“Welcome! It’s a pleasure to have you,” the staff all mumble to me over their work as I step into Vinmart. I go around the front of the store to see if my friend is stooped behind a computer screen. Not there. Then I hear her voice in the aisles and look for her. Finally, I catch her eye. “Oh! Hello, older sister!” A big smile spreads over her face as she rushes over and grabs my arm. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you!” I saw her just last week, but the sentiment is sweet.

The vivacious young woman gets back to work, dragging me along as she chatters. While we catch up, she delegates tasks to the staff and serves customers.

I don’t come to this convenience store to shop. The prices here are much higher than in the local vegetable market just around the corner. I come here to spend time with my friend Vinmart Girl.

I first met Vinmart Girl a week after my arrival. My mother was helping me get settled, and we went shopping at Vinmart. As we shopped, this charismatic young woman struck up a lively conversation with us. My mother had an aching knee, so Vinmart Girl directed her coworker to drive us and our load of groceries back to our lodgings.

Since then, I have stopped by Vinmart whenever I can, sometimes buying walnut milk or renewing my phone data. I have tried several times to arrange a meet-up outside of her work, but her schedule is continuously packed. Trying to earn extra money, she took a second job. Hoping to find work in Germany someday, she began taking German classes. So we just hang out during her shift in Vinmart. I follow her around, or she drags me around. She sneaks me various goodies, or I bring her something to enjoy.

Recently, a year to the day after I left home to begin my new life in Sinim, Vinmart Girl finally had an opening to meet up outside of work. Since she had been promoted to manager, her evening schedule had finally freed up a bit. We opted to meet at a nearby café after her shift. No longer interrupted by work or attending to customers, she is able to talk freely, and I begin to see her animated personality in its full glory. She opens up like a flower while we talk and sip passionfruit juice. While it feels like one hurdle has finally been crossed, I know this is still the beginning of the journey I hope will lead to an opportunity to share the gospel.

In this society where most people survive by filling every waking hour with work, it can be challenging to build friendships. But I have learned that opportunities are built of many intentional decisions in everyday interactions. The work of friendship building isn’t fast, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to deepen our relationships into soil where gospel seed can take root. Please pray for our Sinim team and our friends like Vinmart Girl.

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