How to Find Old Friends and Reconnect When Facebook Fails

Ever longed to reconnect with an old friend? Maybe have lunch in a little out-of-the-way place, chatting passed the noontime regulars? My Facebook search years earlier yielded zip. Wondering how to find old friends and reconnect when Facebook fails, I completely missed the most obvious method for Christians.

The event played out in the same way as most experiences I’ve lived with God. The Lord plants the seed, setting in motion a chain of events focused on fulfillment. The link added depends on the completion of the previous step.

First link: Invitation

“We’d love to have you join our all-church conference next week,” the cheery church secretary said to my Swiss colleague over the phone. “The leaders of all of the French-speaking churches in Switzerland will be there.”

We’d just been invited to spend three days in a lovely alpine setting. I should have been jumping up and down for joy, right?

The problem is that large, active gatherings in unfamiliar places are a real challenge for me since losing my sight. Throw in the reality that many hours each day would be spent inundated with French, and that turns the challenge into an exhausting brain drain. My initial response: thanks, but I’m busy editing my manuscript. (A true statement since I work on it many hours each day.)

Second Link: Consider others

My Swiss colleague had an entirely different reaction to our invitation, of course. Anne-Lise selflessly assisted me in all that I’ve accomplished at home or in ministry over the past twenty- two years of blindness. I’m always looking for ways to show her my appreciation for her faithful help, so I knew God wanted me to get ahold of my attitude and accept the invitation.

Patricia coordinates the prayer events going on in our church in Switzerland. She’d be at the conference, so I looked forward to getting to know this American lady who’d spent the past twenty years in Switzerland. Christine, a Swiss nurse who’d been to our home in Africa twice, would also be at the conference, giving me another reason to anticipate some good fellowship over meals.

Third link: Initial connection

“You served with YWAM in Thailand?” I said to Patricia at dinner on the second day of the conference. Having begun my missionary career with Youth with a Mission (YWAM), a spark of connection ignited. “You wouldn’t have happened to know Cheryl G., would you?”

Cheryl and I had served aboard one of the YWAM ships decades earlier. Though we’d kept in contact through many assignments all around the globe, I’d lost touch over the past few years.

Cheryl left the ship for Thailand not long after I returned from several months in Ethiopia. I couldn’t remember how long she’d been in Asia before moving to Holland, but I’d been wondering a lot lately how to find her.

“As a matter of fact, I did know Cheryl in Thailand. How do you know her?”

After some recounting and reminiscing, I heard the words that filled my heart with joy. “I’m one of her Facebook friends. She got married a couple of years ago and lives in California. Want me to send her a message, explaining you’d like her email address?”

Not long after, Cheryl and I enjoyed a two-hour Facetime call. Husband David showed in the background, chiming in occasionally. I couldn’t see him, but delighted in hearing his voice and quips.

Theirs is a Divine love story, complete with the fun and comical out-of-the-box kinds of adventures I’d expect from my whacky friend.

“We’ll be in Italy for the month of May. Will you still be in Switzerland or already back in Africa?”

David discovered that the mid-point between his place in Italy and Anne-Lise’s family home in Switzerland landed in a beautiful Italian city. Maybe we could meet for lunch?

Fourth Link: Lunch in Italy

On a gorgeous spring day in Late-May, the occupants of two cars set out to meet at a roadside diner two hours and fifteen minutes from their respective homes. I’d wanted to meet in some Mom and Pop Italian restaurant, but alas, for some reason Thursdays found all but one of the two hundred eating establishments on the online listing closed.

The hours for that one hotel restaurant didn’t match our timetable. We tossed ambience aside, opting for the twenty-four-hour, fast-food Auto Grill David knew exists all over Italy.

Things went well until we emerged from the tunnel connecting Switzerland and Italy. Our brand-new GPS refused to adjust to the Italian road construction detours, insisting we get back on the main highway. Driving through the narrow, poorly marked village streets so typical in ancient European cities, Anne-Lise couldn’t get her bearings.

The phone in my pocket rang. Turns out our friends had driven passed the spot their GPS said to find an Auto Grill. They didn’t see any building or signs near the road. Leaving the highway, Cheryl and David drove around narrow streets for about fifteen minutes before making the call.

Anne-Lise pulled over to talk with Cheryl. According to the markings on the GPS, our friends were in the same village, about ten minutes from where we’d pulled off the street. The big golden MacDonald arches towered next to where we’d parked. Anne-Lise assured me their Italian reviews didn’t entice one to dine there.

“Our GPS locates the Auto Grill in a place off the road a bit,” Anne-Lise said. “David and Cheryl can follow us there.”

Finally, Anne-Lise spotted Cheryl leaving her Fiat. Greetings with hugs and cheers over, the four of us focused on where to eat lunch.

Cheryl pointed out a small Italian Restaurant just yards from MacDonald’s. “Who knows, they might not be closed on Thursdays.”

We enjoyed a delicious Italian pizza in the traditional ambience of that small Italian eatery. Chatting and laughing right through the noontime regulars and on into an hour of being the only customers, I couldn’t believe the time had already come to return home.

I’d had a wonderful time of reconnecting with Cheryl, meeting David, and making plans for our next lunch together—at their home in California.

Conclusion

The steps to successfully reconnecting with Cheryl included the following:

• Planting the desire in my heart.
• Hitting a snag when my Facebook search drew a blank
• Holding the desire to reconnect in my heart, waiting for the opportunity
• Setting aside my comfort to bless my colleague by going to the conference
• Asking Patricia if she’d known Cheryl, never expecting she did—hundreds of people served.
• Initiating the reconnection, hoping Cheryl still wanted to be friends—people do change, right?
• Trusting God to get us together when the road blocks threw our plans out the window.
• Rejoicing over the kindness of God to provide the perfect place for a wonderful reunion.

Notice some steps required action on my part, but when my attempts hit a snag, God took over to generously fulfill the desire He’d planted and cultivated in my heart. I believe Father God smiled as He, too, anticipated the marvelous reunion He’d planned for two of His kids.

I’ve been back in Africa a while, but would you, please, share any of your experiences that show God’s hand in reuniting you with an old friend. You might not have failed with Facebook as I did, but I’d love to read how God facilitated the process for your reconnection.