Petra

If you run
He will chase you
Because he is the Lord

I just went to Petra, Jordan and the Red Sea for the Coptic Easter break.

Petra is quite possibly the most breathtaking place I have ever been. (my pictures do not give it justice.)


It is in these places that I am broken, and the posture of my heart is reevaluated and humbly put back in it's correct position of humility and gratitude.




I am thankful, no matter how difficult the process of learning these things is, that God continues to break and rebuild me so that I can become more like Him.

Food Crisis

There were labor protests on Sunday.
This is part of the reason why:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04040332.htm

This isn't even about Egypt... but it's probably good to compare and understand the huge hunger crisis that is occurring in different parts of the world.

http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/agflation

23

I turned 23 on March 13th and after having a wonderful time in the desert cooking out, I met my parents and Tessa in Germany for spring break.

It snowed.



And it was green.



And now I'm back in Cairo and it was 99 degrees today.

Spring

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
- Psalms 100: 1-2

My favorite thing about spring is everyone's humming at work.




I know this picture is not in focus -- but look how small our kitchen is.

The Ancient Food Pyramid

Today at THW:

"Why do you think they made it a food pyramid?"
- "Because we're in Egypt"
"Why do you think they made it a pyramid in America?"
- "Because they love Egypt so much."

So next time you see a food pyramid, remember how much you love Egypt.

Spring retreat: The Western Desert

For those of you who were wondering what you do in the desert for 3 days...

Hope

A couple weeks ago I was teaching and the florescent light decided it wanted to be a strobe light for an hour until it finally blew out. It made this ridiculously loud bang and well, I screamed. The kids just looked at me and I laughed, but they didn't budge. They actually didn't even laugh at me. They just looked up to ask how to spell the next word.

Nothing phases these kids. They are the embodiment of expectation. They expect lights to blow up, they expect me to look like an idiot and try to make them jump around, they expect to come to class and to learn.
My girls are the same way with God. They expect Him to work in monumental ways, to move mountains, to restore their health. And, they're not surprised when it happens.

I have really been seeing that when I expect and humbly ask for things, it not only allows me to see His work, but it allows Him to do even more amazing things.

I've been praying that the confidence in the girls that I work with and the kids I teach is built up. And every day I can see it happening. At school, I have one kid who two weeks ago wouldn't talk to me or look at me and this week he was reading and answering questions. The girls, who complain about walking five minutes to work, spend an hour doing aerobics with me (or at least sort of). They're each making choices, and make sure that they're teaching me things.

When I expect things, and ask humbly for them, I'm prepared for things to shift, I'm prepared for God to provide in extreme amounts, and I'm not shocked. I don't scream. I'm not surprised. It's then I can best live (or try to) with a thankful heart, continuously praising and glorifying Him.

Social Stats

I've been doing a lot of research on women in the workforce in Egypt and am surprised at how interesting statistics are. Not only for the information that it gives you, but (at least in this UN report discussing social statistics in Egypt (2003)) in the information that it knows that it lacks. There are so many factors here that no one can actually put numbers on. Whether it is just impossible to get the numbers (like in how many street children are out there) or the numbers are incorrect because some families do not find it necessary to inform surveys (as in disabled family members).

The most interesting thing that I found was that Egypt seems to be promoting women in the workforce and has begun to pave a way for women of all social statuses to be culturally accepted in these settings. This is so refreshing since I am reading Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks and her book gives flesh to some of the most conservative and fundamental parts of the Middle East - in reference to women.

Even though Egypt seems to be progressive here, there is still the problem of not having enough jobs. (My host family went down to Luxor over Christmas and had a felucca driver who had his BA in English literature. And, another friend of theirs told us he just hired an accountant to be a playground attendant.) So many people are qualified for the open positions it is difficult to secure a position.

If you have access to JStor, there is also a really interesting article (yet verrrry academic) by Judith Tucker, Egyptian Women in the Work Force: An Historical Survey. I mean, if you're interested.

I'm kind of reading a lot. If you've got any interesting suggestions, let me know!

Oh, also, read these if you're interested in the border conflict.
(from NY Times and Reuters)

Pictures of what happened

Egypt putting back up blockade
Stopping the block of Supplies

shiny things

I'm still posting these kinds of posts so you can still see what I'm doing.

:)

This is what I do for a lot of my day...

The Desert Fathers

The night before last I woke up in the middle of the night, completely wide awake. I laid there trying to force myself to go back to sleep, but I finally gave up and got online and found my former roommate, the lovely Veronica, online. We started talking and she asked me what was going on over here.

I never really know what to say when people ask me that question. It's life now. The weeks are similar, nothing new is really happening in my every day life, but I can't say nothing is going on, because there always is.

- Youstina, one of the girls I work with, is preparing to get engaged. She met with her soon to be fiance's family yesterday, and the Father of their church today.
- There are 2 new girls at the workshop. One of which will be getting engaged soon too.
- We're about to start trying to make soap. From scratch. That means I have to touch beef fat. If you know me even a little, you know what a big deal that is. gross.

But really, that's not what's going on in my life.
That is what happens in life, but it is such a small part of what I'm going through over here.
Each event, each day, teaches me something. And, that is what is so hard for me to put into words, but, I will try today.

I told Veronica how everything physically was the same, but how I feel like everything is changing. I'm growing in these ways I didn't really know was possible, and learning things about God's character that make me fall down in awe. I think I'm going to try to explain that a little more here these last few months, or try at least. This post will just be background to why I decided to do this.

I'm reading this book called The Genessee Diary which is the diary of a Catholic priest and his seven month stint of trying out the life style of a Trappist monk. He talks about these people called the Desert Fathers. They lived in deserted parts of Egypt in the fourth century - following the examples of Jesus and John the Baptist of extreme discipline by leaving the things of this world and trying to pursue God's call in a deliberate and individual way.

In the most basic sense of the definition, I feel like coming here is similar. I came here deliberately following God's calling in my life and He gave me the desire to truly seek this individual way and gave me a community to encourage me and help me along the way. He brought me, and so many others into this desert so that He could turn our dry souls into rivers overflowing with His grace and love.

One of my favorite things about this book is that Nouwen, as much as he writes about solitude writes about community. He talks about how solitude leads to community and the community helps support each other when they need it the most. You are a part of my wonderful community, and I will try to do better on keeping you updated with these things I'm learning.

So, here's to a new chapter.

Love, Katie

2008

I hope you had an amazing Christmas holiday. I definitely did.
Highlights include traveling around Israel for a week : Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Sea of Galilee and Haifa (the last two with my cousin, Patrick).

This is Jerusalem on a walk I took along the wall. I took 300 pictures while I was there. If you want more e-mail me and I'll send you a link to like 50 of them.


Then my family came.



Now, I'm back to work. The girls started making wedding favors (which are beautiful... I'll try to get some pictures) and we hopefully will be able to continue that now that Christmas season is over. And, Today Trix brought up the idea of aerobics classes we'll hopefully get that off the ground. That should be a lot of fun. or more so funny.

I'm sure these next few months are just going to fly by. Keep me posted on what you all are doing. Please pray that God will continue to keep refreshing me in my work and that He will allow me to bear fruit while working with these girls and the kids when school starts back up next week!