A Day in the Middle East

By Brittany Sanchez

The Father is working in the Middle East. He is faithful beyond measure.

My time in the Middle East was a huge learning experience for me. God taught me many lessons, and I was able to reciprocate as I taught my 92 students. The life of a refugee is extremely disheartening. The overwhelming Muslim presence leaves the door open to intense spiritual warfare, but also an entire harvest of searching souls. God is moving! Day after day, story after story, soul after soul, God is moving.

Each morning after I woke up, I looked out my window and saw the Syrian border just miles away. To the right, a militant mosque sounded the call to prayer five times a day. Once I got ready, I headed to the brand new camp school where I taught six classes of phonics-level English to children who had never been to school. In fact, most of them had never written anything, and I had to teach them to hold a pencil.

Looking into their faces, you’d think I was teaching a bunch of adults. They have aged so quickly. They have witnessed their homes bombed and their families killed or taken to prison. Yet, each of my students was able to smile and laugh and be a child. They craved acceptance, encouragement, and approval. And they are so smart. By the end of the first week, we had begun stringing letters together to form words.

After six hours of teaching, I headed back to my apartment to plan lessons, eat, and prepare for my two-hour adult class that evening. My adult students craved knowledge and were perfectionists. But they learned so many things in such a short time. Some of my biggest breakthroughs happened in that class. Completely-covered, repressed women who wouldn’t meet my eyes at first began smiling every time they saw me, and hugging me after every class. This is what the love and kindness of Jesus does.

This was a typical day for me. Some were very difficult. Some were full of laughter. Yet, in them all, God was moving. In the short time I was in the Middle East, God allowed me to see desperate hearts seeking and barriers coming down.

Where one seeks openly, many who are unseen seek as well. Our Father has a plan for all of us. Whether or not we accept that plan is up to us. But, what if people don’t know about the one true God? How can they accept His plan if no one tells them about Him?

About the Writer: Brittany Sanchez is in her third year of ESL and global studies at Randall University. She attends Crossroads FWB Church in Jenks, Oklahoma.