The Lost Sheep

       Wow another month come and gone! It is really hard to believe that I have been here for over 6 months. It is even harder to believe that I will be leaving in a month to return to Abbostford, British Columbia for debrief. I thought I would share with you are story, that has been taking place long before I got here. 

I had the privilege to work at camp as Head Females 2015 with an amazing girl from Germany Dori. We spent many hours together and actually formed a strong friendship. I admired her for her love for Jesus and her desire to tell everyone about him. She had a great way of connecting with the other girls that we were leading. So when I heard that I was coming to Germany, I got really excited about the idea of seeing her and visiting with her. Little did I know when I contacted her that she would live in the exact same city as I would be working in. This news was great!

Though when we finally got together I was devastated to hear that Dori was no longer a Christian, but now considered herself an atheist.  I didn't really know what to think, here is this girl who was so on fire for God, who now professed herself to no longer believing in God. I ended up asking God what He wanted me to do. And he told me that I would be praying everyday for Dori to come back to know who Jesus is. Now I have to admit I have missed some days, but for the most part Dori has been apart of my daily prayers. 

Throughout the time being here in Germany, I have met with Dori at least once a month, sometimes every week. God has done amazing things during this time. In January Dori decided that she believed in God again but didn't want to follow him. The next month she brought up in the conversation that she wasn't sure if she wanted to follow God.  The month after that she told me that for the first time in years she had prayed (now the prayer was whether or not she should date a guy, but at least she went to God first)! The following month she had told me that she was looking into churches near her new university that she will be starting at in September. And this last week she asked me if she could go to church with me!! (This is a woman who, even before when she believed in God, didn't like going to church). 

God has been so good! Most of the time that we have met she has been the one who to bring up the conversation about God. And I for the most part would just ask her questions in return, which is normally not like me, I normally want to give my answers. I can not stress this enough besides prayer I being present in her life and asking some thought-provoking questions I didn't do anything to bring her to a place where she is now wanting God back in her life. The credit goes fully to God! 

I was talking to one of my cousins a while ago, and he compared my journey with Dori to Jesus' parable THE LOST SHEEP. In this story a sheaperd is looking after 100 sheep, and one of them goes missing. The shepherd decided to leave his 99 other sheep to go looking for the one that he lost. In the story it doesn't say how long the shepard is gone, or how far he has to travel, but just that sheep is so important to him that he must leave to find it. The shepard ends up finding the sheep and calls all of his neighbours and tells them to celebrate with him today for his sheep was lost, but now it is found.  (Luke 15)

I always thought about this parable being about God going after us after we wander away from him. About how we are so important and loved by him that he would chase after to us to bring us home, and then rejoice with heaven about his lost child returning home. I never thought about the possibility that God would send me away to chase after his lost sheep. Does God consider me a shepard? The idea still boggles my mind. The God of the universe would tell me to leave my home and the ministry that I am working in and go to Bielefeld, Germany to help bring back his lost sheep. But I take so much comfort in this: God says Dori is worth it! And she so is.

Prayer request:

1) That Dori would have an encounter with God.

2) I will be returning home soon, and I am looking for a nursing job.  I'm not sure where God wants me, or what He has in store next, but I want to follow where He is leading. 

3) That I would stay present here for the last few weeks and fully invest in the relationships that I have made.