Friends in Faraway Places

Summer of Celebration Series …

Celebrating the Faithfulness of God in Ordinary Places

More than twenty years ago, my family relocated more than 1,000 miles away from everything we had ever known. We left family, lifelong friends, familiar places, and the comfort of established community. We arrived in a new city where we knew absolutely no one.

It was exciting and lonely all at the same time.

In the quietness of those early days, I remember praying a simple prayer. I asked the Lord to bring us couple friends. People we could do life with. Friends we could laugh with, share meals with, raise children alongside, and call when life became hard. I wanted friends who would become family.

Over time, the Lord answered that prayer.

We settled into a church and eventually began hosting a small group in our home. Somewhere between Bible studies, shared meals, late-night conversations, prayer requests, and ordinary life, strangers became family. Those friendships carried us through celebrations, hardships, raising children, ministry seasons, and grief. Even after the passing of my husband, many of those friends remain faithfully present in my life today.

God knew exactly what we needed. Exactly what I needed then — and now.

The Same God Across Oceans

Years later, I watched Him do something remarkably similar for friends serving on the other side of the world.

Tanisha and Elias moved more than 8,000 miles away from home to serve as missionaries in South Africa. They left behind parents, siblings, lifelong friendships, familiar holidays, church family, and all the small comforts that make a place feel like home. While technology allows communication across oceans, it does not replace the experience of having someone physically present at your table.

Missionary life can be beautiful, purposeful, and deeply rewarding. It can also be incredibly lonely.

When they settled into their church community in South Africa and began faithfully serving and participating, God once again provided friendship.

Two couples in church leadership, Morne and Lee-ona, along with Ashley and Marci, became more than acquaintances. They became friends. The kind of friends who show up consistently. The kind who open their homes, share meals, celebrate birthdays, laugh over card games, pray together, and walk through everyday life side by side.

Over the past two years, these friendships have grown into something much deeper than casual connection. In many ways, they have become family away from family.

Friendship That Feels Like Home.

Last year, I had the opportunity to experience this firsthand while visiting South Africa. I sat at their tables, shared meals, prayed with them, laughed with them, and joined in celebrations. I watched the easy familiarity between all six of them and saw something that immediately felt sacred.

There was no performance.
No obligation.
No ministry agenda.

Just people loving each other well.

What struck me most was not anything extravagant. It was the consistency of their care. They showed up. They came prepared. They never arrived empty handed. They welcomed me, a visitor from America, as though I had always belonged there too.

And even though I was not part of one of the couples, I never once felt out of place.

I simply felt included.

That matters more than most people realize.

Marci, one of those dear friends, reflected on how the friendship began:

"We clicked because we had something in common... our love for the Lord. But we also connected because of our fierce love for our families, as well as a willingness to serve in God's Kingdom."

What began with shared faith grew through shared life.

They have gathered around countless braais, played their favorite card game together (where Elias apparently enjoys being king and Marci enjoys the queens crown), celebrated birthdays, shared meals, and even gone on the occasional thrift-shopping adventure—something Marci admits Tanisha does not particularly enjoy.

Those details may seem small, but friendship is often built in ordinary moments shared over and over again.

Marci went on to say:

"Tanisha and Elias have inspired us to serve God and love people better. I look forward to many more years of friendship."

That kind of encouragement is a gift for anyone. For missionaries living 8,000 miles from home, it is an especially precious one.

The Ministry We Rarely Talk About

When we think about supporting missionaries, we often think first about finances. Financial support is absolutely necessary and deeply appreciated. Missionaries cannot remain on the field without faithful giving. But there are other forms of support that sustain people in quieter ways.

Friendship is one of them.

Shared meals matter.
Birthday celebrations matter.
Being invited over matters.
Having someone check in matters.
Laughing together matters.

Knowing you are not alone matters.

God created us for relationship. From the very beginning of Scripture, we see that it was never His design for people to walk through life isolated and unsupported. Even those called into ministry need companionship, encouragement, and community.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer someone is simply our presence.

God Answered

I do not know whether Tanisha and Elias specifically prayed for friendships like these while preparing to move overseas. Maybe they did. Maybe they simply trusted God to meet whatever needs would arise along the way.

Either way, I know this:

God saw the need before they ever arrived.

And He answered.

Isn’t that often how God works?

He sends people to strengthen weary hearts.
People to share tables with.
People to celebrate with.
People to sit beside us in grief.
People to remind us that we belong.

Sometimes His provision looks like finances.
Sometimes it looks like open doors.
Sometimes it looks like protection.

And sometimes it looks like friends in faraway places.

A Kingdom Without Borders

As I reflect on the friendships God provided both for my family years ago and for these missionaries today, I am reminded once again that the body of Christ truly stretches across cities, cultures, languages, and continents.

The world feels much smaller when believers love one another well.

I am deeply thankful for Morne and Lee-ona.
Thankful for Ashley and Marci.
Thankful for the way they have embraced this missionary family.
Thankful for the ways they have quietly helped carry the weight of living far from home.

And most of all, thankful that God still sees the needs we never fully know how to express.

Even the need for friendship.