Struggling with Loneliness

 For those of you who have been following my journey here over the last decade, you know how many times I have looked forward to, and even attempted a move to the southern part of our province.  These rural areas and traditional towns really are the heart land of the YOU people… but they are also far enough off the beaten path that many westerns don’t seem interested in living here.  Right now our foreign expat community only have two families and myself.  The families are often busy raising and homeschool kids.  They live on a different schedule, I miss having another single female roommate who could join me in hosting and visiting and even just crashing occasional to watch a movie.

            I knew this all of this would be different when I moved and saw it as a great opportunity to make friends with my neighbours.  Delivering banana bread gave me an opportunity to meet them all, and get in their home…once.  I kept waiting for them to invite me over again, or to return the favour, but it didn’t really seem to happen.  They always welcome me when I stop by, and genuinely seem pleased to see me, but no one is seeking me out. I never had this problem in my old city.

 I started thinking about the differences.  My old home was a modern city that was basically created to be the capital.  No one was really originally from there, they had all moved for work, or schooling, or government relocation programs.  The first question you use to ask someone you meet was “where are you from?”  They would proudly announce the name of their home town and tell you about all of the family that still lived there.  Being far from home, they too where lonely and looking for friends in their new local. 

            Living in one of these homes towns, means everyone around me is from here, their parents and grandparents are from here.  Generation after generation still live in a close knit community.  They have known their neighbours since they were children.  They still regularly hang out with their elementary school classmates.  They have obligations to attend wedding, circumcision parties, funerals and so forth.  Their social calendar is filled with long standing relationships.  They don’t really have a category or time for the new strange foreign girl that dropped by that one night to deliver “Canadian bread”.

            The push is all on me.  To keep knocking on doors, keep calling people I meet on the street and keep hoping that someone will want go beyond initial greetings.  I really do miss having a roommate to work alongside.  We have an open job position with the baby food company, and we have also heard that the local university is looking to hire a English teacher, as much as we have posted and tried to make others aware of these jobs, no one seems interested in making the move.

            Please pray that Gd will provide a ministry partner for me in this new city. Until then be asking that He would continue to give me energy and drive to be the one pursuing my neighbours and reaching out to them.