St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Letter from Egypt

Chris and Angela Chorlton, our mission partners with CMS in Beni Suef in Egypt, send regular letters. Here are some extracts from the latest:

During Lent we were asked to speak each week at the main youth meeting for the diocese, held in the Cathedral each Monday night. ‘Youth’ in Egypt means from the end of school until you are married, so quite a cross section, but not the teens that the English ‘Youth’ bring to mind. First they asked us to do a series on the persecuted church, but that got cancelled as there were fears that it might stir up antagonism with Muslims in the town. So we’re now doing a series on the slightly safer topic of the ‘5 Love Languages’ … although who knows what goodies that could throw up!

We struggle with out title of “Mission Partners”. ‘Partnership’ suggests a two way relationship, but it never quite feels reciprocal here! Chris put in a lot of hours and energy working for St Mark’s Language School, but never felt his ideas or projects accepted. And Angela has built up great relations with the girls home, but still feels that they make changes to ‘keep her quiet’ rather than actually because they believe it is right.

In the west we take toddler groups for granted, but can you believe there doesn’t seem to be anything of the sort in Egypt? The value of play for the development of children is something which we feel needs to be promoted, as well as providing lonely mums with the opportunity to get out of the house, make friends and receive support. Above all, it could be a powerful tool to demonstrate Gods love to families in the town. The Bishop is supportive of the idea, but there are plenty of cultural and practical barriers to overcome in the process of me (Angela) setting it up. Please pray!

We’d still like to run some marriage courses but are struggling to find the right way forward. A seminar or course for engaged couples would be great, but when exactly? To be engaged here in Egypt is quite a big deal: a huge service with prayers and exchanging rings, and often a reception afterwards. At this stage the couple are still not really very well acquainted, but they now have society’s ‘permission’ to go out together in public - so now they can get to know each other. So when to do the course? Couples can’t attend a meeting together before the engagement ceremony, but after it seems a little too late!

We brought a good number of marriage books with us to try and help set up a course. So we are avidly reading them ... at least our marriage is improving!

Chris and Angela Chorlton

You can find all the letters from the Chorltons indexed here.

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. May 2007, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (May 2007) Hope not hate, Dark Moon, From Egypt, Finances, Hymn, History. The Chorltons. Other articles on missions.	Letter from Egypt Chris and Angela Chorlton, our mission partners with CMS in Beni Suef in Egypt, send regular letters. Here are some extracts from the latest: During Lent we were asked to speak each week at the main youth meeting for the diocese, held in the Cathedral each Monday night. ‘Youth’ in Egypt means from the end of school until you are married, so quite a cross section, but not the teens that the English ‘Youth’ bring to mind. First they asked us to do a series on the persecuted church, but that got cancelled as there were fears that it might stir up antagonism with Muslims in the town. So we’re now doing a series on the slightly safer topic of the ‘5 Love Languages’ … although who knows what goodies that could throw up! We struggle with out title of “Mission Partners”. ‘Partnership’ suggests a two way relationship, but it never quite feels reciprocal here! Chris put in a lot of hours and energy working for St Mark’s Language School, but never felt his ideas or projects accepted. And Angela has built up great relations with the girls home, but still feels that they make changes to ‘keep her quiet’ rather than actually because they believe it is right. In the west we take toddler groups for granted, but can you believe there doesn’t seem to be anything of the sort in Egypt? The value of play for the development of children is something which we feel needs to be promoted, as well as providing lonely mums with the opportunity to get out of the house, make friends and receive support. Above all, it could be a powerful tool to demonstrate Gods love to families in the town. The Bishop is supportive of the idea, but there are plenty of cultural and practical barriers to overcome in the process of me (Angela) setting it up. Please pray! We’d still like to run some marriage courses but are struggling to find the right way forward. A seminar or course for engaged couples would be great, but when exactly? To be engaged here in Egypt is quite a big deal: a huge service with prayers and exchanging rings, and often a reception afterwards. At this stage the couple are still not really very well acquainted, but they now have society’s ‘permission’ to go out together in public - so now they can get to know each other. So when to do the course? Couples can’t attend a meeting together before the engagement ceremony, but after it seems a little too late! We brought a good number of marriage books with us to try and help set up a course. So we are avidly reading them ... at least our marriage is improving! Chris and Angela Chorlton You can find all the letters from the Chorltons indexed here.
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