Thanks for visiting my blog. Because I have so much to say about the last few months, this will probably be my longest entry….so bare with me.
As most of you already know, I have an amazing opportunity this Summer to go to Egypt with my church’s college ministry, TheMill. TheMill is sending about 18 teams to four different counties: Germany, India, Peru, and Egypt (which is obviously the best choice ;- ) just messin). At the end of May we get to put our crazy lives aside and instead focus on doing God’s work by bringing His Message to four different counties.
As of right now about 88% of Egypt’s population is Muslim. To dim some of the fears that are running through some of your heads, I want to note that a very small proportion of these Muslims are radicals; most of the population are caring and do not want to bring any harm to Americans.
A few months ago we got assigned to the teams we will be on for our trip. Not long after that I got to meet a great group of people who are beginning to become my family. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about teams not liking each other, but our team is the exact opposite of that. I may be a tad biased, but my team is by far the most cohesive and awesome team there ever was. We love our time together and enjoy meeting up for coffee just to say hi and to catch up. Our team meetings last between 3 and 5 hours (or until we get kicked out) simply because we love being together. My team has 5 amazing Godly men and 8 beautiful women of God.
About a month and a half ago we got the opportunity to meet a Christian missionary woman from Egypt who converted from Islam. Samia gave us background information on the Muslim faith and helped us to better understand the atmosphere. Because Muslims completely deny the Bible, our biggest struggle will be defending our faith without referencing the Bible. Samia said that the people of Egypt are welcoming to Americans and Christians, but the second you mention the Bible they tune you out. It is quite discouraging, but God is so much bigger and He will prevail.
We just had another team meeting yesterday and we had the opportunity to share our testimonies. The whole week I kept thinking, “oh, no big deal because I don’t really have much to share.” While listening to the testimonies of others, my whole life came flooding back into my head and I felt I would talk for an hour about my journey with Christ. Funny thing is, I got super duper nervous and said it all in 5 minutes. It probably didn’t make any sense, but oh well. It was interesting to hear the testimonies of my fellow teammates. As Isaac so perfectly put it, we are all pieces of a puzzle that God has put together to form an amazing puzzle to let His light shine in a dark nation.
On one last note, we are fairly certain our team name is: Amal (أمل )- which means “hope” in Arabic.
Please continue to be in prayer for our team as we embark on the amazing journey God has in store for us. P.S. if you would like a sponsorship letter and haven’t received one, please let me know and I will gladly send you a letter even if you are unable to support our team financially.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19)
Remember: Bless the Lord in all you do!
Felicia Rineck
