Opening doors!

It was only a few days after I had gotten back to My Country; I hadn’t even been able to get my motorcycle back yet. But I wanted to go and greet my pastor, which is really important in the culture here.  I started out on foot, hoping to find a taxi along the way.  But before I could find a taxi, someone I knew was driving by and stopped to say hi.  Seeing I was on foot, he offered me a ride on the back of his motorcycle.  Thanks!

When he dropped me off at church, though, the pastor wasn’t around.  So I walked down the street and greeted a friend.  After a few minutes we noticed that the sky was really dark and it was about to rain.  So I hurried another hundred yards or so down the road, where Moussa and his wife, friends from church, own a little shop.  I made it inside as they were closing it all up before the rain, and for the next few hours we sat and chatted as the rain kept away any potential customers.  

What a lovely visit, discussing what God is doing here, ways the church is growing, ways the church is struggling, our hopes and dreams for the future, etc.  At the end, as we were praying, I gave two prayer requests: now that I was going to stay in the city, I needed a house and a language helper.  

After praying, Moussa called his neighbor, who is one of My People.  When the rain stopped, this neighbor came to the shop and Moussa explained a bit about what I was doing and how I needed a language helper.  The neighbor said that he didn’t speak the language well, but had some extended family elsewhere in the city who did.  Long story short, by a week later, I was sitting and studying language with Adama*, though the neighbor had never met him.  It was an acquaintance of a family member, or something like that.  

So, because of someone I knew giving me a ride, I was able to get to Moussa’s shop before the rain. Because of the rain, we were able to sit and chat and pray.  Because of sharing prayer requests, Moussa learned of my need for a language helper.  He then contacted someone he knew, who contacted someone else, who contacted someone else, who turns out to be an amazing language helper and such a blessing!  That’s the kind of work our God does, isn’t it?

It’s hard to believe that that took place almost 2 months ago.  Since then I’ve continued to see God’s hand at work, from finding a house to finding My People just around the corner, from having a friend being willing to move my stuff back into the city from the village to getting to visit the village briefly myself.  

These two months have been both wonderful and difficult (3 funerals and 2 weddings, I think), but it’s so good to be back.  It just feels right, and that’s a lovely feeling.

*Name changed for security.