Eid sacrifices in Cairo(Photo: cc Haramlik on Flickr)The reality of Eid sacrifices for the poor recently struck Chris Chorlton, as did the benefit of long-term relationships
We were in Cairo for our first Eid al Adha – the Feast of Sacrifice. If we thought that the blood ran on the streets in Beni Suef we were wrong! With its population of 18 million the demand for meat in Cairo was huge and for weeks on end we saw sheep in the backs of cars and being dragged into apartment buildings.
The street behind ours was full of people watching as animal after animal was slaughtered, skinned and weighed. Having blood on you that day is standard – especially the children!
It is not really a sin sacrifice as we may be led to believe – there is no concept of the lamb/cow/goat needing to be blemish free. It is, however, a financial sacrifice for many – Egyptians still suffer from a stagnant economy (the latest figures suggest that 40 per cent of Egyptians live on less than £200 a year).
Eid al Adha remembers the story when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Muslims believe that this son was Ishmael and that the events took place in Mecca. The story also includes Hagar and Ishmael searching for water and Ishmael building a shrine (the Kaabah) to thank God for their deliverance. All of these events are re-enacted in the Hajj to Mecca each year.
Old friends
A few weeks ago we combined a trip to Beni Suef with the renewal of our driving licenses. I was standing at the back of a huge crowd of shouting lads in order to see my friend at the Traffic Office.
Despairing, I began to daydream: “How many other foreigners do their own paper work?” “I’m the manager of a quality institution – I should pay someone to do this for me.” “I need to get this procedure transferred to Cairo.”
Suddenly I was shown to an empty window, with my paperwork all done in five minutes.
Queuing to pay I found myself squashed up against one of our best friends in Beni Suef, then met an old student and our corner shopkeeper. While getting my photo taken I was greeted by many who knew me – “Welcome Mr Chreees”. One man I bumped into reminded me of how I fixed his office door, sometime early in 2005. As I thanked the Colonel in charge of Beni Suef traffic (with his Swine Flu mask on!), I realised that we haven’t yet finished with Beni Suef, and are in no rush to sever any contacts.
We need teachers!
The Episcopal Training Centre has plenty of good teachers at the moment. What we really need are teachers who are willing to commit. After each six-week course we need to reassess who will be around for the next one. We believe that the students who take our courses deserve the very best. Please pray for more teachers to come and work as an act of service and in the longer term.
Chris Chorlton manages the Episcopal Training Centre in Cairo. He and Angela and their three children moved there from Beni Suef to Cairo just over a year
ago. If you’re interested in mission service – maybe in Egypt – then get
in touch via the Mission Service pages