Last Days in Morocco

We were without internet for the last week of the trip, so I will try to summarize everything.

The Last Few Days in the City…
…were completly unproductive.  I was sick so Maria followed up on all of our contacts and said good-bye.  I did get to experience a third-world country doctor visit though.  That memory is definitly etched permanently in my brain.  We left all of our contact info with the families working in the city.  Please pray that our contacts will continue to read their bibles we gave them.

Travelling
Here are the highlights of the last week of the trip…

• took a 12 hour train ride to next city.  looked at the Medina for an hour and left for the next city
• 9 hour bus ride to village of one of the believers.  We stayed in his sister’s home.  They prepared tajine for us a 1:30 in the morning when we got there. 
• We visited a neighboring city the next day to pass out literature and bibles.  This village was in the middle of nowhere.  It is very likely that they had never had the gospel given to them.  There are little villages like this all over the place.
• We swam in a river nearby and bathed ourselves 🙂  It was much needed.  Then we went to a party of the believer’s family.  We sat on the floor on rugs in this concrete room and they stuffed us with so much food.  Their hospitality and generosity amazes me especially when I know that they do not have much.  Oh…we got to sleep on the roof that night too.  That was awesome.
• The next day we visited the village of our friend’s mother.  This too was a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.  They don’t speak Arabic, but another dialect.  One thing that just amazed me was that every free moment the believer we were with had, he was reading his bible in front of his family and taking notes.  He was always singing Arabic Christian songs as well.  Half of his family will not even speak to him.  The other half think that he is crazy and tell him he is going to hell unless he converts back.  I cannot imagine having the people closest to me reject me, yet that is what every believer in this culture faces.  Please pray for the believers especially.
• We left for another city and stayed in the home of another believer.  Although the family does not believe, we had church in their home and had a good time of worship and teaching.
• We left for another city and saw the third largest mosque in the world.  We were approached inside by a woman we could not understand who motioned us in a door, locked it behind us, and gave us head coverings.  We had no idea what was going on, but come to find out, the woman was giving illegal tours of the place where they pray to the tourists for a little on the side money 🙂  We were more than willing to pay.  Maria and I then went exploring in an open door we found.  It was pretty creepy but fun.
• Then we left for the US.

Saturday, July 12

Offending People with words…

I have been so careful not to offend people on this trip by not eating enough or making an offensive facial expression at someone, but today I learned that it is just as important not to offend someone in their native tongue just because you don’t know it so well. The funny thing was that I learned this lesson backwards. I hate to say it, but I was the one offended.

We met up with Hajar (sister of Miriam2) to go to the beach but her boyfriend wouldn’t let her go without him…I imagine that’s a whole other story. So she was sitting in her office on the phone and Maria and I were across the desk talking quietly so we wouldn’t disturb her and she looks at me and says, “What is your problem!?” with her loud Arabic tone. I think she actually meant, “Is there a problem?”  in a soft secretarial voice.  But such a small little mistake automatically made me go on the defensive. And this was about the third or fourth time she had said something like this.

I walked out of the office discouraged and offended. I honestly thought she didn’t like me. And we were about to meet her in an hour to spend the afternoon with her after she got off work. It took much prayer and thinking about Psalm 119:165 (Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.) to get out of my bad mood, but I thank the Lord that we had a great afternoon.  I also learned the importance of truly learning a language!

Shopping for swimwear…

Her family is wonderful. There were four sisters, a mother, and a grandmother and we ate lunch together and then ran errands with Hajar. We couldn’t understand what she was telling us she needed from the store but when we got there, we figured out that she was looking for a bikini…so…we helped her find one. I definitely never thought I would do that on this trip. I do not believe that she is a very good Muslim!

Jihad and Waffle…

Their actual names and Jihan and Wafa but I needed a way to remember them. We went to tea with them and a friend (Mohammed) this evening. The subject turned to why we are here on earth and then to Islam and Christianity. Mohammed was interested in sharing his thoughts but not very open to ours. Then Jihan asked if we could change the subject because she was uncomfortable with it. They are such sweet girls and I pray that God will work on their hearts.

Fatima

Please continue to pray for Fatima. We are meeting for breakfast in the morning and I pray that she will come to church with us. I love our friendship and she really means a lot to me. I want so much for her to understand what she is reading in the bible and to know the truth. I would like to ask especially that you would keep her in your prayers.  Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

Random Observations of the Day…

• In a Muslim culture it is socially acceptable to…
• Ask a random stranger on the side of the road for some of whatever he/she is eating…this may only apply to people from the country.
• speak in loud angry tones when you are not angry and there is no reason for such volume
• round to the nearest dirham on change from a purchase (or maybe their just ripping us all off…could be that)
• smack your sister across the back of the head when you don’t like what she says…(beware Kathryn :))

Friday, July 11

The beach and tajine…

We went to the beach today with some friends.  I have never been to the beach so many times in my life in such a short time!  When our friends got out of the taxi and opened the truck, inside was seriously the entire kitchen.  They made us tea and fish tajine on the beach.  They brought a gas burner and all!  Even though the fish was still looking at us from the serving platter, once you got around the eyeballs, bones, and scales, it was really good!

English classes…

English classes are over on Monday.  I have really enjoyed teaching the class that I share with Jaime.  We have 8-11 students each night and have lots of interesting stories.  Each night, we have been asking discussion questions.  Here is one of the questions and some funny answers we got…

If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you take with you?

• I would take a woman, a radio, and a washing machine.  (Well this one created an awkward moment!)
• I would take a hat, boots and a tea pot.  (hmm…all vocab words…nice)
• I would take gas stove, fishing pole, and watch. (He’d be the most likely out of all the answers to survive.  I’m not sure about the watch though.)
• Everywhere you are, you will find an object and the tools attached to this object.  So in my opinion, you will not need any tool in the island.  Finally I would take three friends with me, but three good friends, experienced in many domains.  (Where did he learn all these big words??)

Thursday, July 10

This is from Sunday’s service.

Wednesday, June 9

Errands…

Today all of our meetings with people fell through or were canceled so we used the time to catch up, do laundry, clean, and run errands.

Two sides of mission work for women…

It is late and I am sure that there are probably more, but here are two components you could say of mission work from a woman’s perspective that I am learning about here.

• People- This is the part that includes witnessing, meeting new friends, teaching English in class, learning Arabic, etc.
• Practical- This is the washing clothes, going to the store, preparing lunch for the group, washing dishes, cleaning the house, etc.

People…I am by no means an expert on either of these subjects, but I have been learning so much about both of them. This trip has taught me so much about witnessing and building friendships for the purpose of sharing the gospel. Nearly every day the Lord brings people our way to share the truth with. I am not nearly as bold as I should be, but I thank the Lord for the ways that He is teaching me in the area of sharing Him with others.

Practical…The other side of missions is the practical. I think I knew more about the practical side before I came on this trip than the people side. One thing that I did not realize though is the time that the practical side takes. Today, the practical side ate up most of my day. We start to cook lunch around eleven or so in the morning. It takes anywhere from an hour to two hours. We eat at 1 and then at 1:45 or so clean up begins. With a large group this takes up to an hour or more (depending on who’s washing dishes 🙂 ) Lunch is a big deal! And this is just one meal… I was thinking of all of the missionary wives who prepare food for groups and don’t have a team of girls to help AND they have a husband and children to take care of.

Balance…I am glad on this trip that I get to experience the practical and the people side of life in missions. I think that both sides are important. It seems like the practical side is time-consuming and unproductive sometimes, but honestly, the people side can’t be done without someone doing the practical side. I appreciate the way that the wives here are so willing to teach us what they know. I definitely have seen ways that I can prepare better and things to work on both sides.

Random thought of the day:

• I seriously need to learn to light a gas oven (I got the gas stove down!) and eventually to drive a stick shift, learn to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, and all the other conversions. Read Jaime’s blog entry for more about the oven 🙂

Tuesday, June 8

Lunch with Miriam2…Today we went to meet Miriam2 for the third time.  Maria and I prayed before we went, but I honestly doubted she would come.  We were almost ready to give up after a while of waiting but then she showed up!  We walked to get ice cream and she ran into a friend who invited us all to lunch.  She wanted to go and it ended up being us, Maria, and two older friends of hers.  They were very insistent on offering us jobs and very pushy to the point it was rude.  We didn’t really get to talk to Miriam because of them.  Hopefully we will have supper tomorrow with Miriam and her sister Hajar without any pushy friends.

Fatima…We had Fatima over to the house in the afternoon to make chocolate chip cookies.  This was her first time eating them ever.  She said that she hasn’t really read much more of the Bible we gave her.  On the way to English class, we were talking and Maria explained to her again about sin and how we are all sinners.  She really doesn’t understand that all sins are equal in God’s eyes.  She doesn’t think that she is that bad.

From day one she has had this weird obsession with telling us stories of people being killed and murdered.  Every time we are together she has some morbid story to tell us of a murder.  I honestly think that she justifies herself through thinking of all of the people who are “more sinful” than her.  She doesn’t get it.  We’ve explained, but it has to be God who opens her eyes to this.

Maria and I talked about what to say to her and prayed that the Lord would guide us on what to say.  We talked about outright telling her what our real motives are.  It seemed like the right time as we were walking and Maria told her that we have really enjoyed spending time with her and talking to her and that we love her so much, but we want so much to see her believe in Christ.  She thought for a while and told us that she wants to read more before deciding anything.

I am so excited to see that God is working on her heart and I pray that she will go home and read the Bible more and that she would have understanding.

Thanks…I am so thankful right now for how God is working in the lives of all of us here.  I am also so thankful that He was watching over Andrew yesterday in the accident.  I am so thankful that God gave me such a good family and an awesome big brother.  I am so thankful that he is alive.

Monday, June 7

Lunch with friends…Today we ate lunch with the family that we met yesterday.  Maria and I were getting pretty frustrated because it took us two hours, 30 dirham and a trip back to the house from the Medina to get in touch with this family.  It looked like we were going to be stood up for the third time in three days but they showed up.

We walked through these narrow winding roads through the Medina until we got to the house.  The family lived in this tiny little second floor apartment.  Inside was this random traveling French chef on the couch.  He had been invited the same way we had.  We played with the kids.  It was funny because at one point when the baby was screaming, the mother walked over and just sat the screaming kid in my lap, dripping diaper and all.

The kitchen was about 4ft by 4ft.  It was wide enough for a sink and one person.  There was a metal burner on top of a gas tank for the stove.  No refrigerator…and fish and ground beef sitting on the table 🙂  But the food was wonderful.  We all sat around a table and ate from a plate in the center with our fingers.  I enjoyed it.  Between the Arabic family, the French chef, the Spanish speaking sister, and the crazy English girls, we communicated pretty well.

The sisters told us that they liked us and asked us whether we wanted to marry American men or a man from the country we are in.  How do we answer that one??  They liked Maria enough to try to set her up with their brother!

Observations of Culture…The whole time we were there the TV was on showing American shows.  Most of the Moroccans ideas of Americans come from these shows.  That is not a good portrayal at all.  Before we left, they turned on their American music.  It is the funniest thing to be in the middle of a Medina in an Islamic country listening to the Titanic soundtrack.

Unproductive Day…Overall, it didn’t feel like a very productive day.  At least it wasn’t in ways I could see.  I guess I need to trust that the Lord works in ways we can’t see.  It is wonderful when we can see when He works, but sometimes we don’t see.  Hopefully we can introduce one of the people who works here to the family so they can better communicate with the family.

Sunday, July 6

More on Third World Time and confusion

Maria and I were supposed to get together with Miriam2 again tonight.  This is the girl from last Monday’s post.  She was at the beach and was going to call at 7:30.  Well, 7:30 and no call.  Maria and I prayed and prayed for her and 8:00 rolled around and no call.  After an hour, we called her numbers and there was no answer.  Another night seemingly wasted with no Miriam2 and no contacts.

I don’t know what is up with her because she was open to the gospel and was so eager on the phone to get together.  Of course there is no way we can possibly begin to see the ways that God chooses to work on people, but it was such a burden on Maria and my hearts that it is hard to understand why we aren’t able to meet up with her.  She has a bible and I can only pray that she is reading it and that God is opening her eyes to understand his word.  His word can change her in ways that our words never can.  He knows what He is doing, but I do hope that we can meet up with her again.

One week left

We have about one week left in the city.  Honestly I don’t want to leave.  I feel like I can’t leave Miriam2 and especially Fatima the way that things are now.  They are learning of the truth but haven’t accepted it yet.  I can’t leave them and go back knowing that Maria and I are probably the only believers of Christ that they will come in contact with.  I want so much to see them believe in Christ.  I have never before in my life felt the responsibility for lost souls so heavy than I have with these two girls.  It will be their blood on my hands if I fail to communicate with them what the Lord leads me to communicate.  Of course I’m too dumb to mess up the Lord’s will and He uses us in spite of ourselves but their souls depend upon my obedience.  That is a weighty thought.

This is a critical week.  I would like to ask that you would please pray for Miriam2 and Fatima that the Lord would be glorified through their salvation.  That there would be two more believers glorifying God in this blinded country.

Saturday, July 5 (part 2)

Third World Time

Third world time is definitely different than time in the states.  We were supposed to meet Miriam2 last night at 5.  After waiting ten minutes outside the apartment we went back and called her and she said she needed twenty more minutes.  Well, before it was over we had waited well over an hour and still no Miriam2.

Ice Cream and Couscous

So I had this random craving for ice cream…hadn’t had it in weeks.  We walked to the ice cream shop and on the way this man with his family started talking to us.  His English was very good and we spent some time walking around talking to the family.  We are going over to their house tomorrow to learn to make couscous.  Hopefully we will be able to bring a guy with us to be able to connect with the husband.  He is eager to practice his English.

Random Observations of the Day:

• The kids as well as the adults are friendly.  Within the first minute of meeting the family, these five and six year old girls were offering me a spoonful of their ice creams.  of course it was bubble gum flavored, but I was amazed that they were so willing to share.
• I am not a people person.  I kinda figured that, but this trip has definitely confirmed that.  I do not like to meet new people and am perfectly fine with the people that I already know.  It takes a daily dying to self and choosing my love for God over my love for self to gather the boldness to meet new people to witness to.  I have to admit that the last half of the week I did not always choose God over self.  I pray that my love for God would grow to a point that choosing not to talk to people would not be an option.

Saturday, July 5 (part 1)

Overlooking the City

This morning we went to the caves somewhere nearby. Then we went to look over the city and to pray for it. The city has well over a million people in it and three know works going on, I believe. At least 95 percent have never heard a clear presentation of Christ. As we were standing there I found myself doing some math. If every believer here witnessed to 10 people a day for 7 days a week for 52 weeks a year… And it didn’t even come close.

There is such a need for workers here, it is urgent. God’s word is powerful and can change lives but it can’t reach the 95 percent who have not heard without believers carrying it to them. Most already know they are sinners and believe that God is real, but how can they know about the one true way to God through Jesus without the truth being given to them through the obedience of believers? We believe in Jesus and have put our trust in Him but we keep our candles hidden and honestly don’t give much thought to it because we are just so busy. There is a gap between God’s word and the blinded people of this city that must be filled with laborers. Romans 10:14

Miranda wrote an amazing post about the city today. You can read in on cfme.wordpress.com.

Single Women in Muslim Countries

There is a great need for teams of single women workers in Muslim countries. In this culture, there is very little men-women interaction or friendships. A man who is a believer in this culture is incapable of witnessing to a religious Muslim woman. The responsibility of all Muslim women then falls to the wife. The wife already has the responsibility of a husband, children, and a home and that leaves limited time for witnessing and building relationships. She can’t do with the women what her husband can do with the men.

This is where teams of single women come into the picture. They care for the things of the Lord over a husband and can devote all of their time to reaching the women of this culture as well as being a help and encouragement to the wives working alongside the husbands. I Cor 7:32-34 There are so many opportunities out there for single women but honestly this is one of the most needful because we are the only ones who can really take the gospel to these women.