I’ve tried to sit down and write a post about this summer every day this past week. I’ve pulled up a blank document, clicked “play” on my CHILL Spotify playlist (creative title, I know), made a cup of tea, and tried to force myself to process everything the best way that I know how to do. But each time, I freeze. I’m left merely staring at the screen wondering how in the world I am supposed to articulate the messy emotions, the heart-wrenching stories, the dark days, the bubbling laughter of my students, the beautiful faces, the slow lessons, the darkness but also the glorious brightness of my two months teaching, living with, learning from, and loving a group of refugee women. How desperately I wish each and every one of you could relive this summer in my mind for even a few minutes. I wish you could look into the eyes of a child who assumes I’m Muslim because Islam is all she knows, see the buried glimmer of hope in the face of a woman burdened beyond belief when she hears there is a God whose love is perfect (very unlike the love of her husband), feel the hospitality of students who stole a piece of my heart when I met them, see the extent to which people are brainwashed by a false god and his false prophet, witness the fervency of a new believer who finds truth after a lifetime of lies. I also wish you could taste a kidney meat pie from the halal market next to our classroom on “meat pie Monday”, sip the sweetness of tea lovingly prepared and served amid the squeals of children, and feel the love I felt walking down the streets of my summer home while greeting students in their shops. Read more....
-Madeline
Urban Muslim Outreach
South Africa
-Madeline
Urban Muslim Outreach
South Africa