Urbana06

So I think I decided along the way to shock myself by deciding to spend time alone in Cairo and then a week later attend a conference about missions with 25,000 Christian college kids. I don't really know what to do with myself as I am constantly desiring to avoid everyone and be unseen. It isn't working. Although, my heart and mind are still trying to understand if I am rejecting the Western Evangelical movement or if I just have to get used to it again or if I'm far from God or closer than ever before, Urbana has been really cool this year. First of all it has made me come face to face with a lot of things I wanted to ignore, and guess what friends, I really did change during MESP. I tried to deny it, but it's amazing what another culture and new friends can do to someone in 3 1/2 months. Also what's really cool is how much Cairo is mentioned. Last night, in their really awkward skits one of the guys is learning Arabic to go to Cairo to "be a missionary." Through a ridiculous dream in which he meets Egyptian Christians who are going to the US to be missionaries and he uses his token Arabic phrases, he realizes he has the wrong approach. The Egyptian couple really spoke Arabic, and when the kid said "Izzaiak" the translation read "how are you, but only when talking to a woman" and everyone laughed. It was hysterical. Then today, I saw a film about Sudanese refugees in Cairo. Weird. The film showed a lot of the people, a lot of the metro, and made my heart happy. All of you who interacted with these wonderful people in Cairo, and even those of you who didn't should see this film somehow. I think if you request one they'll send one to you. Here's their site. The movie isn't groundbreaking or anything, but it did my heart good to hear their stories again, to see Cairo, and think about a suffering people that I could match names and faces to. Even if I have had a constant headache the past two days and I can't really get into the worship/light show going on, I am really blessed to be here and to face some of the issues I thought I would put off thinking about for a while.

Have a great break my friends, and I have found that just throwing my head back and laughing (even if inappropriate at times) is a much better way to personally deal with this culture we live in than building up bitterness inside of you. Quote of the day from an African pastor speaking to 25,000 Christian college kids about the new church raising in Africa, "Could drinking from the chalice of Western theology be like drinking from a chalice of poison?" Happy thought indeed.