Saturday: A Full Day in Luxor, Egypt

Dear Friends and Family, Today was a wonderful day of fellowship at a village church north of Luxor. Many of our team members spoke as part of a "Spiritual Day," with Pastors and members from four different congregations in Upper Egypt (South). Topics presented included caregiving, pastoral care, practical needs, global mission, mission partnership, and outreach. Everyone did a wonderful job!  There were men, women, and children all present, and they asked us some great questions about our topics.  After the presentations we all had lunch together at the church. Following lunch we headed back to Luxor for the evening, where we enjoyed dinner at the only Korean restaurant in town-- recommended for us by our Korean friend here in Luxor.

I learned some new things today about Presbyterian churches in Egypt. While there is plenty of room for error in these statistics, something like 10% of Egyptians are Christians and 10% of those Christians are Protestant, and 90% of the Protestants are Presbyterian!  So, Presbyterians are by far the second largest group of Christians in Egypt, following, of course, the Coptic (meaning Egyptian) Orthodox Church. Even though this is my third trip to Egypt, somehow I failed to realize this information in the past!

I was struck today by a passing comment our friend made during the van ride about his preaching. He said that when he preaches he relies heavily on the Bible, because it is our common language. It IS our common language, isn't it! We are drawn together by the love of Jesus. I thought he said that just right.

Thank you for your continued prayers, we are all doing well and are healthy! Please pray for our day tomorrow as we visit, preach at, and worship with several different congregations. However, only if we are able to get natural gas for our van, which is currently in short supply and is being rationed. Please pray that it will be possible for us to get the gas we need to visit more friends!

Blessings, Caitlin