“Excuse me! Can you come in here?” A young man was calling out to me from a pharmacy doorway as I walked to the bus stop one afternoon in 2022. “Someone wants to talk with you.” African streets are full of surprises! After a brief pause to analyze the situation, I cautiously entered the drugstore, where the young pharmacist behind the counter announced that she wanted to be my friend.
So began my friendship with Zaina. She had seen me pass by each day after work, and I assumed it was my light skin that caught her attention. As two extroverts, we hit it off. I complimented her on her purple dress, mentioning that it was my favorite color, and she lost no time in gifting me with identical fabric to make a skirt for myself. I was floored by her generosity! It showed me that she wasn’t simply looking for a handout from the rich white foreigner, an intention I sense from many locals who approach me.
On the phone and in person, we discussed when to take a photo together in our matching outfits. She suggested that she visit my church to take the photo there, and I happily agreed. But on the Sundays when she wasn’t working, I was out of town; and on the Sunday when I’d asked her boss to let her off from work, she said she was ill. Soon she got another job and moved away, so we never took the planned photo.
However, Zaina didn’t leave my life. She called and messaged me periodically, asking how I was doing. She liked the Bible verses that I posted on my WhatsApp status, and I encouraged her to read God’s Word. Various times she said that she was in town visiting relatives and would come see me at my home or work, but those plans never materialized.
That’s why I was surprised when she called me on December 28 to say that she was on her way to my house! I’d told her I’d be home that day, expecting it to be another missed appointment. Yet true to her word, she soon ran up and greeted me with a big hug. Then she gave me a Christmas present: colorful African fabric and a sturdy floral handbag!
In our conversation that morning, I shared the gospel with Zaina, who said she participates regularly in Mass. She was elated when I gave her the local-language Bible she’s holding in this photo. On a whim, she asked me to take her up on a nearby hill that caught her attention, so we made the short hike. As we sat on the slope, I asked for her prayer requests, and prayed for those as well as her spiritual needs. She was visibly moved, and when she texted me the following week to say that God had already answered one of the requests, I urged her to press on towards knowing such a marvelous God.