Donna Ketchum
EGYPT: Lillian Trasher Orphanage in Assiut; City of Cairo
January - April, 2000 -- Newsletter No. 1
So much has happened since the New Year; but, in lieu of all of the busyness, the first computer vocational training school at Lillian Trasher Orphanage has been successfully inplimented! The girls at LTO (and even the children who are not yet in the program, but are looking ahead) have been given a new hope, new self-esteem and new attitude.
In February, with four computers in place, one network system, one printer, one scanner, a white board, desks & chairs, and all the wall decorations to make the room look like a computer classroom, the physical structure was in place. Our next question was, will the girls be able to learn?
My biggest challenge, as their teacher, is getting them to leave the classroom after the two-hour class time is over. They would stay all day. If they could.
One of the girls, Fariale, decided to name a cartoon character in the teaching texts that demonstrates specific computer examples. Billy Graham. I asked why. She said, "Everyone loves Billy Graham and this will make us love our computers!"
Recently, we heard the classes might be indefinitely canceled. The girls were very upset. I challenged them to pray! We always start each class with prayer, but since hearing of this possible turnabout, I began to spend the first 15 minutes of class-time in prayer and devotional time. One by one, the girls came and told me they were praying.
On the last day of class before the D-day of cancellation, one of the girls said, "Even if we never use what you have taught us, we have still been given a great opportunity in this computer class. When people talk about computers, we can now join in on the conversation and feel that we have something to share and actually know what is being talked about."
The girls grieved with me and prayed each day for God to change the decision the directors' had made. This was truly an act of love on their part for me, as most of them are numb to most bad news and everyday disappointments, thinking they could never change anything.
On the day I was to return to Cairo, the decision hadn't changed yet. Two hours before I was to leave, I went to bid adieu to the asst. director. She left me with the news that I could return as planned on April 21st to continue the classes!
What better way to build the confidence of the girls in Christ, but to show them how their prayers had been heard and answered!
Really, there is no typical day! As, you know with God, nothing is impossible and everything is possible; in the course of a day, one should be flexible!
I am up in the morning to spend two hours with the Lord. I have one computer class from 10 a.m. to noon; by the time the girls leave it is somewhere between noon and 1 p.m. On any given day, my afternoons are spent in preparation for future teachings, spending time with the rest of the girls in the orphanage, visiting the infant & toddler area, the widows section, or roaming the campus to visit with primary age boys who are usually sweeping the grounds (their daily chore).
I have come to love the girls so much. Their needs are not much different than our girls in the good ole USA (inner self and outer self). Any routine church day, you will find them all putting on their best clothes and fussing with themselves to look pretty.
And then at 5 p.m., I return to the computer class for the evening session. When the class ends at 7 p.m., I venture into the administrative offices and gather with the leadership for a hour of felowship/routine type follow up work; or, sometimes I will spend evening time with the girls as they wrap up their day and they want to sit and chat; on Thursday evenings - volleyball!
There is never a lack for ministry when there are 600 children around. I have found the word ministry to encompass small meaningful acts of kindness: taking a photo of a child brightens his day, and when you return with a copy for the child, it is like you gave him a bag of gold; extending a kiss; a brush of the hair; or a rub or pat on the back. An American hug is something that is unexpected and at first embarrassingly received, but as you look in their eyes, no word exchange is necessary.
And the children minister back to me as they run up and give me a kiss on the cheek or excitedly yell out my name across the campus!
It is so important to introduce you to those I am surrounded by, so I have created and inserted a photo collage in this newsletter. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see the normalcy of the classroom and the surrounds of happiness and joy! I never thought I could find such satisfaction in teaching as ministry. One always sees significant ministry as preaching, building churches, saving lives. And yes, each of these things is so very important to increasing the kingdom of God. But, the ministry that I have found in touching lives through a functional method has burst a new definition to the word ministry! Selah.
I am forgetting very simple everyday English words, and even around the house when I am talking to myself, I speak in Arabic!
Egyptian breadsticks have taken the place of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which are nowhere to be found!
The poinsettia trees and otrher beautiful and exotic flowers, which surround me as I walk along the streets of Cairo.
My God-given dark hair, as I blend in with the Egyptians.
My Egyptian, Dutch, German, American, Canadian and British friends; and YOU!
Personal revival for the Egyptian directors at the Lillian Trasher Orphanage.
No more disruption or threat of the closure of the computer classes.
The spirit of dishonesty (a Big problem with all Egyptians, Christian & non-Christian).
Month of June for me will be very busy with little breaks in between each conference (I will need to pack/unpack/repack, rest, renew/refresh my spirit, and prepare for each conference).
A new roommate.
God's grace onto me.
A specific unspoken prayer.
NCT's prayer team in October, 2000!