Nov 23 to 25 Wael cooking & Dinner with David

 

We had two friends from our branch feed us this week. The first, Wael Nasr, cooked Syrian food for us at our home. He is the person we have mentioned before that fled from Syria with his family. He was a wealthy business person and the war there has destroyed everything he built. He and his 16 year old daughter became members of the church earlier this year. His daughter, wife and other 2 children returned to Syria this year, as they had few opportunities here. They are living in As Suwayda, which is in the southern part of the country and protected by Druse militiamen. However, his smallest daughter begged her daddy to return, as she was frightened hearing the bombs go off in the city.
Wael makes little money here, even though he is a trained sculptor and very smart. He gets very emotional when he talks about how he misses his family.

He started our meal about 6:30 and we finally ate at 9:15. Long- but it was very good. 
The meal was cooked in components and then added together. there was soup and then Wael brought the larger pan out in which it was mixed together. Maybe it was a fact that it was so late, but the food tasted very good. We sent him home with a lot of it, but we still have enough to last the week.
We were invited out to dinner with a young man, David Adel, who has been attending our branch for a year or so. He is not a member, but a very pleasant man. He handles tours and is a Coptic Christian. He told us that maybe someday he might join our church. We told him that we are happy to know and have him with us in any capacity.
He took us on a very long subway ride to an area that is prominently Coptic. The restaurant is owned by a Muslim family and has very good Egyptian food.
All the tables are covered with plastic and the food brought out and we shared it. This is David across the table.
Last picture today - we took an Uber to visit an NGO yesterday and the car was falling apart. The front driver seat was broken and the driver had to twist to drive. The seat was pressed on Kathleen's knees. We will no longer take Uber Economy, but upgrade to be safer.



















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dinner with Daud's Family and Trip to Alexandria with Whipples

Image
  We had dinner with Daud and his family. I wore the shirt that he wife sewed for me. They are still waiting to be relocated to Winnipeg, Canada. We took a one-day trip to Alexandria to visit two NGOs with whom we have projects and considering others. The new couple, Dave and Maire Whipple came with us. This is the Citadel on the coast. We visited a Roman museum. Here is Kathleen viewing the many pots preserved. Here is the travel that existed in the Mediterranean Sea thousands years ago. The museum had many ancient coins, some going back to Alexander the Great. Kathleen looking at a burial sarcophagus.  This was a Christian mummy that had a painted head. They even mummified crocodiles. Kathleen and Steve at a mural. The Whipples and Walstons with the leaders of Don Bosco in Alexandria. Welding training in Don Bosco in Alexandria. Dave Whipple in Don Bosco training area. Kathleen in Don Bosco Alexandria. We were told that the roof over this facility was made of asbestos and ne...
Read more

Valley of the Whales and Youth Activity

Image
  On Feb 28th we took a trip to the Valley of the Whales or Wadi al Hetan. Here there are more than a thousand fossilized whales that have been found. The area used to be a large sea millions of years ago. Ironically, this is the same day that the Trump administration decided to bomb Iran and start a regional conflict. It is a lot of desert here now, but there were mango swamps millions of years ago. Many different kinds of whale bones have been discovered here. There was quite a evolution of different whales. These rocks contain remains of fossilized mango swamps. More desert. We went when the weather was quite cool (for Egypt) and there was a breeze. The temperature was probably in the 60s. The area was interesting to see. We traveled there with the other missionary couple, Dave and Maire Whipple. Interesting rock formations. You can see in the middle layer of this rock a whale skeleton. The next picture is a monument to celebrate the valley of the whales. It was probably 30 mile...
Read more

Elder Bednar visit Nov 22, 2025

Image
  We had a priesthood leadership council training meeting on November 22, 2025 that was led by Elder Bednar and our Area Presidency, Elder Perkins, Parrella, and Back. They are pictured in the back of our villa where we hold church in Cairo. Elder Whipple and I had a lot to accomplish to prepare for the training. He coordinated all of the travel and I the work preparing the facility and food. It all worked well and we were spiritually fed. I was impressed with Elder Bednar's presentations and the practicality of what he taught. He requested that we not try to keep detailed minutes but to seek for impressions of the spirit and write these down. Much of the meeting was question and answer. I actually made a couple of comments in the meetings, which might be unusual for me in such settings.  Here is a larger view of our chapel and Elder Bednar. After the training meetings Elder Bednar visited the Gran Imam of Egypt. When he finished we met him at the Magdi Yacoub Hospital where w...
Read more