Lost Sheep

Some of you have asked or wondered what I see as the purpose of being here in Malawi. Truth is up until a few days ago I wasn't sure myself. I was looking for something concrete I could do here. I wanted to know I did something important and left the people with something significant. In all honesty, I wanted to be seen as someone who did amazing things for God while I was here. As much as that is not a bad thing, God wanted to deepen my perspective.

He brought my attention to the parable of the lost sheep. God started whispering to my heart as I would look out the windows of the minibus onto the red, dusty streets of the region. He whispered,

 “You see the ninety-nine, and you easily forget to look for the lost sheep. They all matter to me. Every single person here matters to me. Not one is less significant than another.”

     This caught my attention. My God cared about every single one. No wonder how overwhelmed I was when I saw all the hurting and the hungry. He has given me compassion for every single one. God loves all his sheep each one of us. We are all equal to him. He came and found me when I was lost and hurting. He rescued me. 

How then could I not go and help rescue his lost sheep? How could I ever again sit idle?

     The ride up yesterday to one of the villages felt lengthy. The sweat upon my brow was nothing in comparison to the heat of bodies crammed into one average-sized van. The many stops to grab more people gave me time to really look at what I could see outside my window. I noticed some women carrying produce on their heads, produce that they would sell in the scorching sun throughout the day. I noticed men arguing on the side of the road by the mini bus across the street. I noticed children laughing in the streets in their torn up skirts as they walked past the mini bus that I was on. They could have been laughing at me but it did not matter. They were laughing. It was a joy to see. As we drove, I noticed women who had no shoes walking along the hot, rocky road. Along the way I saw young boys herding goats. Were they one of the lost sheep? How can one tell who is lost?

     A short while later we arrived at the Gomeya Feeding Center. We were immediately greeted by the pastor and were told to sit inside. He was beaming. As we entered the darkened room I saw many faces of the widows and children intent on figuring out who we white folk were. Each child was attempting to focus on the teacher in the front of the room who was talking about the story of Noah. Our translator had not yet arrived. I couldn't understand what was being taught and we were just sitting there waiting. So of course, I went back to wondering who were the lost...

Who did God want to rescue today?

     I stepped outside feeling discouraged needing a moment to think without being a distraction. I was struggling. Need was all around me. All Malawians need something. They either need more food, more shelter, more medicine, or more definitively more money. Everyone seems to want something from us. I cannot meet every need. I know that. Yet, I couldn't help but feel discouraged. I didn't even know the language. How much could I really accomplish here in Malawi?

Again God whispered, 

“I care about every one of them. I will send you to the ones that I want you to reach. You will be responsible for giving them my love and the message that I came to save them.”

At once, a peace washed over me. I looked around and I realized God was taking us missionaries exactly to where we needed to be. He would use us wherever we were. He would touch whoever we met in the way he wanted to. We would be making an impact simply by being obedient and sharing his love with people we came across. He would give us words to speak and his strength to go and complete the mission.

I started to realize there outside the tiny church building that God wants me to be obedient and be present where I am. He would fulfill the need. He would do the rescuing. I just need to be willing and obedient to his call. 

Soon our translator arrived. We began to pray with the coordinator. We prayed over the center and all the people in it. We prayed that God would have his way there. I was then blessed to be able to lead a lesson to the children and widows about the heart of our Heavenly Father. I shared with them the love of God and asked them if they would like to receive Him and his love into their hearts. I know that many in that room received Christ. My heart was full of joy. We all started to dance and sing and I could tell that angels were rejoicing with us.

God clearly was glorified. My team and I were seeing the fruits of the lesson. Seeing the joy on their faces gave us encouragement to keep going. Every child is worth it. Every widow, pastor or person in that room was worth it. I’ll never truly know the impact we had on them and what God was doing in each of their hearts. However, it felt good to know that God was using us to be His witnesses. There’s no greater purpose than to be used by God in whatever capacity. It is a true blessing.

All the sheep were taken care of that day. 

No one was left behind.