A Day in the Life
By Ben Ebner
In a few days, a group of Frontline Experience (FX) interns will be arriving at the FMI home office to begin two months of training. Following several days of preparation in South Carolina, they will board a plane bound for North Africa. What will life be like for them overseas? What follows is a fictional (but accurate) journal of a single day in the life of an FX participant.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
6:30am
I was up early today. Met up with the rest of my teammates and a couple North African believers. We took the train east from my apartment building and arrived in the city center. Grabbed some breakfast as we walked and within about 30 minutes ended up by the ocean. We found a quiet spot and ate and prayed together. While we prayed, my mind wandered and I began to think about what God is doing here in North Africa. There are a few small house churches, and the number of believers is slowly growing. Should I move here and become part of this work? My two months here is nearly halfway over — God, please direct me! I want to be part of what you are doing.
8:30am
Need to get going! It takes about an hour to travel from the ocean back to the south of the city. We said goodbye to our North African friends, and the intern group began our walk back toward the train station. After riding the train for a while, we grabbed a taxi to take us most of the way to our destination before walking the final mile. We arrived in time to catch our breath for a few minutes while we waited for our language teacher to arrive and begin our Arabic lesson. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for four weeks and it’s hard to believe that I’ve known my teammates for only four weeks! We’ve grown so close in the past month.
10:00am
Arabic study is difficult but rewarding. I’m learning the basics of the language: greetings, how to order food and ask for directions, and all the vocabulary words for numbers. I’ve been working on my own to be able to share my testimony in Arabic — not sure I’m going to meet that goal in the next four weeks, but I’m getting closer. After about 1.5 hours of group study, the teacher sent us to a nearby market where our assignment was to purchase the ingredients we will use to make lunch together. I can still see the ink on my arm from where I scribbled the Arabic words for chicken and mint leaves. We used the chicken to make tajine (one of my favorite North African meals), and the mint leaves went into the tea that seems to be part of every meal here. I don’t think I sounded too incompetent while shopping. The vendors were nice to me — they can tell I don’t speak the language well, but they seem glad that I’m trying. And I ended up with the right ingredients! A couple weeks ago I had to walk away with nothing when I just couldn’t communicate what I wanted to buy.
1:30pm
After lunch we split up. Half the team went to a Bible study where our mentor missionary family is discipling several new believers. I went with the other group. We traveled about two hours away to another, smaller city. There is a new house church forming here, and we were able to meet the North African believers who are hosting the group in their home each Sunday. It was so exciting to hear them talk about what God is doing! This couple started the gathering about two years ago with only their family and one other believer. In recent months, three more people have come to know Jesus and have been added to the group. They told us how they are regularly sharing their faith with others. We also heard about the persecution they are facing. Several of these believers have been rejected by their families and are kind of like orphans now. But they have each other — God is growing them into a family.
7:45pm
By the time we got back to the city, it was getting late in the day. We met up with the rest of the team for dinner and heard that the group who went to the Bible study had a disappointing afternoon when all but one of the new believers didn’t arrive. At first the group thought they all might just be running late but then realized that for various reasons they weren’t coming. It seems like this happens frequently here. Even something as simple as the cost of a taxi or your boss needing you to stay longer than planned at work can change your whole day. Our mentor missionary family seems used to this and somehow remains positive, but it must be discouraging sometimes.
10:00pm
I’m back at the apartment now. Traffic was light after dinner so it was a quick commute back across town. I split from the rest of the group for the last mile to walk and pray — just needed a few minutes to think. I’m meeting one-on-one with my missionary-mentor tomorrow, and I have so many questions to ask: How did you know for sure you should move overseas? God is definitely growing my faith, but how will I know if I’m ready? How did you choose where to go? What sort of further training would I need? How long did it take to become fluent in Arabic?
It’s been hard to sleep lately. There’s so much to do tomorrow and I need rest, but my mind races as I think about everything I’m learning and experiencing. I wonder what God is doing and what does He want for my life? How will He use me?
Heading to bed now. Praying.
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