Thank you for partnering with me in my ministry here in Paris! The last four months have been so so full and so so good! Some highlights:
Lots of other fun things have been going on as well! I went on a visit and ate couscous with a woman from my class and she made this dish at the end! It's called millawee and it's essentially fried layers of thin pastry bread. I ate it ALL the time when I studying abroad in Morocco and it's delicious covered in cheese or jam!
At the end of April, we hosted a "beauty day" for the ladies in our classes. We had been telling the story of Esther leading up to this day and thought it would be fun to actually do manicures and "pamper" them just like the Esther and the potential future Queens of Persia were pampered. I was in charge of assembling the ingredients for a manicure day and Brittany, Ruth Ann and I lead the ladies as they washed eachothers hands with scrubs and oils and trimmed their nails. We actually couldn't paint any nails because Mslm women are not supposed to have their nails painted when they do their prayers!
One of the women I meet with weekly brought me a taqsheeta from her home in Mor. when she visited in March! This is what you wear when you go to a Moroccan wedding! It's really beautiful, but much too long for my short Wildes legs. I hope to have it altered so that I can bust it out for an actual wedding! Also, please ignore my awkward balcony posing!
I snapped a picture of this walking in a neighboring town a few days ago. It's an ad for a parent's meeting at a local school. The little bubbles around it have different questions that they will be addressing but what caught my attention is the top left hand corner question.
It reads "I don't know how to read, so how can I help my children with their homework." This is a question that many of us would never think about but is a pressing reality for many North Africans in my city! My heart hurts when I think about the deep isolation that many of my women and their neighbors face because they do not speak the language here. Please prA that the HS would break that isolation and that they would find the acceptance and communion that only the Father can give.
During the 2 week break at the end of April and beginning of May, Brittany, Ruth Ann and I took a 13 day trip through Morocco. We started in the North and travelled through many many cities all the way towards the South. It was an incredible and challenging o go back and visit the place I once called home. The Father was faithful to deliver us safely through and I learned so much about His sovereignty and provision. Stay tuned for another update on our trip!
Blessings!
ميريديث
I've attended an NGO-run knitting class with several women from our literacy class a couple of times. It's been fun to get out and participate in a class alongside them rather than as a teacher to them! They are always so proud to see us and show us off to the other ladies in the class!
I've continued meeting with L once a week to work on French. I've started having her read through simplified versions of bible stories in French in order to have her work on reading comprehension. Please prA that she would understand, would ask questions about what she is reading and that I would be able to speak in words that she understands in order to tell her about who JC really is!
The first term of classes ended in February with a crêpe day in class. All of the teachers prepared French crêpes and American crêpes (aka PANCAKES with maple syrup) and the women in the class brought varieties of North African crêpes. Of course we garnished them with jams, laughing cow cheese, nutella and whipped cream (the maple syrup surprisingly not popular). They were all eager to try our pancakes and it was fun to imagine what they would do in an IHOP...
March was by far the most hectic month of my time here as we had a constant string of visitors coming through. In addition to friends from the States and friends from around the world coming to visit us, we also had a team of 5 girls from my home fellowship in Birmingham come through to help us and see our life here. It was a busy and fun week as I was able to show them around the city and show them glimpses of the work we do here. All of the girls had the chance to sit in during literacy classes and the ladies in my class absolutely LOVED getting to meet my oldest and sweetest friend, Rachael.
Writing the date out on my whiteboard for me. She has always had the best handwriting!
In April, my co-teacher and I decided to host several of our women at her house and to cook couscous for them. It was a pretty hilarious endeavor as couscous is difficult to make (the Moroccan way, that is!) Lamb meat boiled for hours, vegetables simmered and our heaping mound of couscous was steamed 3 different times! (that's right!) It ended up tasting pretty good if I do say so myself and the women we invited enjoyed sitting around for several hours talking. My co-teacher invited a Moroccan friend of hers who is like-minded to come share in lunch and to share with the women we had invited in Moroccan dialect-Arabic. It was sweet to watch her share her testimony of coming to know the Father with the ladies in their heart-language and touching to watch them respond. I am thankful that He is moving among this people group and that He has brought like-minded individuals into our lives here that we can connect them with the women that we are lifting up.
Carrots and onions about to be throw in the pot to cook.
This plate is HUGE and it's for mixing up all the couscous and making sure it isn't stuck together between steaming times.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many pictures of the women we had invited over, but I did snatch this shot of my co-teacher along with one of the women, H, while they were looking at pictures of my friend's children.
I also turned 23 at the beginning of April! I got to spend the day with Brittany, Ruth Ann and a few friends who were in town. We visited the Chateau at Versailles, ate Kit-Kats and danced through the gardens. It was a pretty magical day, but then again 23 is a magical number! (Think: Michael Jordan, Dr. Pepper flavors, House 23...)
This is me, newly 23, holding two free cups of Starbucks Vanilla Latte. That's a whopping total of 5 shots of espresso that I downed by myself within one hour. Maybe that's why my birthday was so magical...
Cultural note: there are two possible jobs for NA women who either do not have the correct immigration papers to legally live here or do not know enough French language to work. If they have the time to work, they usually either clean homes or nanny children throughout the day.
This little guy has been coming to class for the past three weeks with one of the women in my class. She keeps him during the day while his family works, but she doesn't know his name! Or at least she tells us she doesn't... We've jokingly tried calling him every Arab boy name imaginable but have settled on calling him Charles de Gaulle. He is very young, very cute, and can be very disruptive in class!
Fortunately, our classes meet in the building of a local fellowship and my class room is actually a children's SS room so there are MANY toys to keep him occupied!
Lots of other fun things have been going on as well! I went on a visit and ate couscous with a woman from my class and she made this dish at the end! It's called millawee and it's essentially fried layers of thin pastry bread. I ate it ALL the time when I studying abroad in Morocco and it's delicious covered in cheese or jam!
At the end of April, we hosted a "beauty day" for the ladies in our classes. We had been telling the story of Esther leading up to this day and thought it would be fun to actually do manicures and "pamper" them just like the Esther and the potential future Queens of Persia were pampered. I was in charge of assembling the ingredients for a manicure day and Brittany, Ruth Ann and I lead the ladies as they washed eachothers hands with scrubs and oils and trimmed their nails. We actually couldn't paint any nails because Mslm women are not supposed to have their nails painted when they do their prayers!
Here's my cheat sheet of French words for manicure-day!
I found some great ideas for hand scrubs and essential oil treatments on Pintrest :)
I snapped a picture of this walking in a neighboring town a few days ago. It's an ad for a parent's meeting at a local school. The little bubbles around it have different questions that they will be addressing but what caught my attention is the top left hand corner question.
It reads "I don't know how to read, so how can I help my children with their homework." This is a question that many of us would never think about but is a pressing reality for many North Africans in my city! My heart hurts when I think about the deep isolation that many of my women and their neighbors face because they do not speak the language here. Please prA that the HS would break that isolation and that they would find the acceptance and communion that only the Father can give.
During the 2 week break at the end of April and beginning of May, Brittany, Ruth Ann and I took a 13 day trip through Morocco. We started in the North and travelled through many many cities all the way towards the South. It was an incredible and challenging o go back and visit the place I once called home. The Father was faithful to deliver us safely through and I learned so much about His sovereignty and provision. Stay tuned for another update on our trip!
Me, RA and B posing with two friends we made along the way!
Blessings!
ميريديث
