Mission Trip to Cairo 2005

Thank you for your prayers!

I have spent a week in Cairo, Egypt. After and exhausting 12 hour trip home my feelings are bittersweet. As I left Egypt, I left behind new friends and the melt-your-heart Sudanese refugee children. I have strongly experienced the presence of God this whole trip and the returning to my everyday life will be difficult.

Our trip began from the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on April 29 with a slightly delayed flight. The flight was good even though they served Mrs. Pastor as well with the Asian vegetarian meal I had ordered for only myself. We flew from Helsinki to Prague from where we continued to Cairo at around 11pm on a flight that was over an hour late. We arrived in Cairo in the wee hours of the morning where we were met by TM who led us to a Guesthouse in the Zamalek area.
I was appointed to a wonderfully romantic room for a single woman on the fourth floor of the Guesthouse. The WC and shower were down the hall. From I had access to a balcony shared with two other rooms. Here I spent wonderful morning and dayprayers with the Lord. The pastor couple had a room on the seventh floor with a stove, fridge, shower and washroom as well as a gorgeous terrace. I thanked the Lord that my room was on the fourth floor because the elevator was continuosly out of order and got stuck in between floors. At this point, I want to give thanks to the Lord and the person who payed for my accommodation. May our Heavenly Father bless you!The weather in Cairo was warm though a bit windy. It was wonderful not to need wool socks to keep my toes warm!

The first day was free. We had a native young lady as our guide as well as a car and driver at our disposal. we visited the pyramids the size of which is hard to fathom until you actually see them. They are huge! We even ventured into one of the burial chambers - impressive. The sun was hot. The pastor couple tried sitting on camels and Mr. Pastor even took a little ride. I was a ninny and I wouldn't touch or go near such a creature. The camle was big and I concluded that I'd give it space to be big…

From the pyramids we continued to and Egyptian museum that was enormous. it would've taken days to see everything they had on display. We visited Tutankhamon's grave and saw the jewellery. We also saw statues from different eras. The Egyptians have definitely mastered the art of decoration. I can definitely recommend this for anyone visiting Cairo. Upon noticing that we were all hungry, we unanimously decided to eat. Our guide took us to a quaint restaurant. We had just sat down when we received word of an explosion close to the museum. There was a little less than half an hour between the explosion and our leaving the museum. We have a good Heavenly Father who protects us. When the Holy Spirit is our Leader, we are in just the right place at the right time. Thank you Jesus and those praying for us! The explosion killed one and many were wounded. The culprit was a muslim activist who had fastened a nail-bomb to himself.
On Sunday Mrs. Pastor preached at Manshia Church for Sudanese refugees. I had the pleasure of serving others by praying for them. Many came forward to be prayed for. We blessed whole families as well as children. Some of the children were a bit wary of us whites. On Monday night we served at Ezbekeya Evangelical Church where we experienced awesome presence of the Holy Spirit. Praise and worship was amazing, the leader had a great voice and was definitely in the right place. You wouldn't guess, but they sang the same songs we do, only in English. God's presence was awesome… From this we can conclude that God doesn't speak about praise and encourage us to praise Him in vain.

In this church we met a woman who had converted from islam to Christianity 15 years ago. She accompanied us to our lodgings. Her testimony strengthened my faith. I was filled with the Holy Spirit as the Lord touched me through this sister's words. Jesus had sund the Song of Solomon to her in a vision for 5 years until she was ready to make her decision to become a christian. This sister has been sent to India amongs other places to preach God's Word. Thank God for this sister and her amazing story!

On Tuesday Mrs. Pastor preached the gospel to pregnant refugee women at All Saints Cathedral. Many had already come to Christ and the church welcomed them by giving the an info-package for new Christians and collecting their contact information. From here we went into the sanctuary where our Sister TM preached to the women fo the Mothers' Union. The teaching was new to them. It had to do with pregnancy, supporting motherhood and womanhood. Strong teaching which brought forth many women to repent and be prayed with. Awesome deeds of the Lord! We also prayed for the sick.

On Wednesday morning TM and I taught children. My sister had the teenagers and I had the 9 to12- year-olds. This was “it”, my first time preaching in English. It was amazing! It was also my first time teaching children so young.

The previous day I asked God what I should speak on.. In the morning I knew I would speak about loving your neighbour. I had Matthew 22:37-39 and 1 Timothy 1:5 as my base. I also got instant feedback from the kids who came to talk with me with the aid of an interpreter and their British teacher. They said they had prayed the previous day that God would give a topic that would deal with the children's relationships with each other. I can only thank God for this. He is behind the will and work, He send and equips.

On Wednesday night we, that is Mama Margaretha, the pastor couple, Pastor Tony, TM and myself, had dinner at Pastor Lupai's in Heliopos. He has a charming wife and a cute little baby. We were served a tasty home-cooked meal with wonderful company. During pastor Tony' talk on prayer I was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried as usual. Those present prayed for me. After the meal we moved into the living room where the same was repeated. In awe of the power of the Holy Spirit I ran aroung the living room - I had to- and found myself on the floor of a Sudanese pastor living in Egypt. I was embarrassed but one really can't help it. Tony just said that this lady will be leaving soon.. and that's what I've been hoping; that God would send me. And He will send since He has equipped and vice versa.

On Thursday the pastor couple went together to preach to children at Africa Hope. I remained sleeping at the Guesthouse. I slept for 13 hours.. On Wednesday I got a stomach ache and started taking my medicine. They tired me out and I decided to take as much out of my day off as I possibly could. The plan was to go out on the pastor couple's terrace but I slept past noon which is a lot from one who usually sleeps for 6 hours a night. The stomach ache only lasted one day, thank God. On Thursday night we had been invited to the home of Dr. Leone in the heliopos area. Dr. Leone is the pastor of House of Prayer, Egypt. Before our trip God had given me a vision of an obelsik in Heliopos chrashing to the ground as well as a Bible verse and a prophecy regarding Egypt. When I saw Dr. Leone, God reassured me that he was the one the vision and Bible verse were meant to strengthen. The pastor and his team thanked me for sharing what God had spoken to me. You can imagine that I felt blessed. I thanked God for His presence for He alone is worthy of all thanks and praise. The night was amazing and God's presence was strong. My “mission” in Cairo was done.

On Friday Mrs. Pastor preached at Ain Shams Church which was filled with Sudanese refugees. The praise was lively as often is the case with black people. I enjoyed the atmosphere. We all served praying for people. I had the chance to pray for the sick with Mama Margaretha as my interpreter. Two women who had been healed at the Mothers' union meeting gave their testimonies. Thank the Lord for strengthening His word through miracles and wonders.On Friday night we had been invited to Lorna's for dinner. We had a meeting there as well. God is good all the time. I was in His Majesty's service and got to pray for people. God touched a couple and they personally came to thank me for prayer and the word God gave through me. Thank you Father! From here we continued to the airport. our trip home started on a 3.05 am plane.
What God gave me personally on this trip included new friends and “just the right” contacts with whom I know I will remain in contact after the trip as well. He increased my faith by showing His greatness and strengthened me an dmy faith by providing the right words at the right time. He showed me I can trust Him in every situation, that in spite of stomach problems I can serve Him and that I am completely dependant on Him.

He made me think about honoring Him in a new light and what honoring actually means. He showed me how I can trust in Him. He confirmed things He had previously spoked to me through brothers and sisters in Christ. In every way He strengthened my faith.
Our team was invited to Sudan and I also received a personal invitation to a series of meetings held in Cairo in the fall.

This latter I would like to leave as a prayer request. As you who receive this letter know, I don't have and association into whose account I could collect money for missions trips. You also know that I am the single parent of two children and my funds are limited. And you know I am waiting for God's confirmation on the matter. Though many of you know my calling, you also know that leaving on faith is always a bit scary.So I ask you to pray for wisdom and that God would do His will here too. If I am meant to go preach there this fall, He would work out all the details. Finances included.

I especially want to give thanks for EN who took care of my boys while I was gone. I want to thank the person who paid for my accommodation as well as everyone who has been parying for me and those who have financially supported my trip. Remember that the sender has the same reward as the one being sent.