I can’t believe today is our 26th day here in Morocco. This is my first time in Africa and I have quickly come to love this continent and this beautiful city we are in named Fez. There are two parts to this city, the new part and then the old medina. It’s been really great to explore the windy roads of the old medina down into the markets. Some of those homes in the Medina are hundreds of years old.
Our third day here, our team got hit with a bad case of nausea, upset stomach and diarrhea (cue the Pepto Bismol theme song). Let’s just say, it was rough. I know the number one rule when traveling to a foreign country is to not eat the street food, but it looked too good and was way too cheap to pass up! Hence, we thoroughly enjoyed a wide assortment of Moroccan food sold by the local street vendors. Within a day, we were shocked to realize that our bellies were not used to African bacteria and spent our entire night staying awake caring for each other in an entirely new way. I personally experienced the least severe of the symptoms. It was tolerable and, as a nurse, my natural instinct was to care for the rest of my team. It was a great way for me to shine for Jesus in that way. You know you’ve bonded when you’ve sat with your friends in the bathroom and rubbed their back while experiencing severe abdominal cramping. It has been a new experience. Our squad leader, Shannon, who spent two weeks with us, arrived at our apartment a few days after the beginning of our illness. She simply referred to our symptoms as the “normal missionary diarrhea”. In other words, “Welcome to the World Race”. I find this comical.
Our current apartment is a tiny quaint little space. I have made one of our living area couches into my bed which is pretty comfortable. This tight space and our consistent GI symptoms have brought on a new meaning to the phrase “living in community”.
Because it is nearly impossible to share our faith openly here in Morocco, which is one of the things I am most passionate about, I have been struggling to gain my footing. When I think about doing the work of the Lord, I think about praying for the sick, sharing the gospel, casting out demons, etc. What I have come to realize and am slowly learning to accept is that Morocco is a totally different playing field then I’ve ever experienced before. Our apartment is right next door to a Mosque and the megaphones are located right outside our windows which blasts the Muslim call to prayer five times a day every day. On Friday, men line up along the street right next to our apartment and pray to Allah while face down on their prayer mats. It’s really cool to observe.
If you ask any of the locals about anything exciting to do, they will quickly direct you to other areas within Morocco. I have heard people say, in our city we work, make money, and go home to our families.
I have been praying and asking the Lord, what do you want from me in this city? In what way can I serve you. Where are you moving and how can I be a part of it?
I have come to understand that the greatest need that this city needs right now is prayer and love. I cannot shout the name of Jesus from the rooftops and share his name with people openly in the streets, but I can choose to love people. I can choose to BE LIKE JESUS. He is teaching me so much about this Shame/Honor culture and how to be one with them in respect in order to be able to share his goodness and treasure. In the words of my lovely squad leader Shannon, “Make friends. Live out of the truth that you know. Live out your identity.” God, help me to offer my body as an act of worship before you.
On one of my favorite days, Andrew and I went to the mall and took care of a wound on the arm of a little boy. The wound looked infected and he was in pain. I cleaned the wound as best as I could with what I had available and prayed aloud in Jesus’ name for it to be healed. I then applied some cream and a nice gauze bandage and then we took him out to burger king and spent our whole day with him. One of my teammates refers to this little boy as our street kid of peace because all the little boys flock to us every time they see us because of how they saw us take care of him.
There are so many little boys who beg in front of this mall. In fact, a security guard stands at the entrance in order to prevent those boys from coming inside. I have been coming by almost every day and in response to their cries for money, my heart aches, but I give them hugs, and high fives, and belly tickles, and prayer for their pain. God, you are the best daddy. Help them to see you and follow you. You will care for them. When I see them, I am reminded of a quote by mother Theresa, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him.” Please pray for these young kids. We are there for a brief moment. But as the good Samaritan did not walk by, we too will not walk by in hopes that their lives would be rocked forever. The young boy with the arm infection is named Zechariah and he needs our prayer. Join me today in lifting up his name to our precious Lord.
Our team has not met a single christian since we’ve been here. But we have experienced the love of God through the people of Morocco in so many amazing ways. I believe that Jesus chooses to use people who aren’t believers to bless his people. We have been blown away by the love of Jesus. We don’t have a church we can go to here, so we have devoted ourselves to worship and doing church together as a team. It’s been super encouraging to study the word together and to spend time together through prayer, breaking bread, and studying the word together.
We have been inviting a few of our neighbours over for game nights these past couple of weeks. We’ve built strong relationships with these people and my heart breaks at the thought of leaving them behind.
I am also continuing to grow more into who God created me to be. Through conflict, love, forgiveness, and everything in between, I am learning about grace in a deeper way. I am so thankful for every special moment and for all the crazy experiences. Living in community is challenging, but, in the words of Henry Drummond, “there’s no better way to practice love”. God is purifying my worship. He is purifying my mind and my body to be more like him. It has definitely been an amazing journey thus far!
