Prayer Still Needed

Of course these days, when people mention Egypt, people all over the world are going to think of the recent events that have happened here. The protests, demonstrations, riots, killings, unity among Egyptians, and ultimately a "presumed" victory for the people were all over the news, and these events were all that people could think about for a couple of weeks. Well, it seemed like as fast as these things started happening, they ended. We all hoped and prayed that what seemed "too good to be true" could really happen; that no matter what their differences, religiously, economically, or even gender, Egyptians were uniting and fighting for a better Egypt.

I believe there truly are thousands of people here in Egypt who truly hope and pray for this kind of Egypt, but there are still those here that are looking out for themselves and only wanted the regime to topple in order to bring about their own agendas.

Even as I am writing this, one of the minorities here in Egypt is ensnared in a battle; some even in such danger they are fighting for their lives and existence. I am speaking of the continuing battle between the Christians and the Muslims. Yes, the pictures we saw of Muslims and Christians uniting during the revolution were awesome, and I still stand up and applaud those who were sincere in this, but the fight and tensions that existed before all of this happened were embedded too deep in the hearts and minds of most people here to just go away in a couple of weeks. Just in the past few weeks following the revolution there have been churches burned down, and there was even a monastery that was attacked. Tensions have not eased since the bombing of a church in Alexandria near the 1st of the year also.

There is an area here that people refer to as "garbage village". One of my first posts ever was on this "village", and the picture I am using for my blog right now is taken in this area with some of the children. The majority of the people who live there are Christians. The people who live in this area began protesting against the violence going on against Christians, and they have come under attack for this. There are reports of their homes being burned down, and people being shot in the streets. A friend of ours, who has done a lot of volunteer work in that area has been receiving phone calls from many people in this area saying they are scared for their lives. Please keep these people in your prayers. They deserve the "freedom" that the Egyptian people have been fighting for as well.

See the post above for a news article on these events.

Little Patriot

Just thought I'd post this picture of a small boy holding an Egyptian flag. We rounded a corner, and here was this small boy with such a huge flag. He and his dad were selling flags. They are selling these flags all over Egypt. We have already bought one this size or maybe a bit bigger, but we stopped and bought a very small one and also asked if we could take a picture of the boy. He doens't look like it in the picture, but he was excited about me taking his picture. So cute.

Learning Together

There have been so many changes in our lives here recently due to the recent unrest in Egypt. One of the things that has changed, just this past week, is that we made the decision to pull our son from his highschool and homeschool him for the rest of this year. This decision was based on several reasons. First of all, and one of the main reasons, is because of the school he will attend in the States next year. The credits he will need upon graduating were not going to be met if he continued. There is a certain subject that he needs 4 years of and he was already behind one year, so we decided to pull him, drop one of the courses that he is ahead in, and double up on the one he is behind in.

Another reason for pulling him is that we are still missing two of the highschool teachers that left Egypt during the uprising. One of them is trying really hard to return, but the other has said she will not be returning. This has put the school in a position where things are much more stressful, and the teachers that stayed are taking on more responsibility. Our son was having some struggles, even before all of this happened, but we saw an increase in his stress as things got more stressful at the school.

Most of you know I recently quit my job teaching the KG 2 class at this school. Little did I know I would still be used in the role of teaching, at least for a few more months. It has been a wonderful experience so far. I know we have just gotten through the first week together, and that week was not very organized, but it has been enjoyable to be able to sit with my youngest son and teach him, and just really get to talk to him. I am trying to get things much more organized for the weeks to come, and he and I are "learning together" how to do all of this. It is such a responsibility to feel like you are in charge of what your child is learning, but it is also such a privilege.

As a Christian Mom who is homeschooling, I feel it is very important every morning to have a morning devotion with my son. Our devotions this past week have challenged us to think about our purpose for our lives. I can think of no better way to be used of God than to have such an opportunity with my child; to be able to be with him more, and just be able to enjoy his company. I ask all of my readers to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take on this challenge. I pray that I can be a good teacher and keep things interesting for him, but I pray most of all that I can be a godly influence in my son's life and teach him that it doesn't matter what the world thinks our purpose should be, but obedience to God, and His purpose for our lives is the most important aspect of living.

(I will try to take some pictures of us in our homeschooling environment and post them soon.)