You Never Know Who

I have a friend named “Furahi”. 

Camping on our road trip

He’s the sort of island guy that has it all together—handsome, in his 30s, a good education, strong English, a good job (not an easy thing to find on the islands), a motorcycle and his head on his shoulders, not married yet, but could get married whenever he wants (that’s how it works for well-off men on the islands).  We’ve known each other for quite awhile.  We never had any sort of deep conversations.  It usually stuck to English, island life, and interests.  If you were to ask me if he were interested in anything deeper, I would have said, “Not that I know of.”

Just before we left for America, I got a text from him.  He had gone over to the French island because he was in horrible pain.  It turned out he would need surgery.  So I sent him a text in which I prayed for his healing.  He thanked me.  We left it there for a while.  

Then we traveled to America, but as the surgery day approached, I wrote him again.  I told him I’d been praying for him.  We continued to text each other.  He would tell me his progress, I would usually answer with a prayer or some words from our father’s book to encourage him.  He seemed to take great comfort in these things.  So I decided to share with him where I find my hope.  He was quite willing to hear about it.  I sent him 16 little audio messages so I could explain it well and in the island language, all while sitting on a couch in California. After that he wanted to look at our father’s book and started reading it on his own.  Soon after that I connected him to some brothers I know on the French island over there.

On the Ohio River

That was about a month ago.  I hadn’t heard from him since that time.  But a few days ago he wrote to me.  His medical condition is improving, but more over he has discovered good news and it has entered his heart.  This is very good news!

I am, of course, eager to hear more.  I have lots of questions.  What has happened in the past month?  How has he come to these new insights?  Who is walking beside him?  Who is encouraging him?  How much longer will his medical condition keep him on the French island?  What will it be like for him to go home?  What does the future hold for him?

All of my involvement in this exciting journey has been through texts and prayers.  I’ve been thousands of miles away the whole time!  What an incredible thing to be a part of!  But as I said, a few months ago, if you had asked me if Furahi were interested in anything deep, I would have said, “No.”  It did not stop us from being friends.  Most friendships are not strategic, they are just friendships.  I didn’t expect this seemingly sudden shift in him, but it didn’t stop me from hoping.  The truth is, you never know what is happening under the surface or what God has in store for someone.  It reminds me of a quote from our father’s book. 

Taking a hike

“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.  If they watch every cloud, they never harvest….Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you do not know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.”

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are done with our big roadtrip and settled back in MA! We were blessed by many days of good weather and we were kept safe on the road. Megan’s back pain didn’t get bad. We are very thankful to be more settled and hope to establish some more normal-feeling life for the next few weeks. We made it to gather with our old community north of Boston this Sunday and really enjoyed being present with them and reconnecting with people. We rejoice over the news of Furahi— may there be more islanders like him! Pray for his growth and maturing. Our teammates had two successful visits of parents coming from the US— such a blessing and encouragement.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our team as they can hopefully have some normal rhythms for the next couple weeks after several weeks of visitors and disrupted schedules. Pray for an island sister who is upset and needs to confront others about some of their actions— pray that she would be able to do this well and relationship and trust could be strengthened. We are seeing our remaining weeks in the US fill up, pray that we would prioritize correctly and not forget anything or anyone. Pray that when we have opportunities to share that we would be used to shine brightly for truth and good news.