Hey Friends :)Happy Wednesday to you!!I thought I'd try a Wordless Wednesday again, but you know me....I'm not very good at it! How can I not say "something?"?! :)
So last night I was looking through a magazine with hope-filled Christmas gifts when I came across the opportunity to share the Good News with children in Cairo's Garbage City.
I nearly fell out of my chair. Garbage City, in Cairo, Egypt! I've been there and had an amazing, life~changing experience there!
If you've not heard of Garbage City....it's a slum on the outskirts of Cairo without running water, proper sanitation, or electricity. The residents literally live in the garbage. Yes, in the garbage with rats and pigs and all sorts of other creatures. ...and this is "home" to thousands of precious, poor children.
In 2003, I was invited to visit an amazing Egyptian church and spend time with my dear friend Maha and her family. And although I was 4 1/2 months pregnant with Baby Bultema # 4 ~ I said yes :)
One of the many highlights of the trip was being able to pass out Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes to the children of Garbage City.
Here I am (on the left) being escorted to the area where the children were waiting. And yes, that's raw sewage running down the middle of the street.
When we arrived in the church and I saw all of the beautiful children, I was quickly moved to tears.
I asked one of our interpreters, "How do you say Jesus loves you in Arabic?"
She responded "Jesus be hebec" (my spelling...not sure how you really spell it....)
And that afternoon, as I knelt in the dirt in 110 degree heat in a room jam-packed with kids (did I mention I was pregnant?!) and passed out the shoeboxes.... I shared with each and every beautiful, precious child "Jesus be hebec, Jesus be hebec"
With tears streaming down my face, I knew at that exact moment that this was what I was created for! That I wanted to surrender my life to share with anyone and everyone, no matter where God would take me, all about Jesus and His great love.
As I stroll down Egyptian memory lane on this Wordless Wednesday, here are a couple more highlights....
* Visiting children in the hospital, orphanages, and special needs schools....
(Picture above is my good friend Julie and our new Egyptian friends, right before we all started in a major dance party!!)
* Sharing at the Egyptian church (the poor interpreter ~ boy did I talk fast!)
* Spending time with my dear friends Maha, Ramez, Farah, Hady, and Rafik
What an amazing experience!
My husband John has also been to Garbage City (he went just months before I went). When I showed him the article last night and the opportunity to share the Good News with children from Garbage City, John's first response was, "so how many children should we sponsor??" (I love my man!)
(Hint ~ if you're on our Christmas gift list, you might be helping support the children of Garbage City this year!)
Thanks for journeying with me on my "semi-Wordless" Wednesday today! I'd love to hear from you....have you had the chance to serve overseas? Experience God in a special, unique way under challenging circumstances? Please share your journey with us!!
May the Lord bless you with a Wonderful, Worship-full, Word filled Wednesday!!!
Warmly,
P.S. Could I ask...before you close this post, would you stop and pray for this area of the world? May God reveal Himself in HUGE ways to these precious people, and provide AMAZING opportunties for them to learn more about JESUS and His GREAT LOVE for them!! :)
P.S.S. To watch a brief video on Garbage City, click Reaching Egypt's Children - Short Version.wmv from American Bible Society on Vimeo.
4 comments:
Wow---I feel so stomach sick and saddened that children/families live in such conditions when I have so much here! God forbid that I should ever complain!!
Will pray for these families! Thanks so much for sharing!!
It's so good to know that Jesus walks in Garbage City! Praying God sends more harvesters that way!
I got the opportunity to bring God's Word into China (a scary but growing experience!) and was able to visit an underground Church. I was reminded of our freedom here in America to worship and have Scripture everywhere, while in China the majority of Christians are worshiping in private (or publicly and getting martyred.) Thanks for your post today and reminding me of God's grace extended to EVERY corner of the earth!
Absolutely I'll pray for these children...and their families. How awesome is it that in an overwhelmingly Muslim society, Jesus is shining through?!
I clicked over here from ohamanda.com and said a prayer for the people of Garbage City after I read your post. I had the privilege to visit Garbage City twice while I was living in Cairo for a college semester-abroad program. I am always surprised when people call it one the ugliest places on Earth, because -- okay, this might sound really sappy -- I honestly don't remember it being ugly or filthy. What I DO remember is the love I felt from the people there, the babies I worked with in an orphanage I visited, and the beautiful crafts I bought from the people who work in garbage every day. In my mind this is really a special place in the world, and I pray that God will transform the lives of the people who live there.
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