Yesterday I met with Amira, my newest Muslim friend. Our stated goal for the day was for her to begin teaching me how to speak Arabic. It is a good thing that she like to teach and that I like to learn, because I must have said one of the Arabic letters seventy times before my pronounciation of it started to get better. After our learning time was over, because Amira apparently knows that Americans like me can only learn so much of the Arabic language in one day, we stopped and talked for another while... did I mention that Amira and I are in Evolution together... odd huh?
We talked about the Kingdom of God, and I owned my status as a Christ follower. We openly talked about the American culture, how degraded and slutty it has become. I really desired for Amira to know that I am not a part of that culture, the culture where I grew up. We talked about dating, and her perception of it in America, is that the young women and women alike sell themselves away, destroying the idea of purity and devaluing marriage. In this aspect, I fit into her culture much better than my own. She was very happy to hear that I believed in abstinance before marriage, and that I thought it was risky and degrading to practice anything else.
When I told her that my intentions were not only to learn Arabic from her, but also to be her friend, her eyes lit up and then the light was immediately extinguished. She told me that she didn't have many friends. She said that the reason for this was, her current friends told her, because she was very blunt and truthful. She said that she calls things as they are presented to her, and for this, many resented her. This, of course, filled my heart with joy, because I understand being blunt, to the point and full of truth, that's me in a nutshell! I told her that we would get along just fine.
We also spoke of other religions. She brought up the Mormons, with whom she apparently had encountered in Iowa City. She told me that when they had presented their view of faith to her, she looked at them and frankly said, "I am a Muslim, and I have friends that are Christians and Catholics, but you and your religious beliefs are way off." This makes me smile and laugh, to hear of a Muslim woman tell these poor Mormon guys that they were far off the track. God still speaks.
I cannot wait to meet with her again, but until then I will be practicing my alphabet a lot. God has blessed me with a budding friendship. Amira and Chelsy aren't very different at all, we have similar personalities, similar passions and the same God, Allah, most merciful and most gracious. Amira means princess, and if you ask my daddy or Tim, that's what I am too :)
