May in Morocco: Broadening Perspectives on Leadership and Hospitality

What can you learn about your own culture by experiencing a totally different one? Students in Covenant's Maclellan Scholars leadership program would say: "A lot." After their freshman year, Mac Scholars have the opportunity to take an international vision trip. This experience builds students' cohort relationships, global church and culture awareness, and Christian leadership perspectives.  

Growing Together in Morocco

This May, the freshman cohort chose to visit Morocco. Accompanied by President and Mrs. Voyles and program co-director Stephanie Formenti, the class spent most of their two-week trip in Fez, a cultural and religious center of Morocco. In addition to living with Moroccan host families, they began learning the language and did workshops on hospitality, woodworking, and other aspects of Moroccan culture. 

Experiencing new places and perspectives together deepened the relationships between students, a key part of leadership development. "Traveling together brings out different parts of each person," Stephanie Formenti reflects. "You see one another respond to new experiences and unfamiliar situations, and you learn how to support each other in ways you might not otherwise have the opportunity to do."

Global Church Awareness

The class also witnessed challenges faced by Christians in this Muslim-governed country. "It's not illegal to practice Christianity if you're a tourist or foreigner," Jack Richardson '29 explains. "However, it is illegal for foreigners to try to evangelize or convert." The collectivist societal structure makes conversion even harder, since natives face total family rejection for becoming Christians. Seeing this gave Jack a new appreciation for speaking freely about his faith at home. Yet it also made him slow down and evaluate Christian vocabulary he takes for granted: "It makes you ponder what you're actually saying." 

Exceptional Hospitality

Though being in a Muslim, Arabic-speaking society presented difficulties, the class also experienced the beauty of Moroccan culture. Jack particularly loved Moroccan hospitality, which goes so far as to keep meals prepared for unannounced guests. "It's so convicting," Jack says. "We're called to show hospitality to strangers in the Bible over and over again. But how often do we as Christians just turn our backs on things we don't want to deal with, or steer away from showing hospitality? You can't know someone without showing hospitality, and in order to lead people you need to know them." Ultimately, Moroccan hospitality shaped Jack's understanding not just of leadership but of Christians' responsibility to live out their beliefs. "We should be challenged when we see other religions doing things way better than us. We know it's not our works that are going to save us, but we are called to show the fruits of our faith."

Through trips like these, the Maclellan Scholars Program is developing the next generation of the Church into thoughtful leaders who engage with the world around them with biblical humility, wisdom, and discernment.   

Learn more about the Maclellan Scholars Program and apply by November 10: Maclellan Scholars | Covenant College