When my husband and I first left the U.S. for Africa, I imagined we’d live in a small village in the northeastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo for years and years as we helped translate the New Testament into the local language. I imagined we’d learn the language, explore the culture, and make deep, lasting friendships with many in the village. We were invited to work with the “O” people group and began to build our village house. Needless to say, things didn’t go the way I had imagined they would!

After being evacuated from the DR Congo due to civil war, we moved to a small town in Uganda. The “O” people group lived just across the border. The work carried on as my husband and his Congolese colleagues met on one side of the border or the other.

Some years later, we moved to the international city of Nairobi, Kenya, where many of the other global workers from our group had settled. The work carried on as my husband and his Congolese colleagues flew back and forth from Congo to Kenya.

Each time we moved, from village to small town to city, from the DR Congo to Uganda to Kenya, we moved further and further away from the global worker life I had wanted. But, little by little, the Lord helped me loosen my grip on the way I thought things should go. The transformation was slow – very slow! But the Lord is good and sovereign and so patient, isn’t He? 

With the Lord’s help, I let go of my plans. All the while, the Lord had a much better plan! He blessed my husband and me with five children who I happily love and care for. He blessed my husband with ways to continue working with translation teams in the DR Congo no matter where we lived. And, He blessed the “O” people group with a completed translation of the New Testament!

“For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 117:2