Unexpected Friends

One of the things I love (and sometimes hate) about traveling is that you never know who you're going to meet. I had such an experience yesterday as I was traveling home from Dar es Salaam. I boarded the airplane and found myself seated next to an older Tanzanian gentleman. After he kindly helped me stow all my pieces of hand luggage he started up a conversation.

Not long into the conversation I shared about my line of work, Bible translation. His enthusiasm overflowed and he had many questions for me. I love talking about what I do so it was great fun to answer all his questions. I even had the opportunity to jump on my soapbox of the importance for people to have the Bible in their first language, not just their second or third.

I was also able to ask a few questions myself and discovered that this man is a wealthy business man who enjoys supporting Christian ministries where he can. As a way to help me out he offered me a ride to the bus station from the airport to save me the taxi fare. So when his wife and colleagues picked him up from the airport I was in the vehicle with them. They drove me right to the bus station and didn't let me out of the car until a good seat on a reputable bus had been secured. They even insisted on looking at the seating chart to find the best possible seat for me.

It was such a blessing to meet this man and his wife and yet an unlikely occurrence as well. As a wealthy businessman in a city three hours away from where I live, we would have little opportunity to meet. In fact many men in his position would not have begun a conversation with me. But the conversation was started and I left that flight with a new friend. I wonder how many opportunities like this I have had in the past but missed them because I was too tired or too busy to follow through. It was a good reminder to me to be aware of the possibilities, possibilities to make a friend, encourage someone, and share my faith.