A legitimate question, I must concede, especially in a city where you're about as likely to see a donkey-driven cart as to see a blonde head. The question doesn't come so point-blank, though; that would be rude, shameful, especially to an apparent guest to their country. But it is there in the subtext, lying behind their questions about why I would want to learn Arabic, why I would possibly want to leave a place where they imagine things are better.
I fumble through a reply in Arabic about how I want to help their people back home, whether refugees or immigrants, and I can do that better if I understand their language and culture. Which is true, but just as they can't ask the real question behind their questions, I can't tell them the real purpose behind my purpose. I can't tell them I want to love them so that they know God does, so they feel they don't have to pray rubbing their heads on the floor until they're bruised in an effort to reach Him; He has already reached out in a way they don't yet understand.
There is a lot of need here (not that there isn't everywhere if we just look hard enough). My purpose is to love, to help people come to know Him, but I need His direction on how to best do that. I'm learning again that I have to bathe every aspect, every person in my life, in prayer so that I am open and sensitive to His leading. He can work and is working here, and I am excited that He is including me in it. He can give me the answers to their questions, He can give me purpose and vision, it is just up to me pray and to proactively work for His Kingdom. He is why I am here, really, and if I obey Him, they will see that. "Inshallah": God willing.