Neato Pictures!

Hey habibs, check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/middle_east_egypt0s_hidden_treasures/html/1.stm
They're pretty cool pictures.

much bahebik
aimee

Chicago?

Hey all! So Will and I are hoping to be moving to Chicago come this fall (barring several things), and I was really hoping to get a job doing some Palestinian advocacy work.... does anyone know of some good organizations based in the downtown Chicago area? Or any organizations period? Let me know... thanks! :)

Love you all

Happy Valentines Day! :)

Dearest MESPers,
On this very day a year ago we were boarding a boat for a Cruise down the Nile. It seems like yesterday, and oh, how I miss you all!! But this day especially, the day of Love, reminds me of you. Remember how we celebrated this much hated and sometimes greatly anticipated commercialized holiday, Valentines Day? Well, today I just wanted to remind you of the fun we had together last year and just encourage you this Valentines Day to fix your thoughts and hearts on real love, God's love... love that won't wear out or love that isn't defined by a relationship making this day seem like "Single Awareness Day". May your hearts be lifted today, and may you feel God's love for you in a strong way today as we celebrate Valentines Day together... all over the world.
I love you my friends, and I miss you so much!!
Be blessed Today,
Kara Joy

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.
-1 John 4:9-19 NLT-

Oh... and today... take time and get your dance on... you go Tim and Stephen!! :)

woot woot

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/02/10/africa.final/?iref=mpstoryview

The Doxology

Last week in church we sang the doxology (a slightly varied version, I think), and my heart flew back to the top of the MESP building, Mt. Sinai, a cave in Jerusalem, and all the other places where we joined as a group in worshiping God. It made me smile reminiscently and also tear up just a bit, missing the good times we had.

I hope everyone is doing splendid.

Much love habibs,
Sarah

Super Tuesday and mumkin march madness?

Word up everybody. Um.. disclaimer: this might seem like a plug, but its not intended to be. Anyways, as some of you might know, Minnesota's caucus is on super Tuesday, so most of the major candidates have made some sort of minnesota appearance in the last few days (the thought of which, I must confess, boosted my ego a little bit... no this is not a plug for mn either). Anyways, with the knowledge that my state is at least somewhat important to these politicians, I decided to respond with a little political activism myself, in the form of attending Ron Paul's rally which was held at the UofM tonight. I decided to post this in honor of a certain Ron Paul supporter who tipped me off to the event and is dear to all of us (Esther!)

Now I always get a little wary anytime herds of demonstrative strangers with a common purpose congregate and start yelling/getting riled up. Anyone who knows about my background might understand my irrational fear of flailing arms and other public displays of emotive fervor. This being my first ever political rally, let's say I was tense. There was a lot of chanting, some painfully corny promotional stunts, and a very disturbing opening musical act that reminded me of Steve Kool impersonating his favorite country singer. Despite all this, I survived the Ron Paul rally and even gained some interest in the man's ideas (specifically his monetary and foreign policy) after finally hearing him speak.

Now here's the only part of this post that will even hint at being a plug.. For those of you who are staunch anti-capitalists (I know ur out there you children of empire!), you might at least find Ron Paul's foreign policy to be a redeeming quality. He totally denounces the war. And he probably used the word "empire" about 5 times to articulate that America's expansionism is one of his biggest concerns. Now I'm not about to advocate this guy, but at least you might be interested that there is someone out there who wants to reign the empire in... Unfortunately the video I took of him saying he wants to x the Fed is way too big (mumkin check my facebook Est), but the one below includes a remark on big gvmnt...



And now I digress, is this Minnesota spring break still happening? I was thinking about leaving the country in march and going south of the border... but I'm opposed to missing any type of reunion involving more than the habibs I usually see. So when the cadre of MESPers comes out here when I leave, maybe I will just have to bring Minnesota with me so we can all chillax together...