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A missionary serving in North Africa shares their story.
As a teenager I really wanted to be cool, and was willing to do almost anything to make that happen. I ashamedly compromised my values and beliefs but still was never really that popular. After a wake up call one day I rededicated my life to the Lord and after graduating from high school I went to a Bible college to study music. I joined a rock band and soon we were becoming popular and gaining recognition. This was an amazing feeling. One day we were playing at a youth conference and the main speaker challenged everyone, “What is the one thing you are holding onto? What are you not willing to give up for God?” My heart whispered ‘the band.’ I knew that it was something I had desired for a long time but also knew that if God asked for it, I was willing to give it up. Within a few months I left the band.
Khalid, a 12 year old North African boy, gives us an insight into his life:
My Granny didn’t have to go to school. My mum was the first woman in her family to finish secondary school education. Unfortunately for me that means that she can understand my homework and make me do it. Sometimes, though, it also means that she will help! My mum thinks that education is very important. As well as going to school from 8am until 4pm, she also sends me and my little brother to a tutor after school. Sometimes we don’t get home until late. I would like to be an astronaut when I grow up. My mum wants me to be a pharmacist.
I had lots of ideas, including whether I was called to mission. “Great,” I thought, “I can do mission for a year, and tick my Christian deed off the list”. So I signed up with AIM to work with a construction team. It was on this short term team that I encountered Islam, and met Christians who had grown up as Muslims. It opened my eyes. I attended an AIM event about North Africa and the information we were given compelled me to think more about what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I felt very ill equipped, but I couldn’t ignore the needs in North Africa. So I went back to Bible school, finished my degree, and then joined a two year team in North Africa to put what I was learning into practice, as well as learning culture and language. The longer I stay here the more compelled I feel to share and live intentionally among these people.