It was an off day and my team decided to go to the Ushaka Aquarium. I was sitting in a restaurant with my group during lunch. Everyone at my table was face down staring at the screens of their phones. Finding wifi for a world racer is like finding a pot of gold, especially if it’s during a time that our loved ones on the other side of the world would be awake and responding. Unfortunately for me, my phone just broke a few days earlier so catching up with people back home wasn’t an option for me.
I stared down at the menu but nothing looked appealing to me. I got this feeling that there was something else out there waiting for me. I stood up and told my friends I was going to grab food at another place. I took a stroll down the boardwalk with no plans of where to go but asking, “God, what do you have here?” Initially I thought God was going to treat me with some really delicious food. I walked in a few shops admiring the African style. The smell of fresh baked goodies pulled me into a few different bakeries but after walking in nothing drew my attention.
I wondered down the path for a little while longer. As I was about to give up and go back to the original restaurant with my friends, a small café hut caught my eye. The lights were dim but the sign on the outside said they were open so I decided to check it out. As I walked closer I could see a young man cleaning the tiny room. His face lightened with the arrival of his first customer and he greeted me then ran to turn the lights on. I grabbed a menu off a table and his eyes darted toward my college soccer ring. “How divine!” he shouted as his eyes widen and he grabbed my hand and pulled the shiny object closer to his face. I asked about his interest in my ring and then he pulled out a collection of his own that he had taken off while cleaning.
I asked him what each of his rings meant to him and he answered with delight. The first ring he held out in the palm of his hand. He explained that the squiggly lines are Zulu symbols and he wears it because he is proud of his culture. He returned the first ring to the stack and pulled out another with a cross on it. He said he wears it because he believes in God and he believes that God is even with him, sometimes. The third ring he showed me had a simple straight line around it. He flashed me a smile and then told me that he wished he could live for eternity. The fourth ring that he showed me had Egyptian symbols on it and he explained the work of the Egyptians and that to him the ring represents that you have to put in effort to get anywhere in life. The last ring he held out in front of me was just a blank silver ring. I stood there puzzled and asked why the ring had nothing on it. He told me that this was for the part of himself that he had not discovered yet. BOOM. I knew this was exactly where I needed to be.
I sat down and ordered an Americano. I began chatting with the man letting him know that He could live for eternity. The conversation carried on as I began asking questions to figure out what he actually believed. I brought up the bible and told him he shouldn’t just believe anything I say but to search there to find truths for himself. He was honest with me telling me that he only knew a few things that it said in the bible. I asked him why he believed in God and in that moment I began to see a little bit of myself in him as he became uncomfortable with the conversation he started to hide behind his goofiness. Then he mentioned that God had saved him from some bad things in his past but didn’t go into any detail. I started to ask him questions about his life and his past but he insisted that it wasn’t worth my time.
These are the moments I love, the ones where there are no labels on me. He didn’t know I was an “American Missionary” I’m simply just a normal customer. I let him know that he wasn’t wasting my time and I would love to hear his story. I quickly changed the subject to a lighter topic. Another coworker came in and we all began chatting about family, African culture, and South African Politics. Those two had me laughing up a storm. I ordered the most delicious tramizzini and spent my lunch time with them. I didn’t want my team to be worried about me so I told my new friends I had to catch up with my team but I would be coming back before they got off of work.
I ran into my squad leader, Seth, and he told me everyone else went to the waterpark. We both agreed that we would rather go back to the aquarium. We sat and observed all of the tanks as Marine Biologist Seth poured out all of his interesting facts to me. I enjoyed getting to spend a little extra quality time since he would be heading back to the states soon.
After the aquarium we met up with the rest of our team. Everyone decided they wanted to watch the dolphin show but my heart was set on heading back over to the café before the man’s shift was over. I ran back to the café to see the two men standing outside waiting for guests. They were shocked to see me again and couldn’t believe I had fulfilled my promise to them. I went inside and sat at the counter and told them to make me a surprise drink. We sat and we talked and we laughed for a while. But soon it was time for me to meet up with my group again.
As I had said my goodbyes the young man met me at the door. He grabbed my hand and shook it obnoxiously while staring me in the eyes and told me he was so glad to have met me. I tried to calm his hand but the conversation turned serious and I knew the goofy handshake was necessary for him to balance out the seriousness of the story. He began telling me his whole story. He told me about his past when he was younger and how God had saved his life from the terrible thing. It felt like nobody had ever cared about him enough to ask about the depths of his life. It seemed like his whole life he had been carrying the heavy burdens of his past circumstances. I could tell that not many people had gotten past his funny layer and I was shocked and honored that he had let me in. I asked I could pray for him and he was more than willing to let me. I put my hand on his shoulder and let the Holy Spirit do it’s thing. After I was finished praying and we both looked up with tears in our eyes.
I’m honestly not sure what God is going to do with what happened with our encounter that day; whether it was just being a light, planting seeds, or being there to help lift that burden off of his back. I’m thankful that in the moment I was interruptible enough to listen to what God was wanting to do and that He was willing to use me to love on this man.
