Summer 2006 was one of the most seminal summers I've spent in Brooklyn. I was able work at this church as an intern for an entire month, and drag my little sister along with me. Sara was hooked, of course, and I got my first real idea of what long(er)-term ministry looks like here. The neighborhood that had always been an escape became a home as I adjusted to having an apartment and obligations related to church ministry. Past relationships were strengthened and new ones formed. One of the latter was with a young woman named Tracy who had just come to America for the first time. Although she knew nothing about Christianity, someone recommended the church to her as a safe place to meet Americans and practice her English. We were the same age - 20 - both quiet and tall, and as she spent more time at church we developed a shy friendship that consisted mostly of smiles and shared time. Both of us left Brooklyn by August, she going back to university in China and I to my bookstore job in St Louis. Afterward, she wrote me an email saying she'd forever remember me as her first American friend. As the story always goes, though, we stopped writing once the summer ended.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Tracy sought me out at Sunday school last week! She's come back to America for grad school, and remembered her "happy summer spent at the church." I look completely different - glasses and extremely short hair - yet she recognized me right away. Isn't that bizarre? But it's not, I know, because I serve a God who orchestrates reunions like this, and stranger, all the time. That's a pretty exciting - /terrifying - prospect. Terrifying because I feel like I could mess this up. I'm awkward anyway, but the expectations in this case are even more daunting, and I tend to shrink under pressure. So please pray for me, that I would have the courage to seek God's grand master plan regarding this funny reemergence of forgotten friendship. And pray especially for Tracy, who's starting life in a completely new place. She's not a Christian, but God has drawn her to this church for the second time in as many trips, so I believe he wants her here for a reason!