Egypt, Once Again

I’m currently staffing a Bible Core Course based in YWAM, Lausanne Switzerland. I took the school as a student last year and it’s a huge blessing to be able to have these once in a lifetime experiences twice, facilitating what I hope is an amazing time of learning for students now. We read through the entire Bible, studying twelve books, inductively, as we travel to Historical/Biblical locations in Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and Italy.

Naturally, the excitement of going to a place for a first time can never be replicated, but there is also something to be said for sharing experiences with others and seeing the excitement in their eyes as they do it for the first time. This applies not only to the physical places that we are taking these students to, but to the places and the depth of understanding of the Bible as well.

Of course, riding a camel at the Great Pyramids and enjoying an Egyptian lunch in a boat on the Nile is still fun the second time.

I honestly love Egypt and I genuinely find its history to be some of the most interesting in the world. There is something so bizarrely beautiful and unearthly about its nature, I can’t help but be incredibly drawn to it. I also really love the food. It is a vegetarian’s dream. I really want to come back to Egypt, sometime, and to go to Luxor.

I really enjoyed having the chance to go through the Exodus lectures and homework again, with a new perspective that is now even further developed. I love this story and I love how it really sets the stage for the entire narrative of God and his people; the dynamic of a God who wishes to dwell completely intimately with his creation in perfect unity.

I think it is so cool how this school goes through the journey, beginning in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then traveling through the wilderness of Sinai to the promise land, Israel. It makes it much easier for everyone to see the story of the Old Testament and to place themselves in it as a reality.

After a week in Cairo, we spent several days at a beautiful place, on the red Sea, called Sharm El Sheik. There is a lot of time for people to

catch up on reading and to relax and have a lot of fun. I spent my morning off going out with a few others on a speedboat, racing over waves and stopping to snorkel for a while. The rest of the day consisted mostly of beach bumming and drinking mango juice, which is in my California blood.

After Sharm, we drove to Mount Sinai and stayed at the foot of it, at St. Catherine’s Monastery, the oldest functioning Greek Orthodox monastery. I had the honor of seeing some of the oldest and most famous works of Christian art and literature in the world. It was a huge honor. We didn’t get to stay at this place in my school, so it was new for me.

We got up at 1:00 AM to hike up Mount Sinai and to watch sunrise from the top, which is absolutely stunning. The bright sphere breaks over the top of a mountain, casting a purple haze over the desert mountain range and shooting out radiant beams of orange and golden light.

Next is Jerusalem, Israel.

This group of students is exceptionally encouraging, which makes it such a joy to lead them and serve them. They are always so grateful and always extend me such grace. It grants me a lot of freedom in my soul. This is something, in general, that I’ve been growing in and learning more about; operating in freedom and what that looks like. There is a new peace in my mind and in my heart, as of late, that is even greater than that which was already granted me, not from man but from God. It means never feeling the need to justify myself or to be seen/understood by others. I don’t set any arbitrary standards for myself that are not helpful, and I can simply live my life, satisfied by a sense of purpose and of being loved by God. I find that living this way ends up producing more fruit anyway, and people respect a person walking in such freedom, or they dislike them, out of envy or insecurity, in which case, who cares? It is alright for me to set my own boundaries and there is freedom to make mistakes without having a crisis. God values humility over legalistic perfection, always. And walking in humility leads to walking in goodness and kindness.

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Thank you so much for reading!

-- Emily Kathey

#egypt #travel #spirit #living