Egyptian Thoughts

I thought I'd give a brief glimpse into the grand scheme of my past week in Egypt. If I had to describe it in one word, the first one to come to mind would be uncomfortable. I'm just a sheltered, germaphobic, middle class white boy. It's uncomfortable for me to be in a third world country.

The bathrooms aren't as clean as I'm used to. The public bathrooms form a demonic force, the likes of which I've never seen. The motel room I stayed in this past weekend was unlike anything I've ever seen as far as crampedness and dirtiness. I don't understand the local language. The drivers are insane! Some roads have lines, but no one uses them. What would be a three lane highway for most is a 6 or 7 lane over here. There are no crosswalks, and people are hit by cars very often. So yeah, uncomfortable.

But, I feel like after a week, I've hit sort of a stride and am starting to feel a little more comfortable with my surrounding. God is definitely destroying my fear of getting dirty. And I'm glad He's doing this, because, honestly, you have to get dirty to love people. The smaller my personal bubble becomes, the closer I can get to people.

But overall, this has been an amazing week. I've met some godly folks who are out here doing a great work for the Lord, and I've definitely had my eyes opened to a world that I had ignored for so long. I've gotten to see the richest and poorest parts of Egypt and it's like night and day. What's sad is that there aren't too many Egyptians in the rich part. It's mostly foreigners.

One thing that's really shining through to me is this: Jesus isn't just ours. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He wasn't just thinking about Americans. I think, whether we like it or not, we tend to monopolize Jesus, making Him just ours. I know I do. But these Egyptians were just as fresh on His mind while He was on this earth as we were. We're not the only important people. God doesn't need us to reach the world. He allows us to reach the world for Him.

So, as you can tell by this hodgepodge of thoughts, there's a lot of stuff on my mind right now. Keep praying for me. God is definitely working on me on this trip. I can't wait to see what's coming up over the next few weeks.