Cairo Update
Greetings
from Cairo,
I've recently returned from a visit to upper Egypt. I was there
for three days and four nights, I took a number of meetings in
a village and major city called Assuit. I was actually fulfilling
two long-standing invitations to take meetings in the area. The
area itself is called Si'eed and is often the butt of Egyptian
jokes. The Si'eedies are often portrayed as being big, friendly
and stupid; rather like lovable Labrador dogs but once angered
they turn into ruthless Rottweilers . . . I took extra care not
to cause offence!
The village which I went to was quite small and typical. The people
are very hospitable and hardly seem to leave me alone, always
checking if I need anything. Although they wouldn't consider themselves
to be poor the standard of living was very low . . . from a western
point of view that is, but in general they seem to be content
with life. As usual my biggest problem was trying to cope with
the food which was offered. Bearing in mind the potential consequences
of causing offence I was careful to eat everything placed in front
of me. My automatic "gag" mechanism had to be suppressed
many times, and I learnt not to ask what is in the food.
I took three meetings in the village, the Sunday school, youth
and evening adult meeting. I was surprised by the level of attendance-
there are about 4000 people living in the village, and about half
of those are Muslim. The adult service had 500 people packed in-
I heard that word got around that a foreigner had come and was
painting Bible stories so a few came out of interest, but most
were regular attendees. Since almost everyone's occupation was
linked to farming I gave a message about the sower- and according
to their background I think that they understood the lesson better
than me. In Egyptian tradition I shook hands with every man leaving
the Church (and their hands were a lot more rough than mine!).
I was overwhelmed by the level of hospitality and joy they had
that I had visited their village. They took it as a great honour
for me to be their and I have to say that I was quite humbled
by their response.
After spending two nights at the village I took a two hour ride
in an overcrowded half-working bus to a large city in Si'eed call
Assuit. Now I had heard of this city a few weeks ago on the BBC
world service- a correspondent had been sent to report on mysterious
lights that had been appearing around Coptic equivalent of a cathedral
in the city. Apparently the story behind the lights is that they
first started to appear on August 17th after a sighting of the
virgin Mary above the cathedral. The lights have been appearing
almost every night since then usually between 1am and 5am. People
have travelled from all over Egypt and even different parts of
the world to see them.
The BBC correspondent was a self-confessed sceptic- she said that
she couldn't explain what caused the lights to appear but it wasn't
enough to make her believe it was a miracle. Hmmm, OK, well many
people saw Jesus' miracles and still didn't believe so I became
curious to see it for myself.
Since I was only staying for a night my host took me after we
ate an evening meal. He had wanted to see it himself anyway and
was looking for an excuse to go, actually his friends all said
the same thing so in the end three car loads of us went. On the
way they explained to me that there is a news black-out about
the lights on the state-controlled television. Basically the government
don't want news of this to get out and even after two months they
are still refusing to acknowledge what is happening. They went
on the explain that a few days after the lights started to appear
crowds formed at night around the cathedral. The police decided
to seal off the area and search to see where the source of the
lights was coming from- they didn't like the fact that Christians
were claiming this was a miracle. Despite a through search they
could not see where the lights were coming from and they had to
allow the crowds in around the cathedral area again. A load of
extra police were drafted in from Cairo to take control of the
situation and to find the "culprits" . . . last week
they made several arrests and announced that they believed the
lights would now cease. Of course the following night their the
lights were again- nothing changed. Apparently the police desperate
to make progress arrested individuals in Assuit who owned for
hired out lighting or laser equipment and confiscated their hardware.
Doh!
We went to a near-by building and watched the cathedral from a
rooftop. So what did I think of it?? Well, at first it just appeared
to be flashing lights reflecting off the cathedral, which has
two prominent towers and a dome. The flashing is similar to a
fluorescent light starting up, but a lot more powerful and it
stops after a couple of seconds. The interval between flashes
was between a few seconds to a few minutes and seemed to be happening
randomly. The light appeared to come from several angles and was
centred around the cathedral but not exclusively on it- several
surrounding buildings were being lit-up too.
When I looked closely I realised that there was no apparent source
of the light. The effect of the cathedral could easily be man-made
given the right equipment BUT the point in question was WHERE
was it coming from? Sometimes the light was reflected from the
tops of the towers indicating that the light was coming from above
. . . but the cathedral is the most prominent building in the
area with no other building able to project light at that angle.
While I was pondering lots of people started to shout and point
to the sky above. A solitary white dove was flying overhead and
it hovered over the cathedral area before disappearing from sight.
I was told that flocks of these white doves have been seen flying
at night (which is apparently very unusual) around the cathedral
area. Later I saw two separate flocks of doves, flying effortlessly
and without a sound. Man, this seemed weird!
It was quite a noisy place to be. Whenever lights flashed around
the cathedral a cheer went up from the crowd- I asked to go to
the crowd myself. At first my hosts were a bit reluctant saying
it was very dangerous and they didn't like the thought of a foreigner
going there, but they allowed me to go on condition I only spoke
Arabic, acted like an Egyptian and allowed myself to be surrounded
by them!
As we approached I saw that the area immediately surrounding the
cathedral was heaving with men (and only men! Too rough for women
to be there . . . ) and it looked and sounded more like a crowd
of rowdy football supporters than a group of pilgrims. The atmosphere
there was amazing- loads of excitement and anticipation. They
were singing, chanting and there was a lot of pushing and shoving
to get the best viewing places. I was glad to get back to the
rooftop afterwards.
So was it all a trick? Not impossible, but very difficult, with
the police everywhere looking for light sources for two months
now without success it makes me think not. Mind you, if I was
in charge of the police operation I would wait for the lights
to start to appear, then cut the electricity supply to that part
of the city and see if the lights continue. If they don't then
we can suspect trickery! Of course the problem I have with the
whole issue is what does it prove? I remember a time in the UK
when people were flocking to Hindu temples because statues of
cows were apparently drinking milk- I was asking the same question
then.
Well, with the subject of lights, I know that the faith of many
people has increased as a result, and there have been many reports
of healings within the crowds. My faith is based on the Word of
God and doesn't need miracles to uphold it. For those who don't
have faith then no amount of miracles will be enough to convince
them- but for the ones who have a weak faith then this kind of
event seems to strengthen it. Many people from the other religion
are actually asking a lot of questions as a result too . . .
I think that my lasting memory of the trip would be the hospitality
and generosity of the hosts in both the village and the city.
Throughout my stay in Si'eed I wasn't allowed to buy anything,
and there was always someone at hand to see to my needs. My meetings
in Assuit were a teacher training conference and a prize giving
celebration with a few hundred children, both of which were quite
successful. I left on the 1am train and there was a crowd of well-wishers
there to say goodbye- this makes English hospitality look pathetic
in comparison eh?
Well, that's all for this time,
Toodle Pip,
Jason
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It's
a Fact!
Facts
about Egypt:
- Egypt's
population is 66 Million
- Egypt
is four times the size of the UK
-
Only 3% of the land can be used for arable crops
- Cairo
has 18 million people and is growing by 1 millon each year.
- Cairo
is the Largest city in Africa and the Middle East
- Official
literacy rate is only 45%
- A
total of 11 languages are spoken in Egypt
- Public
Debt per person is $790
- Average
annual income is $630
- Unemployment
is estimated to be 17%
- Religion:
Approx. 85% Muslim and 15% Christian
- Most
Christians are affiliated to the Orthodox Church, less than
1% of the population are Protestant
- There are
an estimated 100,000 street children in Egypt
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