This last summer of 2017, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Egypt. There were eight of us that went in total, and we were there for about eighteen days. We spent the duration of the trip at Nile Union Academy, a Seventh day Adventist academy just outside of Cairo. We helped repaint the computer lab, several cabinets in the boys’ dorm, one of the staff houses and one of the main rooms in the administration building. We also led a week of prayer, holding a service every night with music and a talk on the topic “Desert Quenching.” Out of all of this, my favorite and most memorable experiences of the trip were the conversations I had with the students. They quickly became family and were proud to consider us their brothers and sisters. They loved hearing about America, but they also took pride in telling us about their own customs and traditions. The Upper Egyptians were especially proud of their heritage, and they behaved very differently from the other Egyptian students. One of the students from Upper Egypt offered to take me to his barber, and he insisted on paying for me. He became extremely offended when I politely refused, then his face beamed when I acquiesced and let him pay. The other students simply remarked, “Yep, he’s from Upper Egypt.”
Seeing the way that the students live was an extremely eye-opening experience. Not only are they proud of their heritage, but they are proud of their Christianity. The school is surrounded by Islamic mosques, and all throughout the Middle East there are acts of terror against Christians, yet the students make no effort to hide their beliefs. Many of the students have a tattoo on their wrist or shoulder of the cross to represent their beliefs, and are respected by people around the school. The students serve the community by cleaning up trash in the streets and painting over graffiti, and the community members live in peace with them.
The students’ lives have not always been that easy. One student named Sherrif who I became extremely close with told me about his life growing up before he was sent to Nile Union Academy. He told me that in his village, everyone hated him for being a Christian. He showed me scars that he had from the daily beatings he endured after school.
“I was walking home from school,” Sherrif told me, “when one of the other students walked out from the alley and stood in front of me. Suddenly, I was surrounded. I was able to hit a couple of them before I fell to the ground and protected my head with my hands, waiting for the beating to stop.”
Sherrif told me that it wasn’t easy to be a Christian where he lived, but he was still glad that he was able to follow Christ. His faith and the faith of the other students, is very inspiring. It became real to me how lucky I am to live in the United States where I am free to believe what I want.
