so i started reading the new testament again. it was my third time reading it and first i was not exited as it ment reading the booring jesus birth story again but somehow the little details catched me and i was able to see so much more of the background story that you normaly do not think about. things such as how did mary feel when the angle spoke to her or how did she think about jesus being the son of god? i loved asking myself all these sidebar questions and i always wrote them down in my journal. i hadn't journaled in a while as life on board the ship became everyday life. but as soon as i started planning my trip to syria i picked it up again and with a new lit fire i wrote down everything. i would sit in my room and just write down thoughts that would come to my mind "will i like the team mates?", "will i enjoy the food?", "will i learn some arabic?", "what if something bad happenes?". the last question was somehow the biggest one in my mind the voices became so loud that i even wrote a letter to my best friend telling her how much i love the friendship we have and how much i appreciate her as a person. well all these things ended up being written down in my journal. i loved writing all these things down as i knew that later these entries would help me to keep the memories alive that i would make in syria. little did i know about how all of this would change.
as i finished my quiet time we sat down and had breakfast as a team. i loved our team times as it was always nice to be around the others. i enjoyed listening to the speaking arabic and i was impressed. all of them spoke amazing arabic and where ever we went they would impress people as nobody would think that they could speak such good arabic. it was a huge motivation for me to study more.
my last days have kind of only been about me seeing some of aleppo and learning some arabic but today was about to change all this a little bit. after the breakfast the guys decided to take me down to the campus. the campus was one of the most important places for the team. as the ministry was to get to know the local people and trough deep conversations share the gospel the team spent every secon at the campus talking to the young students. today i was introduced to the group. i looked forward to this day as i ment i would finally meet som local people my age and that i could use some of my arabic. as we went down to the campus i also got to see some of the more modern part of aleppo. now what you will have in mind are these HUGE bright shopping malls or apartments but i have to disappoint you. the intire city was and i guess still is covered with a huge layer of dust. everything seems old even if it is new. at first i didn't like the look but now i even miss it.
as we reached the campus it was almost like entering a different world. the surroundings still looked the same but the people changed. normaly the people you see on the streets are adults mostly man and never couples. but on the campus you see only the young students and they just look normal. the women walk around uncovered and the guys chase after the girls. it was a weird picture. the park area inside of the campus was full of couples (most of them making out). in some ways it shocked me. later as i got to know some of the students i was introduced to their world not only physically but also mentally. i got to understand them better and better up to a point where i would say i started to think like them. sure it takes longer then a few weeks to understand a culture, to speak a language, to read the local books or even to think like the locals but in some ways i have to say i adjusted well and fast. it wasn't long until people told me that i do blend in very well (as much as it is possible for a western looking guy with blond hair and bright eyes to blend in).
Most of the women who live in syria have a already planned out life. the family decides who they marry and where they live. one of the only things that they get to decide is what to study. this surprised me as normally women don't have many rights but in this case they do. the families know that the young people are easy to rebell against the traditions so they start too give them some say in their lifes just enough to keep them happy. it almost seemed like the women had a chance to escape their "prison" in the time they got to study. after the uni life for them would be like the life any syrien woman has to life: get married be a mother and thats about it. i started to understand more why these women would use their time at uni for such things as secret boyfriends or even speaking about the unspoken topics such as christianity.
the group that i was introduced in hosted around 20 people. half guys half women. they all were super friendly and quickly accepted me into the group. i enjoyed talking to them even if i was unsure at the beginning. i felt unsafe around them at first as i was not sure what i could talk about or what is ok for me to say/ to share. for example: i was intorduced as a friend of someheon who had visited them a while ago and as this person had shared that he had lived on a ship before he came i was not able to share the same thing. it all seemed like building up a wall up secrets to protect the team and the ministry. at first it felt horrible as it almost felt like lying but soon i realised that me not sharing the whole truth technically is not lying. i know that now most of you are about to protest against what i just said and sure i would say the same that not telling the intire truth is dangerous and most of the time concidered as lying but then again i was in a non christian country as a missionary and i was surrounded by local people who could easily just hand me to the secret police.
i enjoyed my day at the campus. i enjoyed talking to them and laughing with them. i quickly opened up and became a "friend" to most of them and to some even a brother.
Picture of the Day
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