After being flooded with new thoughts and experiences, I needed a little time to absorb the trip to Morocco. Plus, I had a lot of eating to do in order to gain back some of the weight that I lost due to a little spice called "cumen." I'm returning to the keyboard to try and encapsulate some of what happened along the way.
When we arrived in Tangier, Mike and I attempted to go down to the beach for me to ride a camel. We never made it to the camels because a man came to us and initiated a faith conversation with us. I watched my buddy Mike share with him and plant seeds that may be used for him to find the Way. We bought him a phone card, but I didn't ride the camels. This was the beginning of a trip where God taught me that His plans are much bigger and i
mportant than mine.
mportant than mine.Our counselor training began a couple of days later in Chefchaouen, a town perched in the mountains and famous for a myriad of blue shades found on doors and walls all throughout the city and it's medinas. 35 teachers from the surrounding area came. They had been selected to be the counselor in their schools but had not been trained, so everything was pretty new to them, particularly the idea that the role of a counselor involves more listening than advice giving. They opened up very quickly and participated in the training without any real coaxing involved, something else that surprised me. You can check out a pic of them role playing, something that they really got into.
The way that the training was set up allowed for lots of time to hang-out with the teachers apart from the training. I didn't expect for them to want to hang-out with us so it surprised me when they asked us to come to their hotel to sit on the roof and drink Moroccan mint tea, which was worth the trip in itself. On the rooftop, we had several faith conversations, all of which were initiated by them. They were devoted to sharing their faith, so these conversations were very natural. At one point, I noticed three of my new friends scooting their chairs around me so that they could tag team on one of these discussions. It was more than I could have expected or even asked for because this gave me an opportunity to share my beliefs with them. So, I didn't convert and neither did they, but God planted this seed in their heads through this conversation, "If Jesus is such a great teacher and prophet, did he lie when he said He was God? If so, then we have to decide whether he was actually a liar or God, because He can't be a good teacher and prophet if He's lying." So, every conversation eventually came to this point, "Who is Jesus?" If they really find the answer to that question, then they have found everything.
One specific teacher allowed us to visit his home where we had a very intense faith conversation. It was a holy time sitting with my friend Mike as the Spirit empowered us to share our faith as our new friend pounded us with a barrage of evangelistic strategies to get his points across as well. As new friends we were trying desperately to save each other, a holy hour that I continue to ask God to use to bring Himself glory.
In the course of this training I worked closely with a Moroccan man who had truly given up everything this world has to offer in order to accept and live the Truth. Of all of the things I encountered on this trip, the friendship that I developed with this man of faith was one of the most impactful. It is difficult to talk about the idea of sacrifice when I realize that I don't even know what that means. I am celebrated for my faith. He is disowned. Very humbling. I have much to learn.
So, on the way back, yes, I lost my passport. I have been the source of much heckling for this, and it is truly deserved. I did panic and even started playing out all sorts of scenarios in my head about the possibility of taking up a residence in Spain at the public park. My plan was to somehow find a guitar and just perform in the park to make a living until I finally got another passport. Then I saw a real Spanish guitarist and realized that I would have to come up with a different plan because those guys are pretty stinking good. I began to regret my laziness in college Spanish classes, and I made a vow to buy the Rosetta Stone Spanish cd to listen to on the way to work next semester.
Then something even crazier happened. I had been instructed to go to the US Embassy at 7:30 am and wait by the gates until guards showed up prior to the Embassy opening at 8am. I was supposed to then ask the guards to let me speak with "Pilar," who was going to help get me an emergency passport. Most of you who have visited Spain didn't get to do that, did you? And I bet you didn't get to file a police report at an authentic Spanish police station, did you? Well, you missed out! Anyway, turns out that another lady was waiting there when I got to the Embassy, and she had lost her passport, too. Over the course of the next hour and the ordeal of getting a new passport, Mike and I became friends with her. Consequently, we all discovered that we were on the same flight headed back to Dallas. She was from Argentina, living in Spain, and moving to Dallas, and we just ended up on the same flight back to Dallas "by chance." Now, this is where God just started to blatently show off. She asked if she could tag along with us all the way back to Dallas. After cussing like a sailor on the subway back to the airport, she asked Mike what he did. When he told her about his occupation, she blushed and said, "Oh, no, I feel so bad for cussing around you!" That conversation quickly turned to faith, and she affirmed her belief in JC as saviour. So, now I truly believe that I didn't lose my passport. I believe that God snuck it out of my bag so that we could have this conversation on the Madrid subway train. I believe that my new friend Angie got something a lot more important than an emergency passport that day.
I walked into the Lubbock airport to a sight that I had longed for over the last 8 days, my hot wife and crazy kids holding a banner for me and celebrating my safe return. My wife is really something special. In fact, not only did she put up with our offspring alone for 8 days, but without her I might be speaking Spanish right now. She scanned my birth certificate and e-mailed it to me at the hotel so that I could get my emergency passport and get the heck out of Spain. Kelli is such a cool chick. I love that girl!
If I had to give you one overriding thing that I learned from this trip, here it is: God is so absurdly in love with people that He will do the craziest things and open the most unlikely doors in order to give them the message that He is in love with them. It was very clear to me that this trip was not my trip or Mike's trip, but God's trip that He had ordained before the beginning of time in order to pursue people with His love. What a crazy love! What an absurd plan! What a passionate King!
PS.....a pigeon also pooped on my face at the park in Spain right after I lost my passport. I haven't figured out how this works into God's passionate plan to pursue people for His glory, but here's a pic to leave you with. That's not a freckle on my forehead.
