Freedom... True Freedom.

I am back from North Africa! What an amazing experience. I love new cultures and being completely immersed in other "worlds." Even with my self-proclaimed open-mindedness, I never expected to be so floored by what I experienced. Americans have very strong assumptions about Muslim culture and the religion of Islam - many justified, many not. I have to admit I was a little uneasy to be surrounded by an entire nation of practicing Muslims. I heard that the people were friendly and warm, but I also can't take for granted that I am not even allowed to say the name of the country and the "workers" (aka missionaries) that work there because it is a Muslim country; it's a police state... The dichotomy perplexed me. I was curious enough to go and see what it was all about. What further entrenched the dichotomy of this beautiful North African country was the tug and pull between Western modernism and traditional Islam. On the same street, you will see one Arab woman in Juicy Couture midriff tops, and another in ninja-like black garb with a scarf that covers even her eyes.

I am still processing everything I experienced. I am still longing to see again the women and girls I met through teaching English. I hope for the love of Christ to change their lives and help them realize and believe in their potential. One dear friend wants to be a nurse. She wants to leave her native country altogether so that she can be free from what her society says is her only role. She would never admit it, but I know that deep down she wants to be free from her religion. Everything she shared with me cries out for freedom...

And I suppose that I understood for the first time what true freedom is all about. I thought to myself so many times, "If they only had the freedom to choose! If she was only free to choose her own way, her own belief." Lovely people walking blindly, many following the prophet Mohammad for no other reason than that's just what they have been told to do. Maybe not too far off from why many Christians are Christians.