Our apartment building in Maadi

Being in Egypt wasn’t my idea – I was busy planning my retirement on the Gold Coast in Australia when the Lord disturbed “my” good plans and called my wife and me to this far away desert land. What did the Lord have in mind for an old, worn out, geriatric foot-soldier like me?

Was this assignment “payback” for the wrongs committed in my life? What exactly did the Lord have in mind! I didn’t know “exactly what”, but I knew the Lord well enough to trust Him with the big picture and with the day-to-day fine details of His perfect plan.

My assignment with Maadi Community Church in Cairo was the most challenging I had ever experienced in all my life … my experiences there drew me out of my comfort zone … far into the faith-testing, dark  depths of the unknown. This was a scary place for me to be, so scary that I knew that if I wanted to survive and succeed then I needed to stay close to my Heavenly Dad.

Across from our third floor level apartment in Road 213, Maadi, was a garden running lengthways, dividing the road, allowing for two directions of travel.

This is 'Bill's Garden' in Cairo

Amazingly, this nature strip became my regular meeting place with the Lord, where I would speak openly with Him about how things “are” with Beryl and me, and the challenges of the work He had called us to. In this dusty place, in the midst of pedestrians, animals and vehicles trafficking around me I experienced a great sense of closeness with the Lord.

In this simple garden setting stood a 3 metre high tree that would play a symbolic role in helping me to practise an important discipline in my daily walk and work with the Lord. Shoulder high, up the trunk of the tree, a limb had been sawn off – an arm of the tree was missing! The moment I noticed this, I heard the Lord speak into my mind: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT).

Friends, are you serious about experiencing His greatness in your life? Being connected to Christ is the only means by which the Holy Spirit can flow from the heart and mind of the Father into our lives, accomplishing His will and purposes in and through us.  The Lord underscores this truth in Zechariah 4:6 … “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit” (NLT).

Do you really want to dance on water in your faith journey? Then, you’ve got to be connected to Jesus!