What began as a simple friendship in Abraham's caravan would grow into a lifelong bond, thanks to the extraordinary journeys made possible by Verbum.
When I sent Mateo to Haran to join Abraham's caravan, I knew he would need more than a job.
He would need a friend.
Mateo was thousands of miles and thousands of years from his home in Miraflor, Nicaragua. Everything around him was unfamiliar. The clothing, the customs, the food, and especially the camels!
He knew how to work with animals, but he had a great deal to learn about life in Abraham's caravan.
That's where Suri came into the story.
I wanted Mateo to have someone close to his own age who understood this ancient world. Someone who could teach him, answer his questions, and help him find his place among the people traveling with Abraham.
Suri became that person.
But as I continued writing, their friendship developed into something much more important than I originally imagined.
Suri wasn't simply Mateo's guide. He became his friend, his mentor, and eventually his coworker.
And thanks to Verbum, their friendship could continue in a way that would otherwise have been impossible.
You see, Verbum doesn't always return Mateo to the same moment in biblical history. Time moves differently for Mateo than it does for the people he visits.
As Abraham's story unfolds over many years, Mateo can return to different periods of that history.
And Suri is still there.
Their responsibilities change. Their positions change. The world around them changes.
But their friendship remains.
They become lifelong friends in the biblical world, sharing experiences and working together through different chapters of Abraham's remarkable journey.
That's something I hadn't fully anticipated when I first introduced Suri.
I created him because Mateo needed someone to help him feel at home.
But Suri became much more than that.
He became someone Mateo could count on.
And isn't that what a true friend is?
Someone who helps us when we're uncertain, teaches us when we have something to learn, and stands beside us as life changes.
Sometimes a friendship begins with something as simple as sharing a meal.
And sometimes that friendship becomes part of the journey for a lifetime.
For Mateo, Suri became both.
