Jason

I hope that all of you are doing well. Thanks so much for your continuing pr’s and encouraging emails. Things are really going well here in Morocco. The weather’s cooled down quite a bit, so that makes things much more enjoyable. From the descriptions that I’ve gotten about your summer there, I’m sure you’re all welcoming the cooler weather as well. We obviously don’t have heaters here in our mud houses, so everyone sits around at night in their coats or under blankets, or around the kitchen fire. I truly do count this as a blessing. I can’t even explain how much joy the cool weather brings me. I’m a bit odd in the way that I really enjoy cold, rainy days.

Canal in Ceuta, Spain (Click on any picture to enlarge it in new window.)

The Father’s opened up some amazing doors in the past couple of weeks, and we’ve been able to share the good news with a few different people. By His grace, we’ve been able to learn enough language that we’re able to very simply communicate the good news. It’s been in very simple, terrible grammar, but we’ve had a few opportunities to share in their own language the truth of the Father sending His Son to the earth as a man to die for all of us who have strayed from His path. We were able to tell them that He not only died, but came back to life, and that those who believe in Him are washed on the inside and made like white. We’ve been able to share with a few guys from the village, as well as the youngest brother in our house. It helps and hinders, all at the same time, that they already know many stories from the Book, because they are in their book. They know the story of the Father giving Abe an animal to sacrifice in place of his son, which serves as a bridge for the good news, as well as other stories.

But they’ve also had it hammered into their heads their whole lives that the Father has no Son, and that the one we claim as the Son never died. It’s like they’ve been immunized against the good news from the time they were born. They can’t conceive of a Creator whose chief attribute is love, to thepoint to where He would give His own Son to suffer and die. But we know that the Father can open up their eyes to the truth of who He is, no matter how much trouble the enemy’s gone through to blind them from it.

Drinking Tea

We’ve also had some other exciting experiences over the past few weeks. I had a young boy on one of our taxi rides that wanted to share his lunch with me. Unfortunately, it was a lunch that he had already eaten, and it ended up all over me. After that I had a fifteen minute walk up to the house.

Eating Chicken at a Wedding.

We also got to go to a hamem last night, which is a big bath house/ sauna for men. It was packed full of men from around the neighborhood who were getting all cleaned up for Ramadan. All the men sat around in the huge, steam filled sauna, giving themselves bucket baths and chilling with all the other guys. The guys also bathed, massaged, and stretched each other, but Joel, Andy, and I decided not to go quite that far in attempting to have the full cultural experience. The guys in this culture are always holding hands and putting their arms around each other and stuff like that, so it’s nothing to them. We, on the other hand, decided to stick with our American culture as far as bathing practices go.

We’re all cleaned up for Ramadan, though, which began today.  Ramadan takes place for a whole month, in which everyone fasts from sunup to sundown. No food, no water, no curse words, and no cigarettes. We hear that we’ll get to experience a lot of amazing food during Ramadan, because when people break the fast, they really do it well, with all kinds of soups, breads, sweets, and so on. We’ve actually heard that a lot of people gain weight during the month because they eat so much. The whole month of Ramadan, though, is simply one more way for them to attempt to please the Father with empty works that will never get them anywhere. For certain reasons, Andy, Joel, and I have decided not to participate in Ramadan with them. I think this actually opens up more doors for us to share, because nearly everyone that we come into contact with asks us whether or not we’re fasting. So we’re able to tell them why we don’t. The whole month actually commemorates Abe’s sacrifice of the animal instead of his son, so this is just one more open door for the good news.

Which one is the American?

Please pr that the Father would continue to open up opportunities for us to share. Pr that He would break down the lies and the barriers that prevent these people from responding to the truth; that He would open up their hearts to His love, found in such a real, tangible way in His Son. Pr for the guys we’ve already shared with, as well as the oldest brother of our house, who has been exposed to the truth for years now because of the relationship that he has with the worker here. He’s never responded to the good news, but he’s really beginning to question things now in a deep way.

Thanks again for the pr’s and encouragement. Thanks so much to all of you who have shown me love, friendship, and mercy. I understand the character of the Father more because of many of you.

Grace and Peace,

Jason