Pastor Dave at MCC

Since we didn't go to Maadi Community Church very often I don't know how well you all remembered Dave Petrescue, the senior pastor. Last week he died and left behind his wife of 31 years and three grown children. They had lived in Cairo for 14 years. He came to Egypt the year before we left and left a very impressive mark on my life (I was a very angry teenager at that time).

There were lots of rumors about his death, suicide or the Egyptian government, but this is the truth behind his death. Here is what sources closer to the scene have pieced together to the satisfaction of his wife and family as well as others.

Pastor Dave was found naked with one of his wrists bound with a dish wire. He liked to occasionally go on the roof with just a towel and sunbathe. Locking himself out of his apartment and embarrassed to call his wife or anyone else and having an appointment, he looked around to see how he might get down from the roof to his balcony just below. A witness fixing an AC unit saw him looking at the balcony from several different angles. An extreme sport guy unafraid of heights, it seems he tried to bring himself down with this wire wrapped around his wrist, and the wire snapped.

Evidence at the scene is not consistent with any struggle, and investigators also noticed hand/finger marks on the railing where he tried to get a grip.

All of you who are into extreme sports please re-think what you do. Dave's family has had to work through a lot of anger and grief all at the same time.

Below are a few words written by a dear friend of his family. "To most of us he was “Pastor Dave” the one who weekly spoke the Word of God into our lives and daily lived it with gusto and joy. Dave will be remembered as an eternal optimist, seeing the best in every person and situation, as well as an encourager, possessing the powerful ability to honestly express the depths of his emotions, whether through bursts of excitement, heart-felt tears, an intoxicating smile, or his token two thumbs up. "