The past week has been transitioning back to US life. While I'm used to coming and going, one of the biggest differences is the pace here. I think it's a combination of the American lifestyle that likes activity, but also the fact that Charleston is the place in the world where I know the most people and have many close relationships. It's sometimes a shock to my system and really challenges the lifestyle I normally try to cultivate that incorporates stillness and rest in a very demanding world.
Perhaps the stomach bug stayed around a bit longer because of the lack of rest my body needed; perhaps it was a call to slow down. Either way, it wasn't the funnest of weeks, though quite productive and full of evidence that God is my help.
I'll spare you the details of my many projects, but I'll write just a bit about one. We had a deadline of registering our nations for the large Congress coming up in August, which you'll be hearing more and more about. That may sound easy, but it involves lots of work and much communication. I spent several hours last Monday writing our national director in Egypt and working on registering several of their team members. One reason it took so long is because well, I'm not very savvy when it comes to Egyptian addresses; so I kept having to ask, "Is such and such a street or a town?" "What's the zip code for Alexandria? And Cairo?" "I need so-and-so's email address."
I was starting to feel annoying around 5:30 PM which would be 10:30 PM their time and apologized for yet another message and so late! He thanked me and asked how I was still awake (11:30 PM in Zurich), that this was normal for Egypt, but for "my country," it was unbelievable. That made me laugh, and I had to confess that I was jet-lagged from flying back the night before, but I was now on US time again. As devoted as I want to be, in Zurich, I would've been asleep and definitely off my computer.
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| These children have been trained by our team in Egypt to share the Gospel with their friends and family. |
I was also incredibly thankful for technology and Internet which I rely on a lot for the work that I do. Just from this registration process, I now know about a few other workers in MENA that I am so looking forward to meeting in August. They have a great influence in this part of the world in sharing the Good News that Jesus came to bring hope and life to Egypt (and other Arab nations)! Thank you for your prayers for our team in this part of the world.
