Since we visited Peach E. and the United States last week, I thought we should go to Morocco this week. Like Tunisia, Morocco is a Muslim country in North Africa and it happens to be the place where I felt the Lord call me to this part of the world.
We were living in a small town in western North Carolina. I had only been clowning for about a year, but word was getting out that there was a new clown in town. I connected with people from different churches, including a group that was planning a 10-day trip to Morocco in the fall. During the summer of 2007, they invited me to attend their planning meeting about the trip.
Earlier that year, I really felt like I needed to get a passport. My daughter and I received our first passports in July (after saving enough money to be able to afford them!), and in October I was on my way to Africa.
I had no idea what to expect or how it was going to happen (financially), but I knew I was supposed to go with them. This group had visited Morocco before; they had connections at orphanages, hospitals, schools, and a handicapped center. When they told me I would be able to clown, I felt like I had something to offer.
I have said it before, and I’m sure I will say it again: I am grateful to be a clown. Being a clown has opened up so many doors for me. It opens doors for other people, too. The school that we went to during that time had been friendly, but had not yet opened their doors to these ‘foreigners’. With the clown, they (we) were able to get into that school.
I cried often during those ten days. I also laughed and felt the presence of God during that time more than I ever had before.
I saw places that I had never seen before. I met people I had never met before. I loved them. And I still do.