Our group of 44 travelers arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011. We had 3 fairly “normal days” seeing some of the very wonderful sights in Cairo; the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the mosques, an ancient Coptic Christian Church, & the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo (mummies, King Tut tomb artifacts, etc.).
On Friday, January 28th, we drove several hours north of Cairo to see the city of Tanis, in the region of Goshen (possibly one of many sites from which the Exodus of the Jews began). On the return from Tanis, as we approached Cairo, we discovered that all of the roads into Cairo were blocked & barricaded, and that internet & cell phone access had been completely shut down. Our bus driver took us to The Citadel, an 800 year old massive fortress, southeast of central Cairo. The guards let us drive our bus into the fortress, and spend the night inside the high stone walls. We were the only people in the fortress besides soldiers and guards. It was only then that we discovered that the massive protests & riots in central Cairo had begun several hours earlier after the weekly “Friday noon prayers” in the mosques. From The Citadel we could see lots of black smoke and fire, hear gunshots, fighting, and loud voices, and smell the teargas. We “attempted” to sleep on the bus. Sometime during the night, the guards invited us to come inside the Military Museum, (a palace built by Mohammed Aly in 1827). The guards brought us into the large central parlor, complete with brocade couches & chairs, rugs and chandeliers. Then they proceeded to serve us tea!
I was so aware that while the city all around had erupted into chaos and violence, our Mighty God had provided us with a place of safe shelter and a beautiful palace to spend the night. Only God can do something like that. This was no “coincidence” – it was a “God- incidence”. I kept thinking about the words of the old hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, which is based on Psalm 46.
Saturday morning, we returned to The Grand Pyramids hotel, which is 5.4 miles from the center of the riots in Tahrir Square. It was quickly determined that we needed to cancel the tour and get back home ASAP!
We spent Saturday and Sunday in the hotel, a “reasonably safe” location. However, each night we could hear loud repetitive machinegun fire, gunshots, shouts, etc during much of the night. At this point, the police had completely abandoned their posts, and the army had arrived in central Cairo, with tanks and soldiers on many corners. Employees of the hotel stood guard in front of our hotel with sticks to ward off any of the roving, looting gangs. Our tour guide lives in central Cairo, and the only way he and his neighbors could protect their homes and families was to gather together outside their homes, with sticks, and ward off any attackers themselves, literally keeping vigil over their homes and families all through the night.
Saturday night was the scariest night for me. I laid in my hotel bed listening to machine gun fire and all of the loud noises outside. There was no police or army protection available. Our hotel “guards” were few in number, and only had sticks for weapons. It was clearer to me than ever before that GOD is my only protection. He can use police, soldiers, etc, but HE is the source of all protection!! God had shown me a powerful visual image of His protection on Friday night – the massive stone walls of The Citadel. I chose to trust Him in the midst of my fear, and in the days ahead.
Monday morning, January 31st, we had to suddenly leave for the airport. Our pastors had worked all through the night to get us listed on a State Department emergency evacuation flight out of Cairo. We were to told to take only what we could carry. Bob and I left 3 suitcases full of belongings at the hotel. It was one of those “if your house was burning down, what would you take moments”. We took our passports, money, bibles, cameras, and I did take my new Kindle & my iPod, but not much else!
We were on one of the first flights out of Cairo on Monday afternoon. We flew to Athens, and then on to Amsterdam, and arrived in L.A. on Tuesday, February 1st around noon. We were supposed to have been at the foot of Mt. Sinai at St. Catherine’s monastery on Tuesday, but God had other plans!
The situation in Cairo has deteriorated day by day, and hour by hour. We would have only been just arriving home today according to original plans. Today, Friday February 4th, is being called “Day of Departure” in Cairo and tens of thousands of people are gathered in Tahrir Square, as I write this.
I am so thankful to be home!! I am praising and thanking God for his continual protection and provision for us while were in Egypt. We went to Egypt to study Moses & the Exodus, and we ended up having our own personal exodus out of Egypt.
I am left with such compassion for the Egyptian people. Sometimes, I take my everyday simple blessings for granted – food, a home, safety, an on duty police force. The Egyptian people are desperate for change, and so many live below the poverty level. I will continue to pray for them, and for the country. God let me see firsthand for a few days what it is like to live in a “war zone”.
I will never forget this experience, and I will be reflecting on the lessons God wants me to learn in the days ahead.
