1 year ago
Our adventures went life in the city to life in the villages of the North Africa. We came to the villages with only one purpose in mind. Our purpose was to bless the people these beautiful regions.
We stayed with a family each night in between our eight days of travel. We were fed delicious couscous, homemade fire baked bread, and tagine (Meat, potatoes and Vegetables cooked in a clay pot over an open fire).
The villagers are a simple people. Many live without running water, food is often cooked over open flames, and a bed can commonly be found to be only a few blankets placed on the floor as a sleeping surface. The people are simple in their ways but their religion has caused much confusion and heaviness in their lives. Their hearts feel the need for a personal relationship with a God (which theirs doesn’t offer) but their minds often don’t want to accept it.
We were however able to witness and hear testimony of how God is speaking and changing the hearts of some of the people of the villages.
Mohammad’s home was our last stop on the eight day journey. Mohammad has made a declaration to follow Jesus. We had the privilege of hearing his testimony. We finished supper and decided to have a time of worship in song and prayer with Mohammad. It was an evening filled with the Holy Spirit. He shared how Christian teams had come through his village a number of times and shared about Jesus with him but it had never made sense and he didn’t really want to hear what they had to say. One day he had been working in the field tending to his herd of sheep and it suddenly just made sense. He said when he left work that day he felt he had left his old self in the field and he was a new person. Around this same time the teams had given up visiting this village because people didn’t seem receptive to the gospel. It was during this month that a team came to the mountains and felt strongly that they should go to Mohammad’s village (the team didn’t know the story of Mohammad or what village he lived in) even though it wasn’t in the plan for that trek. When they met Mohammad he told them he had waited six months for a Christian team to come to his village.
Mohammad says he is feels sad every time a team come and leaves because this is the only fellowship with other Christians that he has. The ministry is working on connecting him with other believers in the city. Our experience in Mohammad’s village was a blessed one and taught us that we must never give up even when we don’t see the work God is doing!
Geoff writes about his experience during the trek,
It was already quite hot, considering it wasn’t even nine o’çlock, but that didn’t stop me enjoying my morning coffee. I had experienced a few coffees since coming to North Africa, but this one was unique, I got to share the experience with my new local friend, Mustafa. We had only met fifteen minutes earlier as I was coming back from a post-dawn beach walk. I thought his invitation for a coffee was a great opportunity to practice my Arabic phrases. He was more motivated by the prospect of me being his next customer for any of a number of special services that he offers to tourists. I wasn’t really interested in any of his special deals, the next one appearing just as quickly as I could politely decline. But as I sat there absorbing the terracotta-orange buildings and the tree- lined cement square, I couldn’t help but lament the fact that this would be my last chance to start the day by savouring a hot cup of coffee. Well, for the next eight days at least. I had a higher calling. I was heading to the mountains.
Our trek started early the next morning in the inner suburbs of the city. We met our guide, Chris, at a local supermarket after a ten minute taxi-ride from the city bus station. He was clad in khaki hiking clothes, complete with Tilley hat, and was accompanied by his milky-brown mountain dog who sat in the passenger seat of his maroon coloured, 1989 Land Rover. As we climbed into the back of it with all our gear I got the feeling we were in for a memorable adventure. Chris had a huge smile on his face which made me feel totally welcome and immediately at ease. But the twinkle in his eye and the purpose in his step made me realize he had some surprises in store for us during the next eight days as we trekked through the North African mountain range.
Very soon our adventure was underway. After a short pit-stop to load our packs with supplies for the journey, we were bumping along in the taxi to the small road-side village where our trek would begin. Once out of the taxi, no time was wasted, as our group of ten charged, single-file, onto the narrow trail on the bank of a dry, stony river bed. The wellworn path led us across a long concrete bridge. The stark concrete sat as juxtaposition against the natural beauty of the dry, red-earth mountains, dotted with leafy green shrubs, that were towering around us. It was framed by the emerald green stream snaking its way along the river just metres beneath. The view before us was all too familiar for our guide Chris. His thrifty walking speed made it clear he was oblivious to the breathtaking surrounds. The rest of us craned our necks and clicked our cameras to capitalize on every possible viewing angle as we marched along briskly to keep up.
The trail took us weaving in between the small, bright green wheat fields that stepped their way up the mountain side to a nearby village. The stove was set up for lunch on the fringe of a freshly plowed field next to a clear, flowing stream with locals working on their fields nearby. Just as I was cracking open my tin of canned tuna I looked up and saw it. It was a beautiful sight. Chris was holding a glossy, brown tube that was gleaming in the midday sun. My heart skipped a beat because I knew exactly what it was, Cuppaccino! Mountain style! A detail I somehow missed before was that Chris provides a supply of packet drink mixes as part of the all-inclusive price of the trek. After learning this, my expectations for the trek just went from excellent to awesome.
The next seven days proved that my expectations were justified. Not only did I get to enjoy a hot, frothy coffee drink every day, but I got to do it in a style that reflected the diversity of North Africa’s ancient Berber culture. One day it was in a village overlooking a snow-capped mountain peak. Another day was spent in a rugged pine forest easily mistaken for Canadian Shield country. The next day I got to drink my coffee in a mystical, smoky, emerald green valley that would not have been out of place in “Lord of the Rings”, except of course for the many satellite dishes and power lines. These modern addendums to the mud brick houses actually present to the outsider a deceiving view of the primitive village way of life. Except for a few mod cons, the locals live so simply that they would be unperturbed by a loss of electricity. Their fresh olive oil is produced by a donkey-driven press and the grain grinders are driven by a water wheel. These were just two of the experiences we had that gave us an eye opening view into the traditional Berber way of life. On the last day of our trek we were even treated to a whimsical snow flurry. This happened while the village kids thrashed us on their rocky, make-shift soccer pitch. The game being occasionally interrupted by a passing donkey loaded with supplies for the local hanout. We capped off an amazing day with a traditional North African steam room and bath experience, known as a hammam. This was the perfect way to remedy the crisp mountain air and prepare for our re-entry into civilization the next day. The thought of returning to civilization made me realize that my experience of having my regular morning coffee will never be able to match what the mountains delivered!
1 year ago
The journey started in Rome with spending three hours on a plane followed by a four hour bus ride that took us to our final destination of North Africa. Our host graciously picked us up from the bus stop at 4:00 AM!
North Africa is beautiful. The people are friendly are quick to offer you a helping hand and invite you in for a home brewed tea. If you are hungry, worry not because you will find an abundance of local, fresh fruits, vegetables and bread at a very inexpensive price at the local market.
What are we doing here? Why have we come? These are the questions we ask God and ourselves. We are here for a short time and at times it seems unlikely that we could make long term impact in this place. What we have realized we can do is encourage the other believers here to stay strong in faith. There are VERY few believers in this country and the ones that are here need much encouragement and prayer. Much of our time in this city has been spent meeting new people and sharing what our God has done in our lives and what he can and wants to do in their lives. The beach that is within walking distance from our lodging brings in tourists from around the world and has been one of our main locations for our group to meet new people.
An event that took place during our stay in this city has made the trip worthwhile and encourages all of us that God is good and changes lives!
Geoff comments on that event, “Three members of our team had the opportunity to visit a local man who has been a believer for exactly six years. It is no coincidence that this is the same amount of time since the “Next Wave” was last in this country, which at that time was known as the Elida IV. It was a team from the boat who found the former Muslim in his clothes shop, within a large shopping complex, and was able to share with him about the good news. This turned out to be a divine encounter; it led to this incredible man becoming a believer, which in turn opened the door for many other ministry opportunities, including the distribution of gospel material throughout the complex and many others being able to experience the good news. It was truly a privilege to share a cup of tea with our new friend, while sitting inside his clothes shop, and hear the incredible stories of how God has worked in his life and through his life. It was humbling to witness the passion of his faith, six years on and going strong. It was encouraging to think that it was all made possible by one group of people who arrived on the ship. The results of their actions are still echoing through the city and the nation!”
1 year ago
The train was scheduled to leave at 9:47 am. Tickets were purchased and our team of 11 was on our way to Rome for the week.
A local church we partnered with showed us hospitality that was almost surreal. They had some events planned for us to join them in. We joined them in singing Christmas carols in the streets, at the metro station and at the Colosseum. We also used this time to share with people about the amazing God we serve and how much HE loves them.
We didn’t know where we would be staying every night or where our next meal would come from. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and then everything else we need will be provided. God also spoke a promise of provision to us through Zephaniah 3:13, “…they will eat and sleep in safety…”
We spent one evening at the Colosseum asking God what to do and where to go. Two students had a divine encounter with an American couple. The wife of the couple had had a dream that two people asked to stay at their hotel. She had told them no and that it was important to stay with their group. We took this as a message from God. As she was telling us this the phone rang and someone from the church called and invited us to stay at their house. God provided again.
Our last night in Rome was spent at a square where there was much open drug dealing, using of drugs and consumption of alcohol. It was a very spiritually heavy and dark place. We prayed against that and asked God to remove any fear of man and to help us to share the gospel with boldness and courage. We could see God at work as people were unusually receptive to us having conversations with them. We were able to pray with many people and saw God touch many peoples’ hearts. One story of this happening was when Hannah (our outreach leader) had a conversation with a man in the street. This man told Hannah that he could see that there was something different about us. He could see God living inside of us. He said he hoped that there was a God out there that wanted him. Hannah was able to share the message of Jesus and that HE was the one that wanted his heart.
And the adventure continues.
1 year ago
“Flexible” was the key word for this weekend. It’s always good to plan, but God determines our steps.
We had set out to minister to a youth group at a nearby church in Napoli for the weekend as we were invited to lead their youth meeting on Saturday night following a regular service on Sunday night. We came prepared to share a few testimonies, a couple dramas, and help in leading the worship portion of the evening.
We got to the church about one hour before the youth meeting was scheduled to begin. We had prayed and committed the evening before we begun, but it was literally five minutes before the evening was to start when the youth pastor came to ask us who would be preaching. In our training we were told these things happen and we need to be ready at all times and to be flexible so that we could minister in ways that we may not have expected. We figured out who would preach and the evening carried on!
The weekend was amazing. God spoke to the audience in different ways with various topics that were touched on throughout the weekend. Testimonies that were shared spoke about how God wants to spend time with us and how He WANTS to know us more. One of our team members shared on how forgiveness is key to any Godly relationship. This touched many hearts among the congregation of the church. The sermon on Sunday night included the theme of “dying to self and living in Christ”.
We were well received by the church. They showed us gracious hospitality by housing us and feeding us delicious local food.
