Western Good Friday, April 6, we traveled by train to Alexandria from Cairo. There, we were greeted by Dr. Latif and taken to his home. We were privileged to meet his wife Gehan, and their three sons: Donald (17), Justin (12) and Kelvin (11). Then we were honored by a big lunch--unfortunately, this had to be a quick lunch, because we had to hurry out the door to drive about 30 minutes to Kafr el-Dawwar.
The congregation in Kafr el-Dawwar was celebrating the rededication of their church building. The building had been renewed from entry way to rooftop. We joined many of the national pastors, and members from churches throughout Egypt, as well as the Secretary of all the Evangelical Protestant Churches in Egypt. When Pastor Amir told local city officials that so many guests were coming, they were impressed; when he told them that a new American and his family would be a part of those attending, they sent a Police wagon and a Fire truck to sit on the street to make sure there would be no problems!
The church building is narrow, but it was beautifully well done with excellent craftsmanship. One sad characteristic that we have noticed in Egyptian buildings recently, and has been sadly admitted and despised among the Egyptians we have been serving, is that there appears to be a "good enough" mentality when it comes to construction. (For example, mortar isn't smoothed, bricks may not be layered in even parallel lines, grout is spotty or discolored between tiles, etc.) However, the work at Kafr el-Dawarr was top notch, from doorway to roof top--everything was beautiful, well done, and created a wonderful place to worship.
As for furnishings, new pews were made, and the old ones were shared with the new church plant in King Maruit (Pastor Raffat's congregation that meets at the Conference Center there). The sanctuary had video, audio, and technical upgrades for the use of multimedia. The walls were lined with thick granite--not just in the sanctuary, but throughout the entry way and central stairwell--this was the work of one of the lay-men in the church. The second floor is the Pastor's family flat--newly furnished and beautiful. The third floor is a converted rooftop, now with a tin roof that allows for a wonderful fellowship space--this also had closed-circuit televisions so that those who couldn't fit in the sanctuary could still participate in worship.
Greater than the building, is the actual Church (the people) and ministry. Pastor Amir told testimonies of the good relationships they have been able to develop with the predominantly Muslim neighborhood as they have served single mothers and helped to provide for their children, as well as making the way to have the street repaired when all other streets had been serviced but their neglected. The neighbors did not put up a fuss with all the commotion on their street on this evening--in fact, many of the neighbors, the Muslim neighbors, contributed with food and drinks for the reception!
Sadly, this was a quick trip. We rode back to Alexandria for a late dinner (11:30 pm) at the McDonald's overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We then went to sleep in a guest flat at about 1:00am, before waking early to catch the 8:00 am train back to Cairo. We needed to get back early to plan for all the Easter events with the CCF. Unfortunately, the train which usually takes a little over 2 hours took 4 hours at a snails pace for unclear reasons. We were frustrated to return to the villas by 1 pm instead of by 11 am. We were exhausted, but blessed by the experience.
We have just finished our Easter morning event, and I will follow this with another post soon about that; but first, here are several pictures from our time in Kafr el-Dawarr...
The congregation in Kafr el-Dawwar was celebrating the rededication of their church building. The building had been renewed from entry way to rooftop. We joined many of the national pastors, and members from churches throughout Egypt, as well as the Secretary of all the Evangelical Protestant Churches in Egypt. When Pastor Amir told local city officials that so many guests were coming, they were impressed; when he told them that a new American and his family would be a part of those attending, they sent a Police wagon and a Fire truck to sit on the street to make sure there would be no problems!
The church building is narrow, but it was beautifully well done with excellent craftsmanship. One sad characteristic that we have noticed in Egyptian buildings recently, and has been sadly admitted and despised among the Egyptians we have been serving, is that there appears to be a "good enough" mentality when it comes to construction. (For example, mortar isn't smoothed, bricks may not be layered in even parallel lines, grout is spotty or discolored between tiles, etc.) However, the work at Kafr el-Dawarr was top notch, from doorway to roof top--everything was beautiful, well done, and created a wonderful place to worship.
As for furnishings, new pews were made, and the old ones were shared with the new church plant in King Maruit (Pastor Raffat's congregation that meets at the Conference Center there). The sanctuary had video, audio, and technical upgrades for the use of multimedia. The walls were lined with thick granite--not just in the sanctuary, but throughout the entry way and central stairwell--this was the work of one of the lay-men in the church. The second floor is the Pastor's family flat--newly furnished and beautiful. The third floor is a converted rooftop, now with a tin roof that allows for a wonderful fellowship space--this also had closed-circuit televisions so that those who couldn't fit in the sanctuary could still participate in worship.
Greater than the building, is the actual Church (the people) and ministry. Pastor Amir told testimonies of the good relationships they have been able to develop with the predominantly Muslim neighborhood as they have served single mothers and helped to provide for their children, as well as making the way to have the street repaired when all other streets had been serviced but their neglected. The neighbors did not put up a fuss with all the commotion on their street on this evening--in fact, many of the neighbors, the Muslim neighbors, contributed with food and drinks for the reception!
Sadly, this was a quick trip. We rode back to Alexandria for a late dinner (11:30 pm) at the McDonald's overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We then went to sleep in a guest flat at about 1:00am, before waking early to catch the 8:00 am train back to Cairo. We needed to get back early to plan for all the Easter events with the CCF. Unfortunately, the train which usually takes a little over 2 hours took 4 hours at a snails pace for unclear reasons. We were frustrated to return to the villas by 1 pm instead of by 11 am. We were exhausted, but blessed by the experience.
We have just finished our Easter morning event, and I will follow this with another post soon about that; but first, here are several pictures from our time in Kafr el-Dawarr...
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| Dr Latif was determined to make Grace his friend :) |
Above and Below are pictures from the new Pastor's Flat
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| Pastor Amir and Dr. Latif |
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| Pastor Amir with his family in the new sanctuary |
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