Still Called

Life never goes the way I expect it to.  I should have known that and not been caught off guard by these changes in my life and yet somehow I still was.  Marrying an Egyptian man and moving to Toronto weren't in the picture when I first left for Tanzania.  However now I couldn't imagine my life without Shady and am so grateful God brought us together unexpectedly in that small town on Lake Victoria.

At the same time these changes have made me look again at my calling in life and I wonder if that has changed as well.  I knew God brought me to Tanzania and I know He has brought me back to Canada.  In Tanzania my work was clear when I worked directly with Bible translation but as I considered my move back home things became more murky.  Did leaving Tanzania mean leaving my work with Bible translation?  Was it time to to move on and find a different job?  As I prayed about this I felt a strong burden for Bible translation, the one that prompted me to come to Tanzania in the first place.  It was as if God was telling me the time was right to leave Musoma but He still had something else in store for me with Wycliffe.

Honestly, I had very little idea of what God had in mind for me in Canada but I followed Him back on faith.  It's been a journey of one step at a time, being unable to see any of the steps ahead.   But as I keep going more things are becoming clear.  Having visited the Wycliffe office in Toronto I see how I will be able to help spread the word about Bible translation and share my experiences with others.  I see how this is the right time for me to join the team out there and how my skills and abilities fit in well.  I am excited to be a part of what God is doing in that area!

So in the midst of all this change and unexpected twists I realize I am still called to do what I have always done, serve God in order that everyone will one day be able to read the Bible in their own language.  The work I am doing looks a little different now but together as a team, all of us in Canada and everyone overseas, we will work together to see God transform lives through His Word.

Culture Shock Again

When I came back to Canada in October I thought I was coming home.  I had missed my family and friends, cooler weather and coffee shops.  I was sure I would be happy just to slip back into my life here.  Although I was happy to be back I couldn't just slip back into my life.  Things had changed here and not only that but I had changed too.  Having gone through what is sometimes called 'reverse culture shock' last time I came back to Canada, I thought I knew what to expect.  I gave myself more time to adjust which was good.  However I have discovered it's not the same this time.  My situation is different and I am different.  I have left my home and work in Tanzania to move to another area where God is calling me.  I have left Shady in Egypt, desperately  praying that he will make it to Canada in the next few months.

So sometimes even though I finally look like I fit in somewhere, I don't always feel like I do. Once again I am experiencing that jarring sense of dissonance that comes when your expectations of life don't correspond very well to reality.  It comes when you realize that you don't view the world the same way most of the people around you do even though you used to.


I wish there was a book out there that had all the answers to this type of cultural adjustment but I think that even if someone tried to write that book, it could never have all the answers.  All I can do is try to understand how my experiences have shaped how I see the world and figure out how to fit that into a life in Canada.  Basically I just have to take it one step at a time, moment by moment as I learn how to live in Canada again.

  Which one is the real Rachel?  The one who lived in East Africa, spoke Swahili, hated the electricity going off all the time and loved working with the Ikoma translators or the one who lives in cold snowy Calgary, speaks English and is learning Arabic, loves coffee shops and  loves telling people about Bible translation.