Just Three Minutes Away

It was an evening that encouraged my heart.  I sat at a table with three U ladies, two of which were already followers of Jesus and the other who was open enough to attend a church event.  My relationship with the diaspora community of U people in Canada has been a point of confusion for me, as I considered when and where to publicly speak up for justice about the inhuman political situation and when and where to stay silent based on my desire to go back. More often than not, I have defaulted to the latter, missing out on U relationships here, while hoping that other believers in this country will rise up and care for U immigrants as their neighbours.  On this one particular evening, though, the Lord brought me to a sweet point of fellowship with these ladies.  Not only did we laugh, as one of them could tell, based on my accent, exactly what city our factory had been located in, we cried over the pain of the home province we were all removed from. Simultaneously, we also rejoiced as we realized all the ways in which the Father had already knit our lives together.  I had first met one of the lady’s husbands years ago when I was in hospital here in Canada having my knees replaced. Soon after that, I rented an apartment from their extended family on the university campus where I was studying language. Just last year, the Father arranged for her sister-in-law to act as my language tutor. And now, as she typed my address into her phone and looked it up on a map app, we learned that our homes were only 3 minutes from each other. I may be physically far away from the place my heart calls home, but Father brings U people into my life in His own way and time.