Last Saturday, October 6, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi gave a speech regarding his first 100 days in office. The timing of this speech drew some criticism because of the timing: October 6 is a popular holiday and annual remembrance from a war with Israel in 1973; some felt Morsi should have planned for fitting celebrations rather than using the holiday to talk about himself. Overall, Morsi has been given mixed reviews in his first 100 days of office.
In a speech given to a largely Muslim Brotherhood support base who came to Cairo for the event, President Morsi stated "he has achieved 60 percent of his promises related to traffic, 70 percent for security, 75 percent for fuel, 80 percent for bread, but only 40 percent for hygiene." (The latter claim relates more to the cleanliness/pollution/garbage issues of Cairo, not medical care).
However, the above referenced article lists different numbers from their interviews and surveys:
- "64% of citizens have not seen any mobile or stationary police patrols"
- 57% say there is no change in traffic jams
- "86% of citizens still complain about the low supply of bread"
- "Eighty percent of citizens complain about the lack of garbage cans in their neighborhoods and 64 percent complain about the piles of garbage accumulated in their streets."
This brief Al Jazeera video documents some of the mixed feelings expressed by people on the street, as well as providing great visuals of these needs and the city...
Continue to pray for Egypt during these critical days.
As for us, we have passed the 9th month mark in our service to this region; have your pastor email to request our 3rd quarter report if they have not already received it. We have been blessed by a wonderful start and a smooth acclimation period to ministry in the Middle East.
We had no time to celebrate and reflect on our first 9 months as a family because as we said "goodbye" to family who were visiting, we were saying "hello" to arriving Three-Worlds teammates who were gathering here for our annual staff meeting. Coincidentally, we were attending last year's staff meeting in Berlin prior to making our first trip to Germany. What a year!
It's been an amazing time with our regional coordinators/team leaders: Patrick and Jamie Nachtigall and their son Marco. We have also been privileged to welcome back the Phillips family (serving XZ Berlin) -- Kelley has had several trips to Egypt, Rhonda was just here making preparations for our arrival in January, but their son Christian had not visited Egypt before. And we welcomed home Dave Simpson and his wife Kathy (serving in Bulgaria); Dave's parents served in Egypt 50 years ago, actually living in the other villa where he has been staying during this trip and reminiscing, but Kathy had never visited Egypt before.
The meetings were a good time of reflection, confession, strategizing, and sharing hope--and just unwinding a bit together. We wish that our new teammates Kihms and Langfords could be here--but not yet. We took time to visit the pyramids today as Kathy, Christian and Rhonda had not yet had that experience; and we ended the night on a felluca ride on the Nile.
Beginning tomorrow, the team will begin going their separate ways and back to their various fields of service. We thank God for our team, and the opportunity to work better as a team to serve beyond Egypt and throughout the region. There are exciting things on the horizon, and we're excited to be apart of the work.
In a speech given to a largely Muslim Brotherhood support base who came to Cairo for the event, President Morsi stated "he has achieved 60 percent of his promises related to traffic, 70 percent for security, 75 percent for fuel, 80 percent for bread, but only 40 percent for hygiene." (The latter claim relates more to the cleanliness/pollution/garbage issues of Cairo, not medical care).
However, the above referenced article lists different numbers from their interviews and surveys:
- "64% of citizens have not seen any mobile or stationary police patrols"
- 57% say there is no change in traffic jams
- "86% of citizens still complain about the low supply of bread"
- "Eighty percent of citizens complain about the lack of garbage cans in their neighborhoods and 64 percent complain about the piles of garbage accumulated in their streets."
This brief Al Jazeera video documents some of the mixed feelings expressed by people on the street, as well as providing great visuals of these needs and the city...
Continue to pray for Egypt during these critical days.
As for us, we have passed the 9th month mark in our service to this region; have your pastor email to request our 3rd quarter report if they have not already received it. We have been blessed by a wonderful start and a smooth acclimation period to ministry in the Middle East.
We had no time to celebrate and reflect on our first 9 months as a family because as we said "goodbye" to family who were visiting, we were saying "hello" to arriving Three-Worlds teammates who were gathering here for our annual staff meeting. Coincidentally, we were attending last year's staff meeting in Berlin prior to making our first trip to Germany. What a year!
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| The group learning at the base of the pyramid (Patrick will post more/better pics on 3W website) |
The meetings were a good time of reflection, confession, strategizing, and sharing hope--and just unwinding a bit together. We wish that our new teammates Kihms and Langfords could be here--but not yet. We took time to visit the pyramids today as Kathy, Christian and Rhonda had not yet had that experience; and we ended the night on a felluca ride on the Nile.
Beginning tomorrow, the team will begin going their separate ways and back to their various fields of service. We thank God for our team, and the opportunity to work better as a team to serve beyond Egypt and throughout the region. There are exciting things on the horizon, and we're excited to be apart of the work.
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