Captivating: Cairo, Egypt

To start off the year my team met in Cairo, Egypt where we spent our first two week studying the first five books of the Bible. We were able to go into the city and explore a little bit here and there but mostly spent time in the little city of El Maadi. God blow my mind as we studied the five books. I think we overlook those books very easily and don't realize how much is in them. We learned a lot about the Egyptian history and culture which put the books into context and gave me a clearer understanding.

[Boat on the Nile River. Cairo, Egypt]

[Man crying in front of the Temple. Cairo, Egypt]

[Market in Cairo, Egypt]

[Guard on a camel at the Pyrmaids]

[Me and Melanie at the Prymaids]

[Me in front of the Prymaids]

There is a place in this world where people not only have jobs working in other peoples garbage but they live in it also. As we walked through the streets of Garbage City, I was blown away that these people live in this place and know nothing else in their lives. They live in a city that has big walls and door on both ends of it that seem to separate it from the rest of the city and they live among the trash. But if that wasn't enough to blow me away, I noticed the looks on these peoples faces. The men and women were more proud of what they do then anyone I have ever seen. Their was no shame in their world for doing what the rest of the world would find shame in. Then there were the children that were beaming with joy! Not feeling sorry for themselves that they live in the world that they do or don't have the newest toy. Instead they are happy and love their lives.

[The Streets of Garbage City]

[Rooftops overlooking Garbage City]

I feel in love with this city and God really gave me a huge heart for them. While we were there me and two other girls on my team met these two little girls that took us into their house. To get into their house we had to walk through the first level where trash was everywhere, up a flight of stairs that were still covered in trash, and inside a three room house. Their home had barely anything in it. In the first room there was two couches/beds that I couldn't even tell what they were made out of. The second room was as big as a walk-in closet that was there extremely run down kitchen that didn't work. The third and final room had no furniture in it and piles of rag clothes, blankets, and other tattered things. It was amazing to see their home and the friendship that these girls gave us. I will remember them and hope to visit them again when we go back to Cairo in about a month.