What just happened?

“What just happened?” is the question in my mind presently. With only a few days left in Mozambique, I have time to think about what my life has been in the past few months. Risking hyperbole, 2013 so far has been the most intense year of my life. Looking back on it, the good and the bad, I am reminded that God was with me. God is with me. God is with us.

God was with me when my days were spent in the library, completing my honours thesis and studying. I think of the days when I was feeling discouraged with all I had to do and then finding an anonymous “AcadiaU Compliment” for me on facebook, seemingly at just the right time when I needed to be encouraged. God is good.

God was with me as I got my very first car. I think of the day the clutch gave out as we were driving home on an old country road. It happened to be right next to a very hospitable family’s home, and we were able to start doing “Soularium” cards with them.  Later, local Mennonites were able to fix my car for a really good price. God is good.

And I am sure God celebrated with me when I walked across the University Hall stage to get an undergraduate degree, despite the sorrow of losing a classmate so soon before graduation.

God was with me when I was trying to raise the support to go on the Halifax Urban Partnership and on this Wycliffe internship. He provided for these things in marvelous ways, in the perfect timing. I think of the day before I left for Mozambique. “I only need X dollars more,” I mentioned to a visitor to our house. “Oh,” she said. “I just donated X dollars.” God is good.

He was with me and my family when we had to say goodbye to my grandmother this spring. It turns out that just because you expect someone to die, it doesn’t mean you miss them any less when they are gone. God comforted us through His Word and through supportive family and friends. I think of the friend who got Bob Goff, author of one of my favourite books, to leave a voicemail with his condolences. I think of the friends who stepped up to take care of some of my Acadia Christian Fellowship responsibilities when I was not able to do them. God is good.

God was with us at MarkEast when we made time to study His Word. And He was with us in Halifax. I think of an incident that happened on the HUP when one of the team members had a ukulele taken from the church where we stayed. I saw God’s presence in our team in a beautiful way when we befriended the suspected thief, showing God’s grace and forgiveness despite our own conflicted feelings, and when we later chipped in to replace the lost ukulele. God is good.

Hupsters=love

And God is with me in Mozambique. As it happens, He provides more than just basic needs like food and shelter—he has also provided me with good friends here. When I came, I did not think there would be anyone my own age. But it turns out there are two other girls staying in Nampula for around the same amount of time I am. I have been blessed by their companionship. God is good.

The three of us in Nacala (note: these ladies are pretty good sports to allow this photo to be taken, as it was 6am!)

God was with me when I prayed for someone to help me with Portuguese, and also when I prayed to have a Mozambican friend. He answered both of these prayers with the same person. Flora is also around my age, and she helps me in my language learning. The story of how we met her is a funny one. We were on our way to Nacala with a Mozambican coworker, his wife and their friends, when the truck broke down. So we were stranded on the side of the road in an unfamiliar place for a couple of hours. As we were standing by the truck waiting as the men tried to fix the problem, a Land Rover full of missionaries drove by. Surprised to see three white girls, they stopped. It was an American family. In fact, the woman had been trying to get a hold of my two friends—this family had recently moved to Nampula, and their language helper had also happened to move, because she was now attending university here. The reason this American woman was trying to contact my friends is because Flora is a native speaker of Chuwabu, the very language my friends want to learn! So as a result of that chance meeting on the side of the road, we were able to meet with Flora. Now she helps my friends with Chuwabu and me with Portuguese. God is good.

Flora and me

So, soon it is back to Wolfville, where I have no idea what I will be doing. But I do know one thing: God will be with me. As the Chris Tomlin song goes: “I know who goes before me/I know who stands behind/The God of angel armies/Is always by my side.”

“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”

-Jesus (Matthew 28:20)