Youth Staff Retreat

For our end of the year youth staff retreat, Heidi, John, Erin (John's wife), the baby, and I, all headed out to the Western edge of the Sinai. We stayed in a villa that suwas a two minute walk from Eastern bank of the Gulf of Suez. Our itinerary for the few days we were staying at 'La Hacienda' was simple: do nothing but laze around the beach.

Allow me to point out the ups and downs of our days in the Sinai...

Pros:
- No responsibility
- Warm water for swimming in
- Water wasn't deep enough for me to drown in
- We pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves
- Air conditioned bedroom
- Breathable air

Cons:
- Loud baby
- Sunburnt feet
- Pesky, persistant, hyperactive flies
- Egyptian charcoal doesn't light well on a grill with no airholes

Winding Down

Last night was the last regular high school event of the year. Last Friday was our last middle school event of the year. Tomorrow will be our last Friday school classes of the year. Things are quickly coming to an end here in Egypt. School ends for students at the American school after the first week in June. Shortly after that, many families pick up and leave Egypt for the summer. Although I still have one month left as a youth intern here, the last month will probably be spent hanging out with students and doing little projects here and there. Nothing like the craziness of the past couple months, that’s for sure!

This weekend we (the youth staff) are heading out to the Red Sea to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of Cairo. It should be a good time of relaxation and just plain hanging out. Alright, I’ve done my duty and blogged again. Now I’m outta here! Have yourself a nice day.

Adventures in Siwa - Part II

Previously in Siwa: George and Ali both have open wounds and are in need of stitches. No hospital is in sight.

Once both Jeeps were back in commission, Ali drove with one hand (not an easy feat while romping through sand dunes) until the sun began to set. At that point we stopped on a plateau, watched the sun set, and shared a bottle of Coca Cola. If it weren’t for the two bleeding men it would’ve made for a nice Coke commercial. After the sun disappeared behind the horizon we were dropped off at a desert campsite where we would spend the night. The men left in their Jeeps so they could visit a hospital and get all stitched up. Later that night Ali returned with four stitches in his wrist. George also received four stitches beside his eye, but he didn’t join us in the desert that night.

I should back up a bit and tell you about our experiences of sandboarding now. It’s actually not as cool as it sounds. Driving through the dunes is actually the sport of the whole event. Sandboarding is just an excuse for all the driving. The problem with the sport of sandboarding is that sand has a lot more friction than, say, snow or ice. So, when you strap the sandboard onto your feet and push off down a steep sand dune, you enjoy about five seconds of movement before coming to a complete stop. If you try carving during this time, you really only get three seconds of movement. After this not-so-exhilarating ride down the hill, you get to enjoy a good five minute trudge back up the sand dune… in 40 degree heat… wearing snowboard boots… in sand. After successfully hiking to the top of the dune and experiencing a hypoglycemia attack, I decided snowboarding was a much more enjoyable sport. Although sandboarding is a really cool experience, and few people can say they’ve done it, I think I will stick to snowboarding. At least until the technology for sandboarding is improved. Frictionless boards coupled with tow-ropes will make sandboarding a much more popular sport.

Now, before I finish off my adventures in Siwa, I would like to tell you a few things I learned about the town of Siwa while I was there. First of all, Siwa actually has its own language. All of the locals speak not only Arabic, but Siwan as well. Also, the women dress a bit differently than women in the rest of Egypt. They have a veil over their entire face (without holes for eyes) and then a hood or scarf or something that goes over top of that. They look quite a bit like the Dark Riders (or whatever you call them) from The Lord of the Rings. Very freaky. The town of Siwa is also heavily involved in witchcraft, or has a rich history of involvement with it. During our stay in Siwa we also noticed a few albino Egyptians walking around the town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them in Cairo, but there were more than one of them in the town of Siwa. While we were in Siwa we also got to go to a Bedouin music and dance performance. All in all, Siwa was a very interesting place to spend a weekend. Click here to check out some of the pictures I took on our trip to and from Siwa.

My Siwa Adventure (April 29th - May 1st)

My journey to Siwa on April 29^th began far too early. I was up and out of the house before the rest of my host family was awake… and my host family fall under that annoying category of “morning people.” Yes, they’re wonderful hosts and all, I just don’t understand how they can be so chipper and smiley before 11 am! Of course they were awake by the time returned to the house to retrieve my forgotten passport. After that minor setback Heidi, Kristi, and I were off to Siwa with our Egyptian driver, George. George was a quirky guy. What do I mean by this? Well, for instance, when we reached the edge of Cairo and began speeding away from the city at a speed of 150 km/h, George pulled out a box of wooden matches. He pulled a match from the box, and proceeded to stick the match (sulfur-end first) into his ear. He fished around in his ear for a bit, then pulled out the match to inspect the crop he harvested. At this point he flicked the earwax off with his fingers and re-inserted the match into his ear. He continued to clean both of his ears in this manner. I watched all of this out of the corner of my eye for a good ten minutes! Yep, that was George our driver. His English wasn’t amazing so we didn’t waste much time in conversation, but by spending time with him throughout our weekend in Siwa I feel I got to know him pretty well.

Siwa is an oasis town in Western Egypt located near the Libya/Egypt border. Much of the bottled water in Egypt comes from bottling plants in this area. We toured around the town of Siwa in a Jeep one day and a donkey cart the next day. I have to say the donkey on Shrek looks a lot better kept than the donkey that pulled us around town. Even if our donkey looked like the donkey on Shrek, it wouldn’t change the fact that we had to stare at its butt all afternoon. Not the best view, in my opinion. Oh well, city-boy George got a kick out of driving our donkey cart for a bit. After checking out a few of the natural springs around the town, we piled into a jeep (joined by two other girls whom we didn’t know) and headed out to the ‘Great Sand Sea’ to do some sandboarding! We happened to find actual snowboards with boots and bindings at one of the shops in Siwa before we headed out to the desert. Most shops only have these ridiculous looking wooden boards with little straps that you slip your shoes into. We were hardcore.

Our trek through the Great Sand Sea was a lively one. In order to keep from getting stuck in the sand the drivers would have to go at a fairly high speed. When you speed up sand dunes, though, you never know which ones are flat at the top, or which ones have a massive drop-off at the top. We encountered both. That’s how George ended up getting stitches. Poor George was sitting in the back of a Jeep that didn’t have any seats and he was launched forward when we careened off of one of those dunes. He sucked it up until after we finished our sandboarding, though. Interestingly enough, Ali, the driver of our Jeep also ended up getting stitches for an entirely unrelated incident. The jeep that George was riding in the back of got a flat tire. While Ali was changing the tire, he somehow cut his wrist open! I have no idea how this happened. We were too busy trying to spell words in the sand with our shadows. It’s not as easy as it sounds! This post is getting quite long, though, so I guess I should finish our adventure off some other time (that and I have to go to the bathroom).

FAQ's

Well, I guess it's time I update you folks on my life. We are already into the second half of May. I didn't even realize May had started! Well let's see, what have I done in the past couple of weeks here now? First off, we were in charge of the weekend services at church the first weekend in May. This means that we had to plan and lead four church services in two days. My duties included delivering the MCC New Broadcast (announcements), taking part in one of the dramas, and looking like an idiot while we attempted to sing a Ukrainian song we learned on our trip to Ukraine (yes, the song even included actions). That was the first weekend in May.

The next weekend we had our end of the year Hoo Haw. This is the last major event of the school year that our youth ministry puts on. It consisted of a nice dessert, speeches by a few people (including myself), recognizing the seniors, and showing our 30 minute Hoo Haw video/slideshow that looks back on all the events we did this past year. I had the pleasure of spending hours putting together that video on a Mac. Not my favorite week of the year. Also, interestingly enough, I had my birthday the day before the Hoo Haw. I have somehow made it through 23 years of living, and I'm still kicking. That's pretty lucky considering the traffic I bike through each day.

I believe I have only five and a half weeks of ministry left here at Maadi Community Church. I would like to take this time to answer some Frequently Asked Questions now:

(Q) When are you coming/going home?
(A) July 28th is my departure date back to Canada. For the four weeks prior to that I plan on travelling around Jordan, Israel, and possibly Syria with my friend Matt Yeomans, and my sister Felicia (the non-preggo sister).

(Q) Have you found a wife yet?
(A) No. I'm afraid I would probably fail my internship if I did.

(Q) Have you found any potential wives yet?
(A) No.

(Q) What's the weather like in Egypt right now?
(A) It's in the upper twenties to lower thirties (celsius).

(Q) What are you doing when you return to Canada?
(A) In September I will finish up my last four months of Bible college.

(Q) Do you eat camel for dinner?
(A) No. I eat food for dinner.

(Q) Do you speak fluent Arabic now?
(A) No. I think my Arabic teacher is considering switching professions because of me. Apparently I'm quite hopeless.

(Q) How come you never blog any more?
(A) Not enough people have been e-mailing me. Just kidding. I've been too busy. I should have more time for blogging now.

Ok, that's all for now. If you have any other questions, post a comment and I'll answer it.

Ukraine Trip - Part 4 of 4

That afternoon, after lunch at the other pastor’s house, we led two more VBS programs. Again, it was amazing how the children could enjoy the simple things like balloon animals, face paint, singing songs, and playing the simplest of games, when children in the West are becoming more and more difficult to please. There may not be anything wrong in itself with being wealthy, but these kids who came from poor families were so thankful for the little we had to give them. All the Christians we met in Brusilov seemed to possess a child-like faith that their poverty could not take away. It actually seemed as though their faith was strengthened by the fact that they had so little. It is thought-provoking to see such an amazing community of believers who have so little in the way of material possessions. When Jesus said not to store up treasures on earth “where moth and rust destroy,” (Matthew 6:19) is this what He had in mind? Are we blinded by possessions to the point where we do not realise what poverty could do for us? I don’t at this point have an answer to the question, but I do know that the Church in Brusilov is not limited in any way by its material shortcomings.

That evening as we finished up with the VBS program we were informed that as soon as we finished cleaning up, a church service would start where John Tucker would preach again. It only lasted two hours, after which we went back to our host families for dinner and bedtime. The next morning, no longer to our surprise, we had another prayer meeting at eight o’clock, which meant we had to say goodbye to our hosts. With hands and feet and a few words of broken Ukrainian (or was it Russian?) we tried to say thank you (dya’akuyu) to our hosts by giving them a gift from Egypt. They smiled and nodded and were probably laughing their heads off at those crazy foreigners as soon as we were out of the house. I hope we didn’t unknowingly offend them in some way, but in our ignorance we probably did. For the prayer meeting, which we learned they have every morning, we met at a thus far unfinished church which we prayed for. Again, we had our second breakfast before leading our last VBS. Lunch followed after, and then it was almost time to leave for Kiev again. We played volleyball with some guys for a while, where some of us (notably me) got to embarrass ourselves with our total lack of skill. After Tolik and the Tollivers arrived with the bus, we prayed with some of the Christians before leaving Brusilov and then we headed back to Kiev.

The rest of the day consisted of travelling on the bus and eating food at a nice restaurant that had a king-size rabbit (who could probably have eaten my cat). In the evening those of us not on the worship team for the next day got to relax for a bit.

Sunday began with breakfast and quiet time. We attended the KIBC church service in the morning, followed by lunch with the youth and singles of the church. We spent most of the afternoon there at the Tollivers’ apartment, just getting to know each other. In the evening, some of us went to the Spanish church where we met many of the same people we had met on Tuesday. Fortunately for us, one of them, Mariah, spoke excellent English and translated Igor’s sermon for us. After this, we were invited to the house of some of the youth members for a great dinner. The next day, as mentioned earlier, we did our last prayer-walk through downtown Kiev, ending with some souvenir shopping on Andrew’s Descent. The apostle Andrew is said to have been the first to preach the Gospel in this area. In fact tradition says that he prophesied from a nearby hill that a great city would one day be found there.

We ended our last day in Kiev with an enjoyable boat trip on the Dnipro river. It was good to be able to relax for a bit and simply consider the city we had been ministering to, although sometimes we were the ones who felt ministered to by a remarkable and diverse group of believers. While everyone seemed thrilled and grateful that we had come to Ukraine, I felt as though I had learned so much more from them than they had learned from us who knew so little of their culture and their ways. Whatever the case, as I saw the city, I realised how much I had loved it, for no apparent reason at all, and hoped to return some day. Sla-va-bo-goo.

Ukraine Trip - Part 3 of 4

Ryan and I stayed together at a house a ways away from the actual village of Brusilov. We were definitely taken out of our comfort zone at this place. Without going into details, our bathroom consisted of an outhouse just big enough to fit a bucket underneath a bench of sorts with a toilet seat covered by shag carpet (it gets cold in the winter). However, at night we could use the bucket by the entrance, as our host Arthur demonstrated for us, with actions because there was no one in the house who spoke a word of English. We had a comfortable room, however, which was well heated (beside Ryan’s bed was a panel behind which there was apparently a log fire. He says it was so hot it burned his hand. I decided not to confirm that.) In the morning we had to be ready to leave by seven thirty for a prayer meeting at Pastor Sergey’s church. We were graciously served breakfast consisting of several fried eggs (sunny side up), bread, and not surprisingly, pickles. As ignorant foreigners, we of course weren’t aware that you were meant to dip the bread in the egg, instead of eating the egg on the bread.

We were saved from any more embarrassment when the van arrived to pick us up for the prayer meeting. This service only lasted two hours, and again John Tucker was asked to share a word with the church. But however long these services may have seemed to us who were used to carefully planned one hour and twenty minute services, it was a memorable time. We didn’t understand most of what was said or sung, but we did feel the presence of God in everything. To all of us it felt like the early church, when it was on fire and growing. There is a great sense of community among the believers, which was extended to us. They were so grateful to us for leaving our own life behind to come and meet with Christians we had never met. At the same time we felt we should be the ones thanking them for their hospitality and all there was to learn from them.

Following the prayer meeting, we had our second breakfast of the day. After this, Pastor Sergey showed us some of the places where God is at work in and around Brusilov. As I mentioned before, there are serious drugs and alcohol problems in Ukraine. Our first stop was a rehabilitation centre for men. It was led by a man who had been addicted to alcohol for seventeen years before coming to Christ. It currently houses eight men from the area, and is hoping to double that number as soon as bunk beds arrive. We prayed for a man there who was at that very moment struggling with his addiction. We then visited a house where they were building a similar centre for women, and prayed for it. Before they bought the run-down place, it had been used as a shelter by addicts. At the moment, they are in need of new doors and windows. It is incredible how these Christians respond to events. As soon as a need arises or if God prompts them to do something, they start praying about it. They do not wait until they have enough money or resources to continue the ministry, they simply start building and totally rely on God to provide for them as they go along. Everything they do relies on expectant prayer and utter reliance and faith. They believe that “he who began a good work in [them] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) We also visited and prayed for a place in a different village where they were building a new church. There was rubbish and beer bottles scattered across the floor, yet one day it will be a church. Lastly, we visited a lonely blind man who used to be a teacher. Before he was blind, this man discovered a World War II vehicle nearby his house. When he inspected it, a landmine exploded and blinded him. Pastor Sergey told us that this man loves to hear people sing, so we sang for him and then prayed for him. It was incredible how much we could do for these people simply by praying for them and the projects they were working at. Our team’s views on prayer seemed so limited, when there it really was a way of life.

Rob van Leeuwen

Ukraine Trip - Part 2 of 4

Prayer-walking was not the only thing we did in our first six days. At 7 am the morning after we arrived we went to a neighbouring village to lead a children’s program. After a few short hours of sleep, Tolik, our 21 year old driver and pastor of a church, drove us out to the garage where this took place. It went quite well, and ended in all the guys playing football with kids on our backs. The rest of that day we spent doing some orientation and preparation for our ministry. On Sunday we attended Kiev International Bible Church of which Bob is the senior pastor. Here, John Marlowe and Rosemarie led the worship with Svyeta, our translator. In the afternoon, we went over to Debbie Ash’s place for a big Easter meal. It was great to be able to relax for a while before our busy schedule in the coming week. That same evening we made our first visit to Independence Square. On Monday morning we visited the Chernobyl museum which gave us a good idea of the immensity of the disaster. Even 20 years later people are still dying from the results of this nuclear accident. On Tuesday, while Jean and Heidi visited an orphanage for children with Down’s Syndrome, the rest of us either worked on painting KIBC’s new church space or prayer-walked around the church’s neighborhood. In the evening we met with the Spanish group where those of us who spoke Spanish (that doesn’t include me I’m afraid) were able to communicate, the rest of us needed a translator. It was good fellowshipping with these people and teaching each other songs in our different languages. On Wednesday evening the guys met with Bob’s “Timothy Fellowship,” a Bible study on the doctrine of Salvation with some new believers. Meanwhile, the girls met with some single girls and cooked us apple crisp before we came up and ate it all.

On Thursday morning Becky, Katy and Joannie Jorash joined us as we set out for a village called Brusilov. After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, this village grew from a population of two thousand to twenty thousand with the refugees. This is evident from the poverty and the countless hastily built simple houses. After arriving there, one of the pastors told us about the church over a very good Ukrainian lunch (Ukrainian meals nearly always include mashed potatoes and pickles). We were then informed we would be leaving soon to lead a VBS at three o’clock in a nearby village. Meanwhile, John Tucker was told he would be delivering one of the three sermons at the service at six o’clock. At VBS, John Tucker and Kara made balloon animals for the kids while Rosemarie and Katy did some face painting, both of which the kids loved. In the meantime, the rest of us attempted to set up the back drop for the puppet show. It didn’t end up quite the way it was supposed to be, but it stood. As we started, we played a game of Duck Duck Goose with the kids (in Ukrainian). John Marlowe taught the kids how to sing “This is the Day” after which they and Svyeta taught us how to sing it and another song in Ukrainian. Ryan, John Rogers and John Marlowe did an excellent puppet show and we did a craft. At the end we quickly had to clean up and rush to our church service.

This Pentecostal church was set up by four people following the fall of Communism and the independence of Ukraine. With an original aim of reaching seventy surrounding villages, they are currently ministering in some way or another to forty of them. Pastor Sergey, one of our hosts, told us a story about an old man who realised he was dying. He asked a young man to take him to the villages on a horse-drawn cart so he could pray for each of hem. Eventually the young man got tired of doing this and the old man agreed to go back, though he had not yet prayed for all of the villages. Today there are churches in every village he prayed for.
Although a Pentecostal Church, it followed the Orthodox calendar, meaning we remembered Maundy Thursday again that night. They followed a flexible schedule, if someone had something to say they would just come up and say it. In between songs and messages, the whole congregation would suddenly burst out in prayer, usually ending with the Lord’s Prayer and everyone saying “Sla-va-bo-goo” meaning “praise God.” John Marlowe was asked to come up several times to lead some English songs which Svyeta translated for the congregation. The Jorash girls also did some special music. Sometime halfway through the four hour service John Tucker delivered his hastily prepared sermon. After that, at about ten o’clock, we were served dinner in the basement of the church before being brought to our different hosts families.

Rob van Leeuwen

Ukraine Trip - Part 1 of 4

Today, and for the next few days, my little bro Rob van Leeuwen will be featured on my blog. He will be telling you about our experiences in Ukraine. There's lots to say, so check back often. I should also point out that I've put a few of my pictures from the trip online. Check em out! Now here's Rob:

Ukraine has a long history of foreign rule and oppression. Because of this many people know the country as “the Ukraine,” a region within Polish, Austro-Hungarian, Turkish and tsarist Russian empires. Since 1991 when independence from the Soviet Union was achieved, it has officially been known as “Ukraine” (not preceded with “the”) but six hundred years of hardship have certainly left their legacy.

Though generally a social people, away from the tourist stalls Kievites seemed entirely disinterested and almost hostile to outsiders. What a contrast to Cairo, where you are everyone’s best friend the minute you meet them. Kiev (Kyiv in Ukrainian) is a city of “every man for himself,” what Bob Tolliver, our host, called the survival mentality. This means, for example, old ladies launching their groceries in front of yours on the conveyor belt when it is your turn. Or maybe being shoved out of the way and glared at when you smile at people. In many ways, the city seemed dead to us, from the dreary weather to the lifeless buildings (a remnant of Communism), and the hostility we encountered. The older generations have learned to accept the realities and hardships of life, which has given them a determined and resilient spirit.

Not so with the younger generation, which is often dissatisfied with the realities of life. They try to fill the emptiness with all sorts of things. On our first Sunday night we walked down Kreshchatyk Street and Independence Square, also known as “Maidan Nezalezhnosti.” On weekends, this street is blocked from traffic and filled with musician, artists, performers and vendors. I was offered an owl for 10 hryvna ($2 US) and we watched fire shows and countless street performances. In additions to this, there were numerous stalls selling alcohol. Public drinking seems to be either legal or simply not enforced. As we stopped at Independence Square one evening I watched several men fighting. All around us there were people drinking, partying and flirting. At that very moment a clock began to toll and it hit me how lost all these young people were. It felt like Judgment Day and I realised none of these people would be saved if Jesus returned at that moment. The consequences of this liberal attitude are clear: AIDS, alcohol, and drug addiction are major problems.

These things were reinforced as we prayer-walked a route along the Dnipro river. On Monday, we saw, among others, the “Kissing Bridge,” the Kiev Dynamo home football stadium, and the former royal palace. On Wednesday, we prayer-walked by the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) where the Mother Russia statue is found. We also visited the Lavra, and walked through the tunnels underneath the cathedral where people worshipped relics of saints. Bob told us that when a previous team had visited these caves, all their candles had blown out as soon as they entered while those of the people in front of them and behind them remained lit. By the time they got back to where they were staying, every team member was sick. Though none of this happened to us, it does show what huge spiritual darkness there is in the city. There are even some remnants of pagan places of worship going several thousand years back to the Stone Age. In fact, during our final prayer-walk on our last Monday, we saw ancient idols by the side of one street. On that same prayer-walk we also saw the “Golden Gate,” one of the last remnants of the old city walls. On it is a church built by Prince Yaroslav the Wise in the 11^th century AD. But just as the walls that kept invaders out have been torn down, so have the spiritual walls that upheld moral standards. They have given way for all kinds of sexual immorality, problems with alcohol and drugs, spiritual darkness, and most of all, a spirit of despair. On these three prayer-walks we saw so many ways in which these people attempt to fill the emptiness inside them and find satisfaction.

Rob van Leeuwen

Sandboarding

Although I don't have time to write a blog right now, I thought I'd leave you with this picture to let you know that I'm still alive. After a week or so I shouldn't be nearly as busy so hopefully my posting will get back to regular. Also, next week I am going to have a guest blogger tell about our trip to Ukraine because I still haven't had time to write about it. So come back soon!