I’m A Follower.

The word I received before making my way to Morocco was to follow the Spirit for your time there is going to look different than you expect.

I listened to that word knowing that it was Spirit that was guiding me back and the Spirit would be leading me.  You see, I had no real itinerary.  I wasn’t meeting up with anyone at any certain time.  I was just there with food and a futbol in hand.  And so I followed…

At first, I found myself near the port area.  I sat there for about an hour observing and saw no children or anyone really who was in need of food or anything.  So I figured I wouldn’t waste any more time and decided to move to another location.  But as I got up, I felt the inkling to stay.  So I listened, grabbed my journal and started sketching a nearby building.  A few moments later I was approached by 2 street boys who sat next to me.  We had a conversation filled with simple questions and a lot of charades.  I offered them food and they said no, but continued to sit next to me watching me draw and talking with me.  About an hour later or so 2 other younger boys joined us.  They eagerly took some food.  And we talked and laughed, some in Arabic, a little English, and some Spanish.  It continued for a while until a man called out to the four of them, pointed in different directions, and sent them on their way.

So I grabbed my things and made my way through the medina.  When I reached the fountain area I again felt the Spirit leading me to stay.  So I found a bench, pulled out a book, and kept my futbol and food visible.  After about 10 minutes, a group of 5 street boys and their dogs approached me to ask if they could play futbol.  So we spent the next hour or so kicking it around, laughing, and chasing the ball as the dogs tried to play too.  We were such a sight.  Some of the older people resting on the benches were even laughing at us.  Afterwards, I gave them some food and they too went on their way.

A few minutes later, I was led to another park where again, a few of the boys wanted to show off their futbol skills and so I spent some time with them and shared my food.

My pink beach bag was continually getting lighter as it now only held my futbol and a few remaining pieces of fruit.  With the lighter weight to carry, I was led to walk along the beach front to check out the scene there.  But as I continued to walk, something in my spirit was beginning to feel uneasy.  More men were around me, the disrespectful comments and kissing sounds were more frequent and seemed louder and I knew I needed to turn around and walk back.  As I turned, I saw them.  There they were, about 10 street boys making their way back to the port area.  I was interested to see where they were headed and so decided to keep my distance, but follow them. 

As I reached the port area, I found myself, once again surrounded by men as the street boys made their way up through the medina.  I wanted to go with them, but the Spirit said stay and so there I was with another choice to make…