of these colleagues and friends. We have also been blessed by Abby Smith far away in Bogota, Colombia as well as by Zach & Audrey Langford in Birkenhead, U.K. -- Abby has shared similar encouragement to the 3W Team, and Z&A sent a wonderful care package, complete with notes for each of our kids, whom they know well. (By the way, you can follow the work of Three-Worlds at Three-Worlds.com, on Facebook at "Three Worlds" and also on Twitter at "3WCHOG")
5 Five new furnishings that we're spoiled by: the T-Fal skillet, the hot water tap on our water dispenser, our roomy shower with plenty of hot water, Apple-TV (we brought this with us), and magic-jack. Of course, the villas and large garden are an extraordinary luxury; it's hard to describe what a blessing this place is until you see it first hand, particularly within the context of Cairo. As we've been attempting to furnish the villas, another amazing and fun upside to getting started here, we have gotten several double takes as people ask, "oh, you live in a villa?"
("yes," we reply, "we have two." -- just kidding!)
We are looking forward to planning for and overseeing the renovation of Villa 18 so that it can regularly host groups and teaching opportunities.
and the 6 biggest challenges in our first few weeks:
Thanks for all your ongoing love, support, prayers, encouragement, and more--we hope you are enjoying the blog and updates. By the way, Ken won't be going to Alexandria tomorrow as originally planned; the conference with the national church pastors had to be cancelled, and we're awaiting a reschedule date. Until then, we're tentatively scheduled to meet several national Church leaders in Cairo in a few weeks.
As we conclude January, we should remind you that we have not yet been here a month--that won't take place until February 7--but here are a few reflections on our first few weeks...
0 We hope none of us are ever as sick as Zeke was a couple weekends ago--that kid went through the ringer!
1 One of our favorite people that we have met from the community is Ahmed. Ahmed is one of the gatekeepers at the community school the kids attend. Ahmed is learning English and he is happy and downright excited to practice with us when we come through the gate--and since we have been encouraging him and conversational, he especially likes to see us coming. Ahmed's English is slow, deliberate, and simple--if you are not careful, you may take Ahmed for being slow and simple--but he's not! He's just learning and applying a very different language from his native tongue. Today, he asked me to help him pronounce "drawers" from a list of household furniture items he was learning; (stop and think about that one, because the "d"-"r" sounds quickly followed by the "w"are really kind of tricky). Ahmed makes me smile--and he makes me nervous--because soon it will be us being slow, deliberate, and simple in our speech as we look for patient, understanding and encouraging native-Arabic speakers to help us!
2 Speaking of language, though we won't begin formal language training until later in February, we are picking up a few little things here and there as we interact within the community. Two important phrases here in Egypt are "inshallah" and "alhamdulillah". Inshallah means "if God wills" or "if God wishes"--basically, "God willing". This is used in nearly every case of anything related to the future: "I'll see you tomorrow, inshallah"; "My train arrives at 6 pm, inshallah"; "The repair man will be there tomorrow, inshallah"--engrained within the language and culture of the Egyptian people is this fact: if God's not in it, it ain't happenin'.
"alhamdulillah" is another concept engrained within the language and culture of the people; it means, "praise to God," or "thanks to God". If you ask someone, "how are you?", the reply will never simply be "good"--it's always, "good, alhamdulillah". Any positive state of being, result, coincidence, etc. is always accompanied with a praise and thanksgiving to God. Isn't this our Biblical understanding, that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." (James 1:17).
3 We have been able to meet with three younger adults of the Cairo Christian Fellowship on our own, and we have had a really positive response from them. They are all eager for things to begin. Similarly, we have enjoyed a very positive response from all the members of the CCF, and they too appear to be in a hurry for things to happen and change a bit. Though we had intended to come in, get our bearings, and begin to lead slowly toward larger, different ministries, we have come to a group that has been waiting for more than a year for a pastor, and the younger ones have been waiting far longer than that for something different to happen.
4 We have a great team in Europe and Middle East -- four families ministering across the region have been praying for us and encouraging us with regular emails. Three families are in Germany: Aaron & Nicole Varner, Kelley & Rhonda (& Christian) Phillips, and our coordinators Patrick & Jamie Nachtigall (& Marco); along with Dave & Kathy Simpson in Bulgaria. The emails have included their own ups and downs, as well as helpful stories to facing the challenges of acclimating to a new culture. We haven't experienced any overwhelming culture shock, though we're told that comes sometime between months 2 and 6, but we're glad to have the support of these colleagues and friends. We have also been blessed by Abby Smith far away in Bogota, Colombia as well as by Zach & Audrey Langford in Birkenhead, U.K. -- Abby has shared similar encouragement to the 3W Team, and Z&A sent a wonderful care package, complete with notes for each of our kids, whom they know well. (By the way, you can follow the work of Three-Worlds at Three-Worlds.com, on Facebook at "Three Worlds" and also on Twitter at "3WCHOG")5 Five new furnishings that we're spoiled by: the T-Fal skillet, the hot water tap on our water dispenser, our roomy shower with plenty of hot water, Apple-TV (we brought this with us), and magic-jack. Of course, the villas and large garden are an extraordinary luxury; it's hard to describe what a blessing this place is until you see it first hand, particularly within the context of Cairo. As we've been attempting to furnish the villas, another amazing and fun upside to getting started here, we have gotten several double takes as people ask, "oh, you live in a villa?"
("yes," we reply, "we have two." -- just kidding!)
We are looking forward to planning for and overseeing the renovation of Villa 18 so that it can regularly host groups and teaching opportunities.
and the 6 biggest challenges in our first few weeks:
- language, particularly when it relates to customer service at any level;
- baksheesh--this is not just the term for tipping, it's also an expected bribe--backsheesh is expected at nearly every level, and if they think you have a lot, the expected baksheesh is more;
- the attention Grace draws from school age boys throughout the city, particularly on our way to and from school--her cold, piercing stare doesn't scare them away--but, she continues to handle it well;
- the change of calendar--beginning the work/school week on Sunday, while still worshipping Sunday night, and weekends being Friday and Saturday--this has us all turned around when it comes to scheduling anything;
- not having/using a smart phone--we were really spoiled by texting on a full qwerty keyboard, GPS, and mobile internet! Language plays a part here, too, because texts in Arabic are all the more confusing!
- being tired and simultaneously feeling unproductive--being exhausted, as we've been told by Aaron and Abby, seems to be a natural part of the transition into a new culture; we think it has to be from just the sensory, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual overload you are going through, regardless of how much you are actually doing. And, after doing so much in ministry, working second jobs, and trying to get to the field through the long itineration process, not doing all of that seems like we're being lazy. Of course, we know that we will be tired from actual ministry activity soon enough!
Thanks for all your ongoing love, support, prayers, encouragement, and more--we hope you are enjoying the blog and updates. By the way, Ken won't be going to Alexandria tomorrow as originally planned; the conference with the national church pastors had to be cancelled, and we're awaiting a reschedule date. Until then, we're tentatively scheduled to meet several national Church leaders in Cairo in a few weeks.
Great reflection! In Colombia people also use the "God willing" comment a lot, in the same contexts that you mentioned. Protestants also use a lot of the "good, thanks to God" remark too. We had an interesting discussion one night in my English class when I told them that in the U.S. people, even Christians, don't talk that way, at least not as frequently as Colombians. I mentioned it as something that I liked about Colombia...they said it could also be because things are just more uncertain here (referring to the "Lord willing" part), whereas in the U.S. we are determined to make things happen. Probably a variety of reasons for the cultural difference, but it was interesting to think and talk about.
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