Walter Proudfoot says there’s no need for a weather forecast at his place. It’s going to be sunny, and it’s going to be hot.
Sounds a little like Proudfoot’s home state of Alabama, except that where he is now, he can ride a camel to McDonald’s.
Not that he would though.
Proudfoot spends most of his time walking the dusty streets and having tea with shop owners, practicing his Arabic and getting to know about their lives all at the same time.
“It’s different from sharing or interacting with someone in the States,” he said. “I’m getting to learn how they live and to be a part of their lives.”
Being from Alabama, Proudfoot said he had a sense of what Southern hospitality was all about but it doesn’t compare to what he’s experiencing in his current home.
“It’s incredible the amount of trust they will place in you,” Proudfoot said, adding that a friend of his, soon after they met, told him he was “his brother.”
Proudfoot doesn’t take lightly these opportunities to share the gospel — or the calling that got him there.
“Two epic things happened in my life that made me realize God had a bigger purpose for me,” he said.
First, when Proudfoot was 5 years old, his mom’s car flipped and he came out of the accident unscathed.
“I know someone out there loved me enough to keep me safe,” Proudfoot said. “And then a nurse told me, ‘God must have big plans for your life.’”
It wasn’t too long after that he accepted Christ as his Savior.
Fast-forward 20 years.
“I had another wreck, where I hit a deer, ran off the road and slammed into a tree,” Proudfoot said.
This time, he was injured. And as Proudfoot sat on the side of the interstate holding his head and wondering who he was and how he got there, he knew one thing was true: He needed to know if his life was in the right.
It was a question Proudfoot kept on asking, even after the stitches and the bandages went away.
“Why am I busting my tail trying to make money and stuff? All the Scripture I was reading — I kept asking myself, ‘Do I really, really believe this? And if I do, what do I do about it?’ It didn’t seem like the things I was doing mattered,” he said.
A year and a half later, Proudfoot moved to serve the peoples of North Africa and the Middle East. He spends part of his time in the community where he lives and part of his time traveling, doing media work to share stories from overseas with people back in the States.
“I’m really glad I’m here,” Proudfoot said. “There are moments where I know what I’m doing is actually making a difference. It’s all a testimony to God.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Name has been changed for security reasons.
Share with others: