After a long travel day to North Africa and prior to catching our midnight train to our final destination, I was trying to comfortably sleep on 2 plastic chairs outside, surrounded by flies and stray cats. At this point my team just found out that our accommodation had fallen through and we had no idea where we would be staying once we arrived. Some of our team members went into action looking for alternative options, knowing that responses would be unlikely due to the time of day. I remember saying to Niki who told me in my half asleep state that I would pray and then sarcastically said, ‘Fun, Fun…’
Fast forward past the 6 hour train ride and we arrived at our destination still unsure where to next. Imagine arriving in a foreign country, where you don’t speak their language, with patchy WiFi, exhaustion and no idea where would be an appropriate place to stay and yet, God asked us to seek Him and trust.
Thankfully through it all God gave our team a sense of peace, constantly drawing us into dependence. Jelly had been in contact with a guy who had been kind and helpful about some accommodation and we decided to go to a small beach town way out from where we initially anticipated to be staying. We all trusted that despite the change in plans, God was drawing us here for a reason.
We arrived and settled into a cute little apartment. Most things were closed due to a Muslim holiday, so we walked around to places looking for different things we needed to get set up. We graciously found what we needed in food and water and realised we were across the road from a mosque and a 30 minute walk from the beach. The area is filled with apartment buildings and a sea of satellite dishes on top of the buildings. But just around the corner there are smaller homes across from a rubbish drop off point, with children playing out the front, meat hanging on clothes lines and homemade mud ovens to cook bread.
The second day Hannah and Tamara were walking past these places to get some fresh fruit and veggies at our local market and on their way home met a young local lady. She invited them over for tea and they met her family (who had never met an American) and then they invited our whole group over for dinner the next night.
Now just take a moment to think about how counter cultural this is to our Western way of living. Who is our Western culture meets someone for the first time and then invites them into their own home and provides a feast?! Western culture values personal space and privacy and yet this culture values hospitality and generosity. They are willing to invite us in with open homes and hands. How precious.
The next day we get a knock on our door and open to find a 14 year old local girl. She came in, greeted us all (kiss on one cheek and then 2 kisses on the other) and quickly made herself at home. Tamara and Hannah had briefly met her the day before, yet we have no idea how she managed to find out where we live, let alone which room. Perks of a small neighborhood we concluded and us sticking out like sore thumbs. She had greeted us with bread and so we tried our best to love on her by offering food, playing music (she loves ‘Shadowfeet’ by Brooke Fraser and was on repeat for the whole week), dancing with her, letting her do our hair and makeup, playing skipbo and engaging the best we could with the language barrier (google translate is great). She remained for hours in our home and then invited us over to her place. Niki and I went with her to a small house around the corner and were offered mint tea (it’s divine) and biscuits, while we met her family and watched her little sister play with a turtle. This girl had such delight in her eyes that she had guests over and enjoyed our company, not wanting to leave our side the whole day. Knowing that we had a pre-planned dinner to go to and it was verging on late afternoon, Niki and I tried our best to communicate that we needed to leave but would visit again. Little did we realise that her Mum had been preparing us dinner while we were drinking tea and wanted us to eat before we left. They came out with tagine (I think we determined it was dates with lamb…), bread, fruit and they even bought us a lemon drink. They graciously showered us in food and served us so well. It was their joy and delight to offer their home and provide us with a meal. After our meal, we thanked them and celebrated that we were able to make this connection.
A couple of hours after leaving this home we all ventured to the other home where we were initially invited for dinner. We sat in their crowded backyard under a beautiful big fig tree, sitting by some makeshift lights and again I was so encouraged by their hospitality. Their Mother and Grandmother sacrificially served in the kitchen for most of the night, while the Father, son and daughter (both children speak English) engaged with us in conversation on a range of topics. We shared what we believed and they shared what they believed. They gave us advice on the locals and what to look out for and their Father was encouraged that our group came from so many nations and yet were united in our travels. We ate a feast of delicious foods until we were full to the brim, always starting with mint tea and biscuits (I’m positive I ate around 20 biscuits this day…). It was such a beautiful night together, where we were able to pray for this family, sing with them (we sang ‘What a beautiful name’) and laugh together. I am blown away by their generosity. This was their way of showing us honour. After our meal, we thanked them and again celebrated that we were able to make this connection.
Both families we encountered are Muslim and operate from a works based culture and shame/ honour perspective. Yet, they have taught me value in loving others through hospitality and generosity. It’s also been encouraging to see how family oriented this neighbourhood is. They are friendly beyond measure and quickly broke the negative stereotype my culture paints of them. They taught me that opening our homes through inviting and welcoming others in creates connections and leads to open hearts. They taught me that having open hands of generosity is a joy and an honour. I am so thankful for the lessons I can learn from others from differing religious views and cultures.
We have since been back to these two homes on multiple occasions and continued to strengthen the connections made and expanded our stomachs with all the tea and food provided. We have been blessed so much by these two families and they have loved on us well.
With the first family we learnt that they sell bread as a living and decided to support them by buying their bread each day. This meant the little 14 year old girl called our names outside our window and came over everyday. She walked freely within our apartment and through our fridge. This has been counter cultural to what I am used to. Yet, pushing past our social norms and just learning to simply love on this girl and her family is what we wanted our goal to be. Jelly also took the girls to the beach one day and the little girl developed a serious tooth ache and she was able to experience physical healing as Jelly prayed for her in Jesus name. Jelly also had the privilege of explaining the gospel to them and the girls said yes to having Jesus in their hearts- praise God! We also took the other lady from the second family to the beach one day and Hannah witnessed to her through her testimony and it was beautiful to see this lady open up with us and share her struggles. The opportunities to pray over these families in Jesus name has also been a huge privilege.
We recently left this little beach town to move to a different location for the work we will be doing in partnership with the international church and it was an emotional time for my team to say goodbye to those families. However, we celebrate the connections that were made and the love that was shared. We are believing more kingdom seeds will continue to be planted and watered in that place and in their hearts.
Our change in accommodation plans on day one is part of God’s greater Kingdom plan and without this we would not have met these locals and had these unique opportunities. We praise God for the redirection.
Our first 10 days in North Africa has been filled with change of plans, provision, peace, rest, food in abundance, heat, bed bugs, headlice, laughter, train rides to find WiFi, henna x2 (one homemade by the little girls- it was an interesting experience where it burned.. the other beautifully done by a local lady), friendly smiles, little girls playing with my hair over and over again, constant worship music, cat calling whenever we walk anywhere, beach, way too many biscuits consumed, international church services with soulful worship, many kisses on cheeks, connecting with locals and learning the value of hospitality and generosity.
Lord help me to live with open hands and an open heart, with a willingness to always open my home. Grow me in hospitality and generosity.
