Our afternoon began when we joined our beautiful new friend, Sonia in the little shop where she works, about a ten minute walk from our apartment. As she welcomed us with two kisses on each cheek, she hooked her arms in ours and began to lead us to her home for a couscous feast!
Quick backstory! Kelsey and Gina Marie met Sonia during a walk to the market two weeks ago. The aromas that escaped out of the front door of her store drew them in. There, they were welcomed by three lovely twenty-something year old women, overjoyed by two new American friends entering the store. Something incredible about this culture is that strangers become friends in 0.3 seconds. The first friendship that developed here in North Africa began in the market with, “Excuse me, can you help us find the yeast? You speak English?! What is your number on WhatsApp? Would you like to get together?” Can you believe that? Connecting is truly that simple! She is a friend we have now had multiple coffee dates, breakfast dates, beach dates, play dates with her kiddos, a nail and eyebrow threading party, and of course shared couscous!Two weeks ago Kelsey and Gina Marie spent a long afternoon chatting at the storefront with the ladies. They then exchanged numbers and have stayed in touch via WhatsApp. As a group, we have continued to grow our friendships with these women by frequently stopping by their store and getting late night henna in the market together! On our Saturday night henna date, Sonia insisted that we join her and her family for couscous the night before we depart for our next city. Which leads us to the afternoon marked by God’s extravagance.
Sonia led us about a mile to away from her store, entering a very different part of town. The disparity in the neighborhoods here is remarkable. Around the corner from gated mansions are alleyways and cement walls that have been converted into neighborhoods of shacks with rooftops made of tin and plastic sheets. Sonia led us through these busy alleyways, cats napping in corners, vendors selling street food and bread, children running through the streets with soccer balls. Her father met us in the alley and welcomed us to his home a minimum of four times. We turned deeper into the neighborhood, a maze a alleys with scarves blowing in the wind and clothes drying on racks outside of the windows. We finally reached Sonia’s home where we were welcomed by her mother, Halima. Halima was a wonderful hostess, preparing a large platter of couscous for us. I failed to mention, that up to this point, much of the time has been filled with silence. So much silence because Sonia speaks very little English. Much of what we attempted to communicate needed to be repeated in various forms, in very simple English, or pass through Google translate. Despite the silence, connection was present.
After we were filled to capacity with couscous, conversation began to liven up more when we talked about our families. Sonia was proudly sharing pictures from her older sister’s fabulous traditional wedding. After ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over the beautiful pictures, she then invited us into the living room and began playing her sister’s wedding video, accompanied by very loud traditional music in the background. Sonia continued to excitedly point out all of her family members and the gorgeous dresses worn by her cousins and aunts.
As the afternoon went on, her four year old little cousins fluttered around the room, bouncing on our laps, and filling the air with lots of laughter and joy! Sonia’s older cousins Latifa, Yasmin, and Iman who live in the same row of houses also joined us in the living room. Yasmin and Latifa spoke English well and began to translate for us, requiring us to repeat or use our Google translate much less frequently. Latifa then pulled out her henna materials and began to do henna on all of our hands. As the music picked up again, Yasmin and Sonia taught us how to do their traditional cultural dance, moving our hips with scarves tied around our waists. As the excitement and laughter grew, they began to sing a song and chant proudly, letting out an almost Xena warrior princess style cry at the end! We asked them to translate the song for us, and they shared that is was about Allah and Muhammad the prophet. They then told us more about Islam and asked if we wanted to hear the Quran. Interested, we all shook our heads yes. Yasmin and Iman then chanted a few portions of the Quran, after wrapping their hair in traditional hijab. They explained that what we believe is different because they believe in only Allah, but they perceive that we believe in more than one God because we believe in Jesus. I explained that we believe in one God, but in three persons, and that Jesus and God are one. Latifa then repeated that what we believe is very different, and I agreed, because it is in fact very different. They then asked us about our holy book. I shared that we study and read the Bible daily, and that Jesus talks to us through the words when we read the Bible. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Gina Marie then asked if we could read from the Bible. She pulled her bible out of her backpack and began reading from Psalm 23. After reading , a miraculous thing happened! Yasmin proclaimed, “I understand everything you just said! Will you read more?” At this point, my heart was beating out of my chest and I was praising God internally. Gina Marie and I then shared the reading from Psalm 139. Yasmin proclaimed again that she understood everything and thanked us for reading.
As the day progressed, the family repeated over and over that we were now family and always welcome in their home. They were honored to have us there, and we were honored to be invited in. The now 15 of us ladies and children that were piled into that living room continued to share, love and eat. Communion continued around the table when Halima, Sonia’s mother pulled out traditional mint tea and nearly 40 pastries! Sonia then disappeared into a small side room, but reemerged with five small drums. We began to drum away, dance and sway together. They took notice of Gina Marie’s musical talents on the drum, and were drawn into the beat. And then another miracle, we began singing worship songs to a captive audience in the house! Sonia then gave us all of the drums as a gift.
After over five hours in Sonia’s home, we began to prepare to leave. Before we left, we asked if we could pray a blessing over them and their home. Since they were very devout and faithful Muslims, they said that we could not pray together, but they prepared the beautiful living room for us to go privately into as a team and pray. We gratefully accepted the kind and thoughtful gesture, and went to the other room to pray. The Holy Spirit was so thick in the room as we prayed over the afternoon and over the family. We asked that He continue to fall on that place, and capture their hearts.
Relationships were formed and deepened, seeds were planted, the Spirit was active and moving. I will never forget this day. I am so grateful that God allowed me to experience and play a part in his reconciliation story for this beautiful family. Would you please continue to pray for Sonia and her family? Pray that they come to know Jesus. Pray that more workers meet them and encourage them in their faith. Pray that God uses them to transform their entire community, bringing them into the saving knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ.
