Greetings from Egypt

I send greetings of grace and peace to you from Egypt. First, this note is an acknowledgement and a thanksgiving of your prayerful support of me (and Michele, Alex, Andrew, and Liam) in our life and ministry in this place. Also, this note will serve as a more detailed introduction to the role I play in the region. As I ponder the best way to tell you the story of my role here, I write to you a “Week in the Life of the ELCA’s Regional Representative of the Middle East”.

The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are holding their Academy (yearly gathering) in the Holy Land beginning next week, an unprecedented event for the Conference’s history. During the trip, they look to be pilgrims in the Holy Land, meet with local Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders, and consult with Israeli and Palestinian government officials. In general, we hope that this trip will present to the leaders of our church how the local Lutheran church works to build bridges between war and peace, fear and courage, despair and hope. In my role, I will travel with them to help tell the story.

As I fly home from Jerusalem to Cairo through Amman, Jordan on January 15th, I am making arrangements to meet with staff members of the Mennonite Central Committee and the Methodist church. Since the ELCA Global Mission is mostly connected to programs and churches in Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt, it is important that we also have contacts in other Middle Eastern countries as well. Specifically, I am interested in the issues surrounding Iraqi refugees, especially Iraqi Christians.

Yesterday, I set up a meeting to the Cairo-based Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) on Thursday. The ELCA has had a long-standing partnership with CEOSS, the primary vehicle for development programs for the protestant church in Egypt. They have early plans to build a new Peace Center to teach conflict resolution and peacemaking in the region. Geographically, Cairo can be seen as a central location in a region of conflict for both southern Sudan as well as Israel-Palestine. I meet with them to see if the program fits into the ELCA’s broader vision for ministry.

Finally, since it is Christmas break and today is Islamic New Year, an Egyptian Holiday, I have just finished playing Star Wars Monopoly with Alex. Guess who won? Not me. Afterward, I joined Andrew and Liam to plan Wii Mariocart, their new game they received on Christmas morning. Tonight, Michele and I have a babysitter coming over so that we can go out to dinner. As much as possible, we live life as normally as possible.

Again, I express my thankfulness for your faithful support of the church’s work in the region through me. While the role and life here is rich as well as challenging, it is made meaningful by people like you who take such interest in us. Please feel free to share this note with family and friends who might be interested in the story that you share with us. And, in the future, stay tuned for emails, blogs, and other communication from me as well as from other members of the family.

May God’s grace and peace be made known to you anew during 2009.

Warm Regards,
Peter Johnson