Love's First Light: EGYPT

Getting to go to Egypt was such a gift! Due to the timing of the uprising, our plans were initially changed for safety reasons. Upon much pleading on our parts (hey, we're photojournalists looking to document social injustice!) and as the riots began to subside in Egypt, we were granted a brief 5-day stay. It ended up being such a beautiful and blessed 5 days!

The intention for our time there was to read through and deeply study the first 5 books of the Bible, with particular emphasis on Genesis and Exodus. We managed to find a way to get our studies done while not missing out on incredibly historic sites like the Nile, the Pyramids and Mt. Sinai.

Cave Church

Cave Church has a complex story behind it that I don't even know how to sum up. It is a Coptic Christian Church in Egypt that is built within caves that were discovered about 3 decades ago. It's beautiful and the story of how it came to be is quite unique. You have to drive through an area called Garbage City to get to the Church. The man who funded and began this Cave Church wanted to provide a place for the residents of Garbage City to hear about God.

Garbage City

Garbage City is a place in Cairo where the most of the trash from the city is taken and sorted through by the poorest of the poor. The trash is sorted, reused, repurposed or resold. As you enter the city, the overwhelming stench of rotting trash fills the air and each direction you look, you find men, women and children knee deep in piles of garbage. Many of the people working in Garbage City are immigrants or refugees, and they are paid the lowest wage legally allowed for work within Cairo.

Our guide at the Cave Church and our Egyptian host, Magdy, both explained to us that 20 years ago Garbage City was quite different. The poor were living in and amongst the heaps of garbage, with disease running rampant. Father Simon, the man who started the Cave Church, felt called to help them to a better life. Not only did he build the church in hopes of sharing God's love with them, but he built schools, hospitals and homes within Garbage City. He taught the residents about hygiene and sanitation and helped turn Garbage City into a much better place for the people who live there.

GIZA PYRAMIDS

Pyramid of Khafre

The stones of the Great Pyramid

The Giza Pyramids are absolutely INCREDIBLE. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that these pyramids have been in existence since 2550 B.C. To think that they were built over 4500 years ago is astonishing. Not only that these incredible structures were built, and by manual labor, but that they have been on the earth in those exact spots for over four thousand years! The pyramids were built during Egypt's Old Kingdom, which spans between the 3rd and 8th Dynasties (2575-2010 B.C.) which would mean that they had already been built 1000 years BEFORE Joseph came to Egypt. The Israelites would have been among the pyramids during their time in Egypt. FASCINATING!!

The Giza Pyramids are a group of three. From left to right, the Great Pyramid is the earth's largest pyramid at 481 feet. The Pyramid of Khafre referred to as the 'Home of the Sphinx' stands 471 feet tall. And the Pyramid of Menkaure, 'The Last of the Great Pyramids' stands 213 feet. The Sphinx sits nearby, and though it was partially blocked off while we were there, I still got a few nice shots of her.

With the Great Pyramid in the background

She's mighty pretty!

We couldn't go to the Pyramids and not take some jumping pictures! Left to right: Sarah Wallensteen (affectionately referred to as "Walle"), me, Hilary, Sarah, Melissa and Marisa. And we figured we'd take a team picture, since we don't have many and it WAS an epic place to do it! Left to Right: Sarah, Tim, Scott (Scotchie, a nickname he got in Brazil), Hilary, Nate, Me, Walle, Melissa & Marisa.

The Nile River

We were so blessed and got to take a boat ride down the Nile River. Now-a-days, the river banks are completely built up with buildings, businesses, hotels and communities, which is to be expected I suppose, it being Egypt's true life source. But the whole time, I just kept trying to imagine the banks of the river being desert land, lined with reeds, with people groups living up and down the river banks, coming to get water and bathe. I pictured what it might have looked like to see Moses' mother putting her baby boy in a basket and sending him downstream hoping he would face a better fate. It's incredibly surreal to read through the Bible, to know all the things that happened in and around this river and then to be on a boat sailing down it. Unreal.

Mount Sinai

Let me just begin by saying Mount Sinai is a gigantic mountain. Actually, it's a gigantic range of mountains that are both breathtaking (from beauty) and breathtaking (if you're climbing them). We arrived at Mount Sinai at 2am, after a 7 hour bus ride. We hopped out of the bus, not having eaten since 4pm the day before, with nothing but our headlamps and cameras. It was startling at first as a camel would suddenly decend upon you in the complete darkness! Or you'd be walking and glance to your right (with your headlamp lighting the way) only to see a camel staring you down only inches away from you!

A Bedouin tea shop

As the sun was rising

Part of the 777 steps to the top

The sunrise at the top of the mountain was our reward. It was stunning.

We had some time to sit on top of the mountain and just take it all in. I imagined Moses going up and down that mountain to meet with God, getting the 10 Commandments on stone tablets and carrying them back down. I know there is discrepancy as to whether it's the Mount Sinai of Biblical times, but even to know that Moses went through a similar journey each time to just get to where God was. I took some time and lifted up prayers very dear to my heart while I was on that mountain top. It was worth every one of those 3 hours and 1500+ stairs at the top.

Exhausted from the hike, lack of sleep and food, we hitched a ride on a camel on the way back down. This seemed like a good idea in theory, but on a mountain that steep, it's just bad. Haha...an awesome, unique experience I'd never trade, but a painful one!

That's my look of "fearful joy"

THE RED SEA

We drove from Sinai to the border of Israel, where we had to get off the bus and walk across. We had been prepped that this was no casual matter, crossing the border within Middle Eastern countries that are not friendly with each other is not something to take lightly. So, I was all geared up for the intensity...and then we saw this...the sparking blue beauty that is the Red Sea. The Sea that the Israelites crossed on dry land when God parted it to save them from the Egyptians. It's unbelievable to look upon a sea that God performed a miracle on. I found an interesting site regarding ancient findings of the Red Sea. I haven't read through the whole site, but it's just fascinating learning about the artifacts and relics that have been discovered over the centuries.