Author Archives: ianwhite

God’s temple is sacred

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And so this morning we ascended to Temple Mount, Old City Jerusalem. The centre of Jewish aspiration for a 3rd Temple on the site of the previous two temples built firstly by Solomon 3,000 and rebuilt after its destruction 2,500 years ago. The site of in the early 1st and 2nd centuries of a Roman Temple to Zeus, a 6th century Byzantine and for a short period a 12th century Crusader Church, but mainly for the last 13 centuries a Muslim holy site containing the Dome of the Rock, and the Al Aqsa mosque. 3,000 years (off and on) of worship, sacrifice, holy activity, prayer, devotion. Full of legend, tradition and some faith too. It’s easy to be overawed here – the place where the Ark of the Covenant is brought in years past, and the Divine Presence of God resided in Jewish thought in the Holy of Holies. Surely this is the sacred centre of the world – this is where we meet God?

Thanks God that in Christ I am not limited to this small plot of land. Paul writes to his Christian brothers and sisters in 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17: ‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? ……God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple’. And so I step away from the Temple Mount and onto the streets – this time reminded that in Jesus Christ I am to be the carrier of worship, to be the place of sacrifice, the example of holy activity, the offerer of prayer with a life devoted to him – the Holy and Sacred One. God make me a temple of your Holy Spirit.

All of life is down there……musings from the walls of the Old City, Jerusalem

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Today members of the Cliff College Study group, Stephen Skuce and myself spent part of Shabbat at the Western Wall, part in the Jewish Quarter, and after a hearty lunch of guess what…..humous and foul (beans) we walked the Ramparts Walk (north) – half of the city wall walks. In the beating sun of early afternoon from our vantage point on the top of the city walls, taking in New, Damascus, Herod’s and finally Lion’s Gate I had these musings:

All of life is down there.

I look down from the city walls – all of life is down there, the dust, the dirt, the boxes of rubbish, the yards of washing, the broken glass, the sounds of revving cars, and horns, and the games of football in the yards, the alleys, the streets, and on the cobbles…….

I look down from the city walls – all of life is down there, the sad, the tired, the hopeless, the pressured, the troubled, the just plain overheated, the orphan, the widow, the living, the dying, the coughing, the shouting, the jostling, the threatening, the soldiers……..

I look down from the city walls – from the clean, the tidy, the ordered walk way, the hot but safe, aloof and separate vantage point, from my viewing of life where no-one can bother or affect…….

I look down from the walls…but I must descend to the city – all of life is down there.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling……..in the city.

A message from Bishop Mouneer of Egypt

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An important message from Bishop Mouneer from the Anglican Church in Cairo, Egypt, which I wanted to share with Micah68 Supporters and Friends. Please join me in prayer. It seems to have got even worse than when I was last there in Egypt last December. This is part of his letter……………

My dear Friends, Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The situation in Cairo is very sad for us as a Christian community. On Friday 6 April 2013, sectarian clashes erupted once again, this time in El Khosus, in the outskirts ofCairo. The story, according to the director of the police, started by a 12-year old Muslim boy drawing graffiti on the wall of an Islamic school. Two Muslim men rebuked him for doing so, and a Christian man also came and rebuked him. This developed into a big argument and fighting between Christians and Muslims in the area. After the Friday prayers in the mosque, a group of Muslims came out and attacked the Coptic Orthodox church in the area. The result of this was the killing of four Christians and one Muslim, and many injured. Many stores were also vandalized and looted. The Grand Imam sent his assistant, together with a Coptic Orthodox bishop, in order to do a reconciliation. However, one hour after things calmed down, the fighting erupted again.

The next day there was a funeral at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abassayia the centre of Cairo for the Christians who died. Thousands of Christians attended the funeral. Amidst their mourning and grief they were shouting words against the government and against the Muslim Brotherhood. Because of this, as they exited the Cathedral and the church grounds, they were attacked by other Muslims. The police then interfered throwing teargas. At least one person was killed with over 80 injured. This was the first time in history that the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral was attacked, especially during a time of mourning.

It is worth mentioning that in the last two years, since the beginning of the Revolution of 2011, the number of incidents of sectarian clashes has increased. No one who committed violence or kill-ing has been brought to justice because the government is content to solve the sectarian clashes by reconciliatory meetings. In a statement I made, I urged the government to apply the rule of law as the only way to stop these sectarian clashes. I emphasized the importance of the reconciliatory meetings which we as an Anglican Church are facilitating at several levels. I also emphasized that they are not a substitute to the application of the law. Unfortunately the current government is inexperienced and is not doing enough to include the different political parties in building up Egypt after the Revolution. This contributed to the instability of the Egyptian society, the decrease of tourism, and the bad economic situation.

The Christian community in Egypt right now is mourning and feels challenged in their own country, as some of them have said, “we have been here since the time of the Pharaohs, this is our country! We will not leave whatever happens.” On the other hand, there are many educated young people who are immigrating out of the country and this is the saddest thing for me as one of the leaders of the church in Egypt, because I believe that the Christian presence is very much linked with the Christian witness.

May the Lord bless you! + Mouneer Egypt

The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. President Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East

Introducing Sherin Boulos of Alexandria, Egypt….

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So this blog introduces you to another special friend of mine, Sherin Boulos of Alexandria, Egypt. She lives with her parents in the city, works at Fairhaven School and Vocational centre (a Micah68 project) as the very creative Arts and Crafts teacher, supports local Christian projects in the city via her work with Caritas, is an Coptic Orthodox Christian, and a wonderful young woman.It is great to have got to know her and her family.

 

As well as all this, she is the creative force behind Shasso Accessories (check out Shasso Accessories on Facebook), making handmade jewellery and other gift items from her home. Originally taught by her father, a silversmith, she has developed an individual and modern look with a Middle eastern/North African twist. She is looking to get her products out to more friends across Egypt, and via Micah68, around the world! Postage is difficult from Egypt, but every time I travel to Alexandria I come back with a selection of her items, which I buy to support her expanding business. Please do encourage her on the Facebook page, look at her items – and feel free to contact me to see what Shasso Accessories I’ve got on sale!

Reflections on Egypt December ’12 trip

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Dear Friends and Supporters,

With some time post the Christmas celebrations, as promised I write a short report on the recent Micah68 trip to Egypt, taken with Laura Smyth. In many ways I am still recovering from this trip, now 10 days since we returned. It certainly was stretching on the emotions!

It was great to return to Alexandria, and to Fairhaven, where I last visited in February ’12 to present the 2011 monies which Micah68 Supporters had raised for the Greenhouse project. In 2012 the target was £1,000 for the Gym project. It was good to be able to hand over the achieved target, and hear about the Gym re-opening day which had been a great success, with the new Micah68 gym equipment in use. Even better was to be able to report that through the gift of Laura and Alastair’s wedding day, we had been able to actually achieve £3,000 as a gift, which Mrs Linda (Headteacher) was very excited about! The extra money is to be put against a new building – a sales outlet for the items that the young people make in the vocational centre. Whilst we were there, bricks arrived, and the building recommenced.

Whilst in Alexandria, we also spent sometime with our friend Sherin, who makes great handmade jewellery (lots of which I now have for sale!). It is good to be able to support her and her lovely family, who invited us to their house for a meal. We responded by taking her out for coffee and tuna pasta on the promenade!

Time was too short in Alexandria, but we had to return to Cairo to meet up with friends at the Cathedral, to share in Helbees birthday (now a ritual of mine), and to visit the 2nd project – the Kanater Prison. This was an important, but sobering day visit. In the morning a minibus met us, 2 pastors and a few other guests at the Cathedral, and we then headed off to the prison – approx 1 hour away. On the way we dropped into a small supermarket to buy food for the prisoners, and loaded up some bags of rice, oil, salt, cheese. Prisoners have to supplement the poor prison food with their own food, which they can buy at the ‘tuck shop’. This is expensive, but also impossible if you have no family in the country, and are a refugee or prisoner from outside Egypt. Through the various checks, we eventaully met 4 prisoners for an hour in an open room – a Nigerian, Sudanese and 2 Russians. It was challenging to hear their stories, and of the living conditions in the prison (16-17 men to a room, no real bedding, no privacy). But also inspiring to hear the testimony of one prisoner who had been in the prison for 14 years for drug smuggling, but 10 years ago had come to Christ. He does not believe that he will ever leave the prison, but talked about the freedom he had found. Stepping back outside the prison to my ‘freedom’ felt strange, but I am so glad to have adopted this project, and for Micah68 Supporters to have raised £1,000 towards this work.

The prison visit really moved me, as the trip to the Fairhaven school had affected Laura especially. But I guess what really felt exhausting, and so became I believe the core reason for me being in Egypt this December, was the political backdrop and the growing violence in the country. Everyone we spoke to was concerned for their country, and Christians especially concerned about the hold that militant Islam was beginning to exercise through the influence of The Brotherhood and President Morsi. Since I have returned the 2 days of voting on the Constitution have seen a ‘Yes’ vote for some radical changes to life in Egypt. The future looks more unstable than ever, and many are talking about a deeply divided country and a future civil war. Day after day this was being discussed, and was constantly on the news. During our time there 7 people died in Tahrir Square, and 150 injured on one of the nights of violence between pro and anti Morsi supporters. It was awful to think this was happening less than 2 miles away. Even though I have travelled the Middle East for 15 years, and seen much of the Israel / Palestine tragedy first hand, I don’t think I have ever felt so concerned for a country, a people and my friends there. It certainly led me to prayer whilst with those Egyptian friends.

Of course these are only the headlines. Much else happened on a daily basis, and I had the privilege of many conversations and opportunities for witness and prayer. I now begin the process of planning my next trip to Jordan in March, and of course updating the website with the 2013 project targets. Much to do, and the work is so important. As always thanks for your support, thoughts, prayers and gifts. Please consider ways of further giving if you are able – see my last message about the drive for more standing orders in 2013. This would really help release the Micah68 work.

God Bless, and thanks for reading! Ian