We got connected to an amazing family through the new friends we made in Tangier, Morocco at church. The amazing family currently lives in Mahdia and is originally from Texas but have been living in Tunisia the past 1.5 years and Jordan 4 years before Tunisia. They were a family of 7 total with kiddos ranging from age 6-14.

Prior to arriving at their place, all Austin and I knew about the situation was there was an American guy that may or may not be married telling us we could come visit him at his home. All he knew about us was that we were an American couple and we had a loose connection from Morocco. Once we pulled up, our guy opened up the gate to their driveway and was wearing a TEXAS shirt so we knew we were in the right spot. After we saw him, kids started pouring out and both Austin and I were thinking, woah, big family too?? We weren't sure if they were all his kids but quickly realized 5 out of the 7 kids running around were his and his wife’s. The other munchkins were some friends that were over too. The family was shocked to see the motorbike because they thought we were on bicycles, ha! Then the dance began for us of remembering all of the names we were about to learn.

Once we met everyone, we all hung out in their living room and got to chat for quite some time. The kids brought us all of their best snacks and water, I think the snacks they brought us were partially for Austin and I but they were excited to partake in the snack eating too. It seemed like some of the snacks were for special occasions. They were all so hospitable making sure we had everything we needed for that moment. We got to get to know the couple and their family during that time of conversation and hear their testimony of how God is leading their lives. Their obedience and courage to live abroad was absolutely inspiring and stirred in me a lot of questions, thoughts, and emotions about living such a different life than maybe one expected. They both spent time learning Arabic so they are able to communicate with locals too!

The original 1 night we planned to stay quickly turned to 2 nights and then eventually 3 nights. Every time the question of when we were leaving was brought up, the kiddos would say, "but it is going to rain tomorrow so you can't leave on the motorbike, and anyways, it's family movie night and pizza tomorrow so you two have to stay for that!". Their family essentially adopted us into their lives for a few days and it felt amazing. We played hard with the kids after they were wrapped up with their home schooling and also got to have meaningful and quality conversations with their family. There was something unique about talking with people that have sold everything and uprooted to a whole new life. For me, it felt very relatable despite how our lives look very different and they moved away from the USA 5+ years ago and we are only 9 months in.

Hanging out with the kids was a blast too. I think these may have been the first English-speaking kids we have spent time with since the USA! We adventured in their backyard, jumped on the trampoline, and played badminton. We read bible stories, looked at world maps, and learned about new countries. We played with legos, some cool weapons (lol), and visited some local markets. It was really neat watching the kids interact with locals (sometimes in Arabic) at the markets with bartering for goods even if the goods were stuffed animals or rings that turn your fingers green, haha. They also have a dog who clearly gets a lot of attention and is a major part of the family. One of the sons put his red jacket and glasses on him and it was quite funny!

It was such a sweet surprise to meet and spend time with their family and we can’t wait to see them again sometime down the road :)