As part of training however we decided to take all the expeditions to Egypt first. In 2009 there were only three expeditions: Explore Africa, Northbound (focusing more on Northern Hemisphere countries) and Southbound (focussing more on Southern Hemisphere countries). It was a good idea to conduct further training outside of South Africa. It helped me to get to know how my team reacts in a foreign country without the burden of logistics. I also had more personal time to adequately prepare myself spiritually for the year ahead.
However the cross-over from a few logistical responsibilities to the full brunt of it in Morocco (our next country) was not smooth at all, as I will reveal later on.
In Egypt we saw the Lord work in many ways. As preparation for the Muslim world we studied a book called the Camel (by Kevin Greeson) which gives a practical outline on how to engage in conversations with Muslims and use the Quran to build bridges to the Bible and Jesus.
Then on the streets of Cairo I had a divine appointment with a guy who carried a small Camel doll in his backpack! I could use this as my intro into sharing the gospel with him as we spent the following two days talking about Islam and Jesus.
From Cairo we left for Dahab, a romantic, laid-back little tourist town on the Red Sea coast. Here we had many more divine appointments. Especially with local Egyptian Christians from the Coptic Church. The Coptic Church, although a minority in Egypt, is the only Church in Egypt recognised by the government. Since it's illegal for Coptics to proselytize or for Muslims to convert to Christianity, the only way for the Coptic Church to grow is through natural births into Coptic families. Citizens are then identified in their identity books as either Christian or Muslim. Many Coptic Christians also receive a small tattoo on the bottom of their wrists resembling the Coptic Cross as a permanent sign that they are members of the Church. I'm not sure if this is a voluntary act or not, but one Christian I met in Cairo resented his tattoo since he felt it limited his ability to find a proper job or promotion.
The result however is strong stereotyping and prejudice against any local Christian. If they do get jobs their Muslim bosses usually let them work ridiculous hours at very low rates. The Christians we met in Dahab managed little grocery and jewellery stores for their Muslim owners. Typical working hours was from 9am to 12pm and sometimes 1am the following morning! They were not open about their faith at all and very rarely attended a church service (their closest Coptic church to Dahab is at the famous seaside town of Sharm-el- Sheikh). But at least we had some common ground and over the next few weeks we built wonderful relationships with them which finally resulted in bible studies!
The problem was finding time and space for these, as we call them, discovery bible studies. It had to be top-secret and it couldn't be during working hours. Which meant we had to have these meetings at 1am and sometimes 2am! This at least resolved the security issue since no-one was around any more. The first night we had our meeting in the little grocery store. The ensuing nights we met back at the place where we were lodging. Waking up at 2am to lead a bible study was extreme and sometimes very difficult. But it was really worth it as we saw our friends participate and grow in confidence! And it stays one of my favourite memories of Egypt.