We’re talking DIRECT contact August 8 2008

Like any other day, we woke up at 8 AM, went down the stairs of the hotel and into the mess hall for breakfast, then went up to the meeting room for morning devotions. This is where we find out the schedule for the day, the focus of the day, and any side notes that might affect our day. Today we found out that a vast majority of our kids’ parents were coming to camp for the day.

!!!!SURPRISE!!!!

Needless to say, the day was a whirlwind. Some interactions went well, others didn’t even get a chance to happen. But we had a great time seeing our kids light up around their parents, and interacting with people who love them as much as we do. We also got a lot of free time today to really just do what we wanted. We pretty much creeped on our kids and stalked as many campers as we could. I literally found myself playing tag in the middle of a field at one point, capture the flag 10 minutes later, then I was playing basketball with coaches, campers, and the main Lady in charge of camp. Wild.

Once the day ended we all gathered in Jay & David’s room for our nightly devotional. Tonight went long because we had to say goodbye to John Stephenson. He’s leaving us early (as was previously planned) and we prayed over him and loved on him. We even had a few touching moments where some of us were telling him how much he meant to us, then Graham jumped in like a Hippo on a pile of boards. He tends to ruin the sentimental stuff. But in all honesty, this group of guys is losing a link in our chain and it hurts. We’ve grown terribly close to each other as this trip has gone on, and friendships are being molded that have a Mighty strength as a foundation. We miss you guys to a large extent and are really getting excited about seeing all of you soon. Goodnight all!

Egyptian-fun is more fun August 7 2008

Ok, so we’ve past the learning curve. We’ve got a good hold of what we’re doing while working, so cabin fever is setting in. Lots of us just want to sleep (i.e. 40 plus year olds) and the others want to do fun things (i.e. 20-23 year olds). Simple physics will tell us that an objects in motion (i.e. 20-23 year olds) will completely upset all things around it (i.e. 40 plus year olds) to the point of screaming. It’s simple science. Last night we discovered that if you pull some of the supports out from under the matresses the person trying to rest their bones falls through the bed frame. I don’t think simple words on a blog can explain how funny it is when this happens. I’m talking EPIC. So far Travis, Jay, Graham, and Dan (best of all) have tasted the wrath of young guys with free time. I promise, this prank is probably the funniest thing to happen on this trip.

The day itself (outside of pranking the “veterans”) went almost the same as the last few days. Lots of Ropes, specialty sports, coaching, interacting, and relationship building. However… at the end of the day… as the sun set behind our hotel… all the counselors and coaches gathered together… for a little game… called COMMANDOES. Let me just tell everyone who is reading this blog: This game was as fun as our bed-prank was funny. Essentially all the lights are turned out on campus, the campers put on all black clothing, then the coaches and counselors (wearing white shirts) chase them down like they stole sumthin.

Kids were running everywhere, hiding in the worst places, and lying their tails off to try and keep from being caught. There wasn’t a one of our eleven that wasn’t soaked, sore, and smiling at the end of the night. We had a blast running after the kids and everyone got through the game unharmed (Americans, that is) but we didn’t end the game without incident. There is a small building next to the pool that has a wall behind it, and one boy figured out that he could get by myself and John Stephenson by running between the building and the wall. John saw him doing this and booked it to catch him, but neither he nor the boy knew that the camp donkey was sitting right at the corner where they met. Both John and the 13 year old Egyptian were greeted with possibly the worst sound to ever come out of the darkness of the Egyptian desert. A startled Donkey. Afterward, John tried to make up with the donkey, but we think this picture shows that the Donkey is still holding a grudge.

If you’ve never seen a donkey give someone “the stink eye,” there you go.

Sorry for the brevity August 6 2008

I’m sorry this post is short. I promise that I spent a lot of time on a very articulate post that told you encouraging things about our day. It featured photos like this one of Travis

Proving that his engine is up and running. It also had this picture of Brandt where he is teaching baseball.

You’ll never see that post, because the internet out here is about as cooperative as Jay’s horses. I apologize for the technical difficulties, but it’s very late here and I’m rather upset about losing that hour of my life. I hope you all are feeling happy and healthy knowing that we are chomping at the bit to come back home. But we won’t slack on our duties here for a second, nor will we depreciate the here and now. WE’RE DOING WORK, SON!

The Travis-man cometh August 4 2008

That’s right folks, T-bone is back. Travis is feeling much better, albeit not %100, but he’s moving around and eating food with us again. We all gathered around him last night, and our thoughts along with ya’ll’s must have gotten Someone’s attention. That’s really the only news of the day, however. We mostly did the same as yesterday, but the benefit of that is our kids are starting to get familiar with us. I had quite a few more arms around my neck while moving through the pool today as compared to yesterday, and I see all of our team picking out kids that are from their specialty and spending some quality time with them on the side. We’re sharing great love with a group of kids who already have pre conceived notions about all of us before we even got here. Hopefully we’re changing minds, but not with our actions. We’re banking on it coming from Somewhere much better. Like my Aunt Debbie said before I left, “There won’t be much reaping, maybe a little sewing, but plenty of clearing rocks.”

The most exciting part, I’ll admit, was summed up by John Penland yesterday. We were all sitting in a big room watching a video (not unlike a CAA assembly), when John scootched up behind me and whispered, “Dude, we’re doing camp. And we’re 8,000 miles from home.” Be assured that we don’t take it lightly how big this opportunity is.

As always, know that we love you, know that we miss you, and most of all know that we appreciate you. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for our supporters and loved ones. We lift ya’ll up by the hour. Until we speak again!

Lord of the Flies August 3 2008

After an awesome Opening Ceremony (where our own Dn Huntington gave a little spiel about Hockey), we got our first taste of a work day in the Egyptian desert. I don’t know what the adjective for dealing with a large population of flies is. If i did, though, I’d use that mystery word to describe the Egyptian desert during the day. Maybe we Americans are just super stinky, but there are more flies out here than fish in the sea. Some of us (Jay Martin) had to deal with more flies than others (John Penland), but we survived our first day of work. We were definitely doing things we didn’t expect. Myself, John Penland, and David Ly found ourselves on the Ropes course today for about an hour. We’ll do that (as in, helping the Ropes course specialists) every other day.

Then after that we headed to our “majors.” Jay Martin was Clint Eastwooding on some horses, John Stephenson was Nolan Ryaning with some baseballs, Taylor Anderson was Wilt Chamberlaining on the court, Jonathan Theil and Brandt Aiken were swinging Tarzaning from the ropes, David Ly and Dan Huntington were Wayne Gretzkying with the sticks, John Penland was Laurel Brassey Iversening in the volleyball sand, I was Steve Lundquisting through the water, and Graham Pifer was… playing squash.

Every one of us had a blast today because we go to meet amazing people who are just as passionate as we are about working with kids, and serving each other in any way possible. However, Travis Case has taken very ill. We don’t know if he somehow got the water in his system or if he just ate something bad but his stomach is hurting him something awful. Please keep him in your thoughts and hearts. Where as we appreciate the rambunctiousness of being a group of strictly guys, we’re missing that motherly comfort that I’m sure Travis could use. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t loving on him, though. We’ll try to give him anything he needs here, while I hope ya’ll are doing everything you can over there to lift him up. We trust that ya’ll remember how much we think of each and every one of you, and even though we feel ragged and worn out we still find plenty of time to think of ya’ll and be thankful for your love. Until tomorrow!

PS: I added a couple of pictures o the first post. Hope you enjoy.

Pyramid Schemes August 2 2008

Here is the team (from left to right): John Stephenson, David Ly, John Penland, Jonathan Theil, Brandt Aikin, our friend Andy, Dan Huntington, Jay Martin, Travis Case, Taylor Anderson, and Graham Pifer. We are jumping for joy, because behind us is THE PYRAMIDS!

I was taking the picture, so I sadly missed being in such an awesome shot. However, after seeing the Museum that contains King Tut’s treasures, eating an amazing chicken lunch (followed up by watermelon), and staring at the Pyramids and the Sphinx for a long while, I found my chance for the spotlight.

That is me and Mickey Mouse, the camel. I’m pretty much a natural. At least that’s what the guy who was looking for a big tip said when I got off.

Once we left the amazing feats of architecture we hit the road in the direction of the work we came here to do. We arrived in the dark, so no pictures yet. But know that we’re here safe and excited about the opportunity we have. We love all of you.

PS: Myra… your snow globe broke… I’m working on it…

Careening through Cairo August 1, 2008

We woke up about 9, had breakfast around 9:50, then headed to The Monastery of St. Simon of Tanner at 10:00. The cab rides were just as “exciting” to day as they were yesterday. On the way to the Monastery, however, we saw a place called “garbage city” (where a majority of the Egyptian Christians live). It was a rude, rude awakening to those of us who forgot we have it made in the states. And by “made” I mean that we don’t live in cramped housing full of trash like this:

Talk about being blessed. That type of living went on for miles and miles.

Not only that, but every minute we spend away from our family and friends reminds us how much we miss ya’ll. It’s getting pretty painful. So, after a short break in the middle of the day we met up with a group of fellow coaches from Florida and headed to the Market place to buy ya’ll stuff! We haggled and argued, kicked and screamed, and in some cases threw temper tantrums. A lot of us got some great stuff for cheap, some of us got worked over by the cutest 8 year old hustlers this side of the Nile.

Then, we were spoiled even more when we were taken on a night-time boat ride on the Nile. Now, we’re laying our heads down to sleep. We love you all, and hope ya’ll continue lifting us up as we find time to interact with Egyptians on an hourly basis. Whether it be passing people in the street or playing Frisbee with the valets in the parking lot. It’s a blast, and we’re doing work.

We’re here! July 31, 2008

Well. That took a while. All eleven of our team members are finally in Egypt. We all sensed the “quiet before the storm” when we made it from Atlanta to France in record time. It went so smoothly and quick that we just knew there was a catch.Enter a certain French Airline with a rather generic name. After an hour delay in the concourse, our guys were the last ones to board the plane. Then we spent another two hours sitting on the plane while the technicians tried to “close a flap” of some sort. We assume it was an important flap that was rather large.
Once we got in the air, things got a lot better. Unlike the flight from ATL to Paris, the whole team was in the same cabin and almost seated all together. The acception being a few stragglers like Dan in the back and Taylor in the front. Once we got to Egypt we traded sitting for long periods of time for standing for large periods of time. However, after getting checked into the country, grabbing our luggage (all was accounted for), meeting our Egyptian guides, cruising the unmarked streets of Cairo in a gaggle of taxi cabs that never strayed more than 3 inches from each other, and checking into our hotel, we arrived to our beds at 1 in the morning here (6 o’clock in the PM on the east coast). No showers tonight, though. Some are tired, others tolerant of their own stench. I just can’t stand to do anything without rags.
There isn’t much more to report on besides a bunch of smelly, tired men so we’ll wrap this post up with a big “I love you” to all our dear ones back home. As well as a “thank you” for getting us here. Until next time!