Fear gripped my whole being.

Our AIA group of 17 was just days away from leaving for North Africa and I couldn’t shake the fear that threatened to overtake me.

Sure, I was nervous about teaching basketball in our sports clinics with teachers and students since I’m not an athlete and have never spent one minute competing on the court. But my true fear stemmed from one simple fact: We were being welcomed as a known Christian group into a predominantly Muslim country by an Islamic government.

Was it God’s favor welcoming us or was it a set-up construed to harm us? Will we make it back home safely? This thought ran across my mind numerous times before departure.

From the beginning I—and everyone on our team—was pleasantly surprised. We were treated like celebrities and honorable guests everywhere we went. During our week in country we visited three local schools, where we split into teams and taught  soccer, basketball and strength & conditioning fundamentals. While our new friends wanted to learn sports skills, they were more interested in getting to know us and learning about America.

Area school and government officials provided around-the-clock security for us, lavished us with gifts, showed us much of the local city’s attractions, and took us to the Sahara Desert for an hour of “playing” in the sand dunes. We even shared a meal with the governor of the region, a great honor, we were told.

Regular tea times were the norm in the midst of our clinics, and we sat and talked for minutes on end about our cultures, our countries, sometimes even religion. Many times conversation was limited if a translator wasn’t nearby since some couldn't speak English and we couldn’t speak Arabic or French. But that didn't matter much. Once again, we noticed how sport really is a universal language that allows complete strangers in different cultures to laugh, smile and communicate.

With each day that passed, I noticed my fears subsiding. I experienced God as Protector, knowing we were under the careful watch of His hand, that nothing would happen to us outside of His plan. Psalm 27:1 became deeply personal to me through the course of our trip: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

Even in the midst of hearing the Muslim call to prayer five times a day (waking me up every morning at 6 a.m.) and the eerie unease it planted in each of us, God’s Spirit was noticeably real in each of our lives those ten days.

by Tricia A.

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Photos:

Top: The AIA team (comprised of fifteen staff members and two interns) enjoyed the view of both the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean one afternoon.

Center: Sand dunes in the majestic Sahara Desert, the third largest in the world.

Bottom: Tea time gave the AIA visitors an opportunity to build relationships with North Africans during sports clinics and meals.

Full names of Athletes in Action staff members have been withheld to protect those serving in religious-sensitive countries.