This is the second year that our homeschool group has done monthly International Food Nights. This year our focus is the persecuted church. Sometimes one family will do all of the work, other times it is done in a more potluck style. I have chosen to use these nights and the countries chosen as the focus for our unit studies.

The first country was Egypt. Last April, we were presented with the opportunity to buy tickets for the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and we jumped at the chance. Because this field trip was scheduled for September, my family volunteered to help host the International Food Night focused on Egypt at the same time. The kids and I learned so much! But most of all, Egyptians need Jesus. The Christian church there faces much persecution. It is impossible for anybody who professes to believe in Christ to get a good job. Churches are built in and around garbage dumps. Many families collect and sort trash in order to make any living at all. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

To learn more about the persecuted church in Egypt, I highly recommend these websites:

Egypt: Treatment of Christians 1 of 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36TNd3c0K8Q

Egypt: Treatment of Christians 2 of 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D1WhNwN5qk&feature=related

Egypt: Treatment of Christians 3 of 3

(This video has now been removed due to copyright issues.)

Kids of Courage

http://www.kidsofcourage.com/

As I mentioned, we also got the chance to visit the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. If you get the opportunity to visit at one of your local museums, you should definitely do so. But, BEWARE…you will not see Tut’s sarcophagus or funeral mask. These are now kept in Cairo permanently. And Tut’s body is back in the ground. But there are many other fascinating artifacts. Recent DNA experimentation and CAT scans of Tut’s body have revealed some interesting facts on who he was and how he may have died. To learn more about this go to:

King Tut’s Final Secrets ~ A National Geographic video that uses CAT scan images to help solve some of the mysteries surrounding the death of King Tut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euEZkUILBjM

King Tut Unwrapped ~ A video done by Discovery Channel that documents the most recent findings about King Tut. Who was his father? Who was his mother? DNA evidence from this study proves these facts and more. Video is chopped up into lots of little pieces and can be confusing to piece together, but well worth the effort.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/king-tut-unwrapped-collecting-royal-dna.html

Dr. Zahi Hawass ~ Website of renowned Egyptologist who lead appears as the leader of both the National Geographic and Discovery Channel videos. Seen and heard throughout the King Tut exhibit.

http://www.drhawass.com/

Finally, here is my list of other online resources. All of them are FREE (except for the cost of ink and paper to print what you want). We used every single one of them and had lots of fun. Enjoy!

Homeschool Share ~ http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ancient_egypt.php

Homeschool Helper Online ~ http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/ancient_egypt.htm

Mr. Donn ~ http://egypt.mrdonn.org/lessonplans.html

Tour Egypt ~ http://www.touregypt.net/

Discovering Ancient Egypt ~ http://www.discoveringegypt.com/

Squidoo ~ http://www.squidoo.com/egypt-lapbook

Clickable Mummy ~ http://www.akhet.co.uk/clikmumm.htm

Kidipede ~ http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery ~ http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/preload.htm

DLTK ~ http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/egypt/index.htm

Ten Egyptian Plagues ~ http://hubpages.com/hub/Ten-Plagues-For-Ten-Gods

Engineering an Empire: Egypt (part one of ten) This was a series from the History Channel. It was very informative and there are more that discuss other countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu_2Fxp_e0s

Walk Like an Egyptian (official music video) — We used this for a quick PE activity one morning. 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5N7RNQUKts

Michael Jackson – Remember the Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeiFF0gvqcc