الطَّريق والحَقّ والحَياة
أنا هُوَ الطَّريق والحَقّ والحَياة حَتَّى حدّ مايجي لِلأ بُ كان بيّا To you, this may look like a bunch of scribbles. To you, this may not mean anything. But to me, this is the beginning of an eye-opening conversation. To me, this is an answer to prayer. To me, this is a reminder of how powerful these words of Jesus are. John 14:6 - I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. It was a Thursday morning. Class was almost over. I'd spent the last hour and a half learning new vocabulary. Now it was time for the daily quote. Usually these were local proverbs.… Read more >>To Live Is Christ
"For me to live is Christ. To die is gain." Such conviction lies in those words. I lay here in bed, cuddled under a blanket, stealing a few moments of warmth in a place with no heat and a few moments of reprieve from a constant onslaught of Arabic. My brain hurts. My whole body is cold. I needed a break. So I lay here, listening to music, trying to get my brain to relax as quickly as possible. Because I know I need to be out there, socializing, building relationships, and learning/practicing Arabic. I want to do that...at least I tell myself I do. But if I'm honest with myself, that's the… Read more >>
Thanksgiving...Here?
We're gearing up for a big thanksgiving week here. Thanksgiving for me includes teaching kids both Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. It includes language classes everyday as usual. We will have a mini Thanksgiving celebration (desserts only) after language class (at the request of our teachers). Then I'll teach. Thursday night we're having a big get together with many others in the city. And Saturday we're having a celebration with our sister team from a nearby city. So there's a lot to prepare for this week, in addition to all the normal parts of life here...nothing goes on hold for this… Read more >>
A Visit
Last Saturday, we went to our local friend's house. I have had the opportunity to visit her home 7 or 8 times now. Each time has been wonderful, and each time we've had some sort of spiritual conversation…always initiated by her! This time we arrived, ate lunch she had prepared, and then went to a nearby small store to buy ingredients for the food she wanted to teach us to make. She was very proud to show off to the shopkeeper the Arabic that we had learned. Then, we returned home to make the "flour" for a local breakfast dish. The dish consists of various grains and legumes, roasted and… Read more >>