Update 32

Here's a story I wrote which will be used for fundraising for the prison ministry here at the church where are we are staying and that houses Refuge Egypt.  I wrote it after my visit to the prison. 

"I was in prison and you came to me."  Matthew 25:36

It was a tiny slice of the life of the woman prisoner we met…mostly because of the hours of boredom and cold as we waited to be admitted to the visitation room.  Hours but not three years waiting as she has already endured. Finally, we were led into a chaotic and noisy room filled with female prisoners dressed entirely in white and family members with bags of food, blankets and books for their loved one.  The woman I came to visit had no family in Egypt.  

My visit had been arranged by the Prison Ministry of the Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of Egypt.  This outreach program provides transportation to/from the Kanater prison as well as funds to purchase many items necessary to survive in prison to women and men from foreign countries.  Those funds come from generous donations by individuals and groups.  We are writing to invite you to be one of those generous individuals.  Perhaps hearing the rest of my story will inspire you to donate.

The woman I met with was from Italy.  She had come to Egypt on a holiday with a friend.  For some reason beyond her understanding, the police invaded her hotel room and arrested her for "thinking of buying drugs."  She was taken to prison and now for three years, she has waited for her day in court.  Her family in Italy has spent thousands of dollars on lawyers yet there has been no opportunity for her to plead her case.

Her young daughter grows up without her.  Her husband visits when he can.  In the meantime, the Prison Ministry visitors are her only outside contact.  She tells me prison has strengthened her faith as it is all she has now.  She says she will be brave and bold.  Just before I left, the other women who had been visited by Prison Ministry volunteers joined hands and as a group, they sang "You are close.  Alleluia!"  Dressed in all white tunics, (required outfit) it was like a choir of Angels singing.

Please help fulfill Jesus' words, "I was in prison and you came to me" by donating to this most worthy cause.  

 

 

Update 31 by Roger

You probably have heard...
"you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone! They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
In Cairo, the opera house burned so they replaced it with a parking lot.

We find ourselves in a place where we are constantly reminded that what we've got is SO much more.

The refugees travel a good distance to wait in line for hours so that they can register to get some food. Then they return another day to wait again and finally get a bag that will feed them for only a few meals. They will qualify to come back in about one month for another bag. There is no way to know how they manage between visits. Few appear to have jobs.

Maybe we don't know what we've got, but we know that it feels very wrong for these friendly, grateful people to have so little. They are beautiful people with gorgeous babies and they deal with all of the issues that others face but with very few resources and almost no money.

When asked about eating, Hazma, man in our class, said that he doesn't eat breakfast...he doesn't eat lunch, either. He does not complain about it. It is just how it is.