Cairo, Egypt - 2009

Ché Bell

The time I spent in egypt was life changing for me in so many ways. I think the most moving thing for me was just being near and spending time with the other believers there. The more time I spent with them the more I realized how even though on the surface we seem so different, deep down we are really the same. They have all the same hopes, dreams and fears as i do, yet they have much less opportunity to see those dreams become reality. I am so inspired and humbled by their unending courage in the face of extreme adversity, their hearts gave me strength in a way that is difficult to express. Also the time i spent with the orphans in Egypt were some of the hardest yet beautiful moments of my life.

Just looking at their faces, they had these huge brown eyes that seemed to ask me questions that I found difficult to answer. But after a few moments the questions in their eyes were replaced with smiles on their lips as we sang songs of joy and hope together, as we played games, and as they (for awhile at least) were allowed to be "normal" children. It was then in those little moments that I realized these children were my own… in some way. These people who lived so far away from me and inside a far different reality, these people are our family, our children, our brothers, our sisters. I began to really love them, part of my heart is still in Egypt today, I know it always will be. I feel like I gained much more from these kind, beautiful people than I could ever give. I pray to return soon...and I pray that God would make a way where there seems to be no way

.