jafferblog

14:50 I am sitting on my porch reading when I hear the sound of gunfire coming from the south I think. We had just got home from a kids party at the bowling alley, and as we came on to the Corniche (riverside road) we saw a tank parked at the junction with the bypass road alongside Digla. The party was cut short because they suddenly announced that the curfew set up yesterday had been brought forward to 4pm so we had to leave the bowling alley at 2pm. We also had to cancel our church service tonight for the same reason.

Lots of shots being fired. Some very loud and some quiet and further off. It sounds like a serious exchange of fire between the two kinds of weapons..

14:55 the gunfire continues. Then all is quiet again.

15:10 the call to prayer. As soon as it finishes, more gunfire. The loud kind. I later discover that this is army heavy calibre rifles and that we are to become very familiar with this noise.

16:15 another short burst of gunfire. Curfew was 15 mins ago but there are still vehicles in the streets and the metro is still running.

16:30 two much bigger louder pops. You could almost feel them in your gut.

16:45 more sporadic gunfire from further away. Sat on the porch watching and listening to a big flock of swallows wheeling and swooping over the house in the light of the setting sun.

Let me recap on yesterday a little...

Fri 28th. This was the day of the first huge protests in Midan Tahrir: the day of rage. We went to church as usual. We had decided to abandon the planned sermon, part of our series on Galatians, so at 5:40pm just as we finished the worship and Steve got up to lead a special time of prayer and intercession for Egypt, a National Security police guy came in and told us to shut down as they had decided to impose a 6pm curfew. Steve continued to pray as we packed up the stage and put the equipment away and then, not really knowing what else to do, and feeling a little nervous, we all went home. And that was the last we saw of the Egyptian police for several days!

We cooked and had dinner with our neighbours, the Himes, and read Isaiah 19 together, God's future for Egypt. Then we went next door to Hans and Kitty's to watch the news on Al Jezeera. We stayed till about 22:30 and came home. So apart from the curfew and the general sense of escalation of troubles and unease, nothing really felt particularly different.

So that was Friday.

Back to Saturday evening. What a crazy night. All the neighbours are out on the street on guard against the threat of bad guys who might be out and about. I am taking the shift till 3:30am and then Toby will get up and take over from me. We have pulled out my Weber barbecue from the garden and set it up in the driveway to make a fire to keep us warm. White plastic garden chairs have appeared from all around and various neighbours I have never met before will wander over to sit down and talk for a while.

Someone brings out a tray of tea (the posh fruity flavoured kind) and someone else brings out a cake. One lady jokes that all we need is some meat for the grill and the tv on, and then we would really be having a street party!

There has been all kinds of gunfire and red tracer bullets in the air, visible down the street. Since the police have all run away, the army are gradually taking charge of the security in Cairo, but of course they won't come to our area in any force so we are self policing.

Everyone in the street is armed to the teeth. Lots of people have big heavy sticks, but we start making a list of all the weapons we see and they include; pistols, rifles, shotguns, an AK47, knives, whips, axes, golf clubs, baseball bats, a Samurai sword, a garden rake. I have a hammer. A really good hammer.

At about 22:00 three baddies came over the ramp bridge above the metro line, but the neighbourhood watch guys at the end of the road opened fire with their shotguns, sent two packing, captured the third and tied him up; these bad guys are discovered to be policemen intent on causing trouble!!!

00:50 Prisoners escaping from the local jail are running along the metro line letting off shots as they go. Very exciting. Lots of the young men in the street are jumping around and running and brandishing sticks but nothing really happens.

1:00 am. I am sitting round the fire on the driveway with Ramsy, Karim and the boab from next door and Ahmed from over the road. Various rumours are going round, breathlessly delivered by men from the next street or anyone walking by:

Gangs have stolen ambulances and are roaming Nasr City with machine guns telling people to get off the streets and go home or they will attack, rob and rape.

Thousands of prisoners have escaped in Cairo and Fayoum. Who knows where they are or what they are going to do.

02:00. After the initial excitement things have become a little boring. All conversation around our fire is in Arabic so I zone out a little.

03:30. Toby relieves me and I retire to bed. Tomorrow will be another eventful revolutionary day and I need my strength.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

You have mail! A revolutionary blogpost.

2011-02-02T11:40:00.001+02:00

The sweetest words in a land cut off from communication.

I am standing in the church setting up for our daily prayer time.
People are gathering a noon to intercede for Egypt. We are all well
and at least in Maadi, everything is calm. Mostly.

I am sending this now to see if it works. If it does I will write a
more detailed update later.

Mark Jaffrey.

mark@jaffrey.co.uk
markjaffrey.blogspot.com

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Holly, the beautiful Cinderella!

2011-01-27T19:21:00.001+02:00

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Egypt situation update - pray for Egypt.

2011-01-27T16:47:00.001+02:00

It has been a relatively quiet day in Cairo, but protests have been
continuing in Suez. There are rumours that power and internet access
may be cut tonight, or that might just be in the city centre where the
protestors have been gathering. Whatever happens tonight, we know for
certain that protests are predicted to escalate on Friday after the
morning prayers are over.

Again we are fairly sure that we will see no action here in our sleepy suburb.

Please keep praying for peace, restraint and moderation from both
sides of the situation.

The twitter hashtag that most people are using has changed so please
now follow #Jan25 if you are interested in the comments from people on
the ground and those around the region.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Update on Cairo situation.

2011-01-26T21:04:00.001+02:00

As you will know by now (it's on the front page of the BBC and CNN and
just about every other major news source) increasingly violent
protests are continuing throughout Egypt. Twitter has been blocked,
and other websites such as Facebook and YouTube have been in and out
of service most of the day. Apart from reading the regular news
sources, if you really want to get a taste of what is going on look on
Twitter and search for the hashtag #25Jan or #Jan25. These are live
comments mainly from protestors and their supporters.

Our quiet suburb of Maadi is still quiet and suburban. There is very
little chance that anything is going to happen here. All the action is
concentrated downtown and in other cities. We are not worried about
our safety.

So please continue to pray for Egypt, for peace and safety, for
justice and an end to violence.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

We are fine. Pray for Egypt!

2011-01-26T07:17:00.001+02:00

We live miles from downtown Cairo, and there wasn't even the faintest
hint of any trouble in our suburb yesterday, and I am not expecting
any issues here at all. It's 7am as I write this and people have been
camping out in the main square in downtown Cairo all night. I have no
idea what is going to happen today, but please pray for peace and
order in the land, along with the need for justice and truth and
honesty.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

They've turned off Twitter in Cairo...

2011-01-25T19:37:00.001+02:00

So when it's back on, I would be much obliged if you would all repeat
all the tweets I've missed. Just type them in all over again -
anything written between about 4:30pm and whenever they plug the
information stream back in.

Thanks so much!

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Cars of Cairo: the new Mini

2011-01-18T14:03:00.001+02:00

It's here in Egypt, and it's HUGE!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Church in the rain

2011-01-15T00:10:00.001+02:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

So the heavens opened in Cairo this morning and setting up for church under the tent was a soggy affair. Luckily things dried up as the first service started at 2:30. It's never boring in Egypt.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Psychedelic brunch

2011-01-14T12:47:00.001+02:00

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Camels by the roadside

2011-01-09T14:09:00.001+02:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Driving across the Sinai back to Cairo, this is a fairly common sight but we'll never get tired of it!

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Building sandcastles

2011-01-08T16:14:00.001+02:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

A pretty good way to pass an afternoon on the beach. This is a model of the place we often go to for a week in the summer. Castello Santa Giuliana in Umbria.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T13:26:00.001+02:00

Well it's looking good so far as we sit and dabble our toes in the Red
Sea. We are on the way to the Sinai Mountains for a few days isolation
and relaxation with the Bedouin.

But my heart is with my brothers and sisters in Alexandria who have
been murdered and maimed as the worshiped last night. Please pray for
them.

Posted via email from Jafferblog

iPhone wildlife photography

2010-12-26T16:51:00.001+02:00

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Breakfast at Caffe Greco

2010-12-26T12:12:00.001+02:00

Posted via email from Jafferblog

Hannah sitting on my Christmas gift

2010-12-25T22:20:00.001+02:00

Posted via email from Jafferblog