It was a typical Monday in Morocco… school all day, taught an after-school English class after that, and then taxied out to teach English to a girl who goes to a French school here in Casablanca. Yes, Monday’s are busy! However, I like that at the end of it all, when I finish tutoring, I get a nice 30 minute walk back to my apartment where I have time to reflect over my day and just talk with (and sometimes just listen to) God.
My classroom has been a bit stressful lately, as drama has escalated in the fifth grade. Girls are calling one another names and using bad words. You may think this is just normal for girls at this age, and to some extent it is, but for one reason or another, the insults here seem to cut deeper. And they happen a lot!
Anyways, I was on my walk home, and I was just praying for these girls and for wisdom with how to deal with this, that God would give me the words to speak to them tomorrow before class starts- words that would touch their hearts and impact their lives… Okay, so I have high expectations!
As I was praying about this God spoke to me, reminding me of something my youth pastor told me when I was growing up, going through those fun teenage years! 🙂 I remember one Sunday her telling us, “Nothing else matters, as long as you have your faith in Christ.” Now, my life didn’t change from this one quote, but it was definitely something that stuck with me through the years. I remember, as a teenager, being upset about something (probably very trivial, but you know then it was a big deal), and being able to comfort myself with this thought, that nothing else, besides my faith, really mattered. And so tonight, as God reminded me of this, I began wondering how I could use this to help the girls in my classroom- I obviously can’t give them exactly the same advice.
Looking back on my own experience growing up, my faith definitely kept me going at times- it kept me from being totally sucked into the negative feelings, such as those that might come with others talking about you or calling you bad names (okay, so I don’t remember dealing with those issues a lot, but they are the ones affecting my students here). I love the verse in Hebrews 6:18 where it says, “We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.” As Christians, we have this promise no matter what.
It may seem like an interesting connection, since most of my students are muslim, however I think that they will understand what I am getting at if I try to bring this up (the idea behind it)- the importance of faith and just discussing how it plays out in their actions. This has been one of my favorite things about teaching here, to be able to have conversations with the students here about religion, because they do all believe in God and have a faith. Of course we may also have to try for the “love your enemies” route 😛 Continued prayers are appreciated, both for fundraising (I’ve almost hit the $1000 mark which is absolutely incredible), and also then for my students (and my own patience in dealing with the drama that comes with 5th graders)!
If you would like to help support me on the World Race, you can do so by clicking on “Support me.” Also, feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any more questions about what I will be doing next year. Thanks to everyone who is praying and has supported me on this journey so far. It is awesome to continue to see how God is at work in this! Crazy side note- I met a teacher here last weekend who has a daughter who I will actually meet in September when I get ready to leave- she works for Adventures in Missions!
