A few months ago in South Africa, I wrote about how the Lord has provided a Spanish speaker for me to connect with in every single country on our route. For those of you who don’t know, only 1 country on our route of 11 actually is Spanish-speaking. If you want to read my intial post about it, you can do so here.
Here’s an update on the past 3 months in Botswana, Zambia, and India:
Botswana:
This has been the craziest encounter thus far. I went almost the entire month without meeting anyone, and honestly, I forgot about it. My last Friday at our ministry site, I was prepping for our trip up to Zambia, and it hit me. God, I haven’t had my Spanish conversation this month! Had I not been paying close enough attention? Was I supposed to seek it out? I began believing the lie that I had to achieve the Lord’s goodness on my own. His reply was a simple, whispered thought: Trust me.
The next day, I was at the mall with my teammate, Alison. It was our off-day, and we both had just wanted to find some wifi and rest (saw the new Fantastic Beasts movie-was quite excited). Early that evening, we packed up our bags at the restaurant we had been camping out at (lol, wifi problems) and we decided we’d run into the grocery store and then find a combi (small bus) back to the bus rank.
We’re walking in the mall and suddenly I hear a man ask Al, “Where are you from?” Let’s be real honest here-at this point in the month I had received 11 marriage proposals (you think I’m joking). I was perfectly fine to not jump into this conversation and threw poor Al under the bus as she continued to talk with him. But his next question to her stopped me right in my tracks; “Do you speak Spanish?” WHAT. “No, I don’t. But my friend here does,” Al mused as she motioned my way. I was floored. What had prompted him to ask that? All she had said was that we were from the States.
Turns out, this young man from Botswana did an internship in…Guatemala. He lived there for two years. We proceeded to discuss all of this in Spanish. Then he went with us into the grocery store and helped us find the correct combi to take home. He said, “I know what it’s like to live somewhere that’s not your home. We have to help each other when we can.” What a guy.
I praised Jesus our whole way home. He really will do it. We just have to ask for it sometimes! His timing really is perfect (and sometimes comical!).
Zambia:
I had been in this country for what felt like 0.2 seconds before I got to speak Spanish. Our second day of debrief, I was sitting at a table with Levi telling him about my Spanish encounter a few days prior in Botswana. He got real excited. Next thing I know, he’s motioning over this random guy (Levi is always making friends). “Katie, this guy is from Paraguay and you should talk to him!” Hahaha alright. In Spanish, this man told me he worked for the UN, and he and his buddy were on holiday in Livingstone. What are the odds!
India:
Again, I forgot about the Spanish thing. Apparently, ministry keeps you pretty busy 😉 One night, our church was hosting a time of worship. I ended up partnering in prayer with a woman from Mozambique. She was in India for business school. After I had prayed for her, she asked, “Do you mind if I pray over you in Portuguese?” Wow, no I don’t mind AT ALL. After the event, we ended up talking about the World Race and Spanish and how I had learned that people from Mozambique spoke Portuguese when I was living in South Africa. It was a really cool connection. I got home that night rejoicing in how our God has his people scattered across the earth for specific purposes. But that wasn’t my Spanish conversation. He told me to wait.
We were in the airport LEAVING INDIA when the conversation happened. Again, His timing is always perfect. This one had me laughing. Our squad had just landed in New Delhi on our way to Kathmandu. We had to go through security for what felt like the millionth time. I was hanging out at the back of our group with my logistics “mom eye” making sure no one got left behind. And this priest directly behind me in line kept humming. I walk through the metal detector and have to wait for my backpack to come out of the scanner. He waits next to me, comments in English on how long the process was taking and then asks where I’m from. And where was he from? Argentina.
An Argentinian priest serving in Kolkata, India. We serve a creative God. After talking with him for a few minutes, I joined our group laughing. “Won’t He do it!”
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And He’ll continue to do it. Our God is the most wonderful provider I know, and His sense of humor is the best. I personally have felt so blessed and seen through these conversations. And the best part is, I don’t have to seek people out or strive to fit the conversation in. He always does it in His timing and makes it super clear to me.
I’m humbled and thankful.
Since being in Nepal, I’ve had a 30 second conversation with a man from Spain (He says Barcelona is boring, so he has to come to Kathmandu…ok?!). But I don’t think that’s it. We’ve got 7 more days in this beautiful country, and I’m excited to see what the Lord will come up with. I’m just trusting Him and laughing in the process.
5 more Spanish conversations to go…won’t He do it!
Con amor,
Kati
