I'm writing this blog from a balcony in Cairo, a city of 24 million people, making this city's population higher than many countries worldwide. It's been eight years since I was here, and there are so many new roads and tons of new apartment buildings. In many places, Cairo seems to be a sea of apartment buildings. It is quite a remarkable city, contrasting between "Old Cairo" and "New Cairo." One has buildings that date back hundreds and hundreds of years, while the other is new and modern. I've always said that Cairo is the one city I would never want to drive in, and while there have been significant improvements with expanded roads, I still stand by that statement! The driving here is still crazy!
DML operates on a "pull," not a "push." That means we don't have an agenda for working in certain countries or places. We wait to see what God is doing in a particular place, as evidenced by His people who reach out to us, and then we have multiple online meetings to determine if there is an alignment of vision. But we didn't always do it this way. In the beginning, when DML was very new and unknown, we did a bit of pushing. Egypt was one of those places, so it didn't take root. (Read
here to see the writing on the wall from our first visits in 2015. The title of this blog was "A Problem for Every Solution.")
What a difference it makes to join God and His people who share a similar call! I was able to meet a number of leaders from all sectors who have started, are starting, or feel called to start reclaiming the marketplace for God. The time seems ripe, not just for Egypt, but for MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), as some of these partners work in multiple countries.
Last week, I joined a meeting of about 30 leaders from business, government, education, and the church, all discussing how Christians must work together to reclaim the marketplace for Christ! Although they were speaking Arabic, these people were speaking my language! This group is about three months old, debating whether to engage the church or work directly with businesspeople. I did my best to encourage them to engage the church and bring them along on the journey.
The main group I came to meet held a four-day DML conference at a Christian retreat center in Beit El Wadi, about 60 miles outside Cairo. We had a pretty intense four days of teaching and learning about a theology of work, Kingdom-focused wealth creation, and stewardship. Those in attendance came from a number of cities across Upper and Lower Egypt. It was a rich time of fellowship, sharing, worship, and learning.
Lastly, another group works with churches to move outside the four walls of their buildings to do community development, and they want to add economic development to their portfolio.
God is good, and I am so grateful to see Him work through His people worldwide! While on this trip, I received many pictures of the rest of the team at work as well - in Pakistan, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Burundi, and more!
I leave for home on Wednesday, and ask for your continued prayers for these new seeds that have been planted!
