I hope that you all are doing well and those of you who have started school are enjoying it so far. We’ve done quite a bit of traveling recently, which is one of the reasons that it has been difficult to write a mass email. About two weeks ago, we went to a very beautiful place called Siti Fadma and spent about six days there. There is a river there that is actually flowing with water, (which is something that is quite rare here) lots of green grass, and some waterfalls. It’s a fairly big tourist destination, especially for Moroccan tourists, but many of the restaurant and shop owners and workers speak Tashelhayt, so we were still able to speak to some of them, as well as some people in the surrounding villages.
Because Siti Fadma is a fairly big tourist destination, there were tons of people there just waiting for three white boys with big backpacks and cash in their pockets so that they could take them for all they’re worth. Those three naïve white boys did get ripped off a few times by some money-hungry men. We’re finding that even people in our own village want to try to use us for our money. It’s difficult not to let this harden our hearts toward the people here, and take on the view that everyone that talks to us is doing so only because they want to use us. Please pr that our hearts wouldn’t become hardened, because this continues to be an issue. I realize that we can’t expect these people to act like followers of the Son with changed hearts when they’re not. Most of them have never even heard the truth, and if the price that we have to pay to share true love with them is to constantly be seen as fountains of money for them to take advantage of, I suppose that price is worth it. It’s just hard to show them love when we have a bad attitude toward them.
We recently traveled to Ceuta, which is a Spanish enclave of Morocco, because we could only stay in the country for three months before we had to go somewhere else. So we stayed there for a few nights and enjoyed the beach, the cooler weather, the cultural sites, the best 60 cent McDonald’s ice cream cones I’ve ever had, and the sit-down toilet. After our three night stay in Ceuta we went to cross back over the border into Morocco, and after some waiting and confusion, we were told that we couldn’t go back into the country. We talked to them for awhile and told them every reason why we must go back to Morocco, but they told us that we could not come back in. We figured that if we were persistent and continued to wait in line and tap our passports on the desk, they would eventually let us in, but after a long time of waiting and them telling us that it was impossible to get back into the country, we finally gave up. We then had trouble getting into contact with our supervisor, but did eventually. He then told us to take the ferry up to mainland Spain, stay there for a night, and then take another ferry back across to another access point into the country so that we could attempt to get in there. It was quite a crazy, exciting adventure, but we did end up getting back in. By the time we made it back in, we must have looked pretty rough, because we were sitting up next to a building on the streets of Tanger, eating some bread and cheese as we were waiting another eight hours for our upcoming 11 hour train ride and a Moroccan man walked by and asked us if we were hungry and needed some help.
I’ve realized that the image we sometimes have of overseas work as being a safe-haven where you no longer struggle with your weaknesses and become some sort of a spiritual superstar is completely false. Your heart isn’t automatically more devoted to the Father simply because you go to a foreign country. I knew in my mind before I went that this view was false, but I think I still held on to it to some degree. My weaknesses here have been exposed probably more than ever before. I realize, though, that the Father desires for the weaknesses of our hearts to be exposed to us, so that He can deal with them effectively and make us more like his Son. We just can’t be discouraged when those weaknesses are exposed and we are able to see ourselves in a bit clearer light. I guess we need to be shown and reminded that we are deeply in continual need of Him more than we could ever realize.
Pr that Andy, Joel, and I would live in the unity that is ours in the Son. Andy and I have figured out that we are polar opposites in many ways, which really ends up providing a needed balance for us, but causes tension when we’re living in the flesh. We’re forced to let go of the view that our way is always the best way. But I truly love these guys more than ever, and realize how much I need them and how great they really are.
I believe we’re going to begin some exciting work pretty soon and are going to be learning stories from the Book in Tashelhayt. I hope to report on some of that progress soon. Thanks for taking the time to read this email. I’m sure that your pr’s are much more effective than you or I could realize, opening up the doors of the people’s hearts here, and holding Joel, Andy, and me up when we would otherwise be crushed. I love and appreciate you all.
Jason