Friendships

My heart was racing, and I thought at any moment it would beat out of my chest as I navigated the Chicago airport alone. I was 17 and had just traveled on my first solo flight. As soon as I could find my way to baggage claim, I’d be meeting up with a bunch of people I didn’t know to spend my summer with.

I was terrified.

Not only was I inexperienced with traveling and navigating - an airport felt just as foreign to me as going to Nepal would end up being just a couple short weeks later - but mostly I was terrified of being in a group of strangers.

Suddenly I found myself questioning what in the world I had been thinking when I signed up for Royal Servants. I was just little old Beka. Shy, extremely introverted, and missing the four friends I left back home. I felt entirely alone as tears threatened to escape.

And in a flurry of excitement, all those fears vanished the moment I found those Royal Servants in baggage claim. Wearing matching T-Shirts and standing out from the crowd, their smiles eased all the tension I felt.

I was found.

That’s what friendship feels like - being found.

Our friends see us for who we truly are.

On Royal Servants, our new friends see us jet lagged and tired from travel. They see us timid or energized by ministry. They try the local cuisines with us and shop for souvenirs for family back home. They make friendship bracelets and exchange emails and phone numbers as the summer comes to a close. They cry with us as we say goodbye, wondering how we ever did life without each other?

Ecclesiastes 4:10 says “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

At the end of the summer, I received some hard personal news. Much like in that verse, I felt like I was falling down. And I hit the ground hard. But my team, my friends, picked me up. They encouraged me and prayed for me and the situation I was going to be facing when I returned home didn’t seem so hard with them lifting me up. And it was friendship that eventually pulled me out of that hard season which followed the summer.

God grew me a lot that first summer on Royal Servants. I look back, now 13 years later, and smile seeing how God took that shy, introverted 17 year old and gave her the tools to start building lasting friendships. But more importantly, God used those friendships to show His love to me in a time when I needed that reminder most.

I was found a lot that first summer. It was much like being thrown into the deep end. I knew if I wanted to make friends, I couldn’t stay in my shell and hide. I had to let others see me. I had to take some initiative and see others.

Whether you are coming on Royal Servants excited to make new friends or nervous, know that both are okay and you aren’t alone. I hope my story encourages those of you who are nervous about making new friends this summer. God is able to do immeasurably more than what we can ask or imagine. Start praying today for the friends you’ll make this summer. And get excited for what God will do!