Rejoicing for one sinner who repents

The following is from a missionary mom.   I found it so very significant as hospitality in any form is rare these days and yet this is how God uses us to reach the lost and to encourage the saved.


As handmaidens of the Almighty God, let us find our own unique ways to reach out and encourage those around us.  The world is not kind, compassionate, or thoughtful.  But we can be these things to the people in our sphere of influence.




A LOST MITTEN

    We woke up Tuesday morning to another blanket of snow. For some, snow means fun, but for us, it means a lot of extra work--especially when we have to get our herd wrapped and booted and mittened to travel downtown by tram to music school. 

    It reminded me of Jacob's recent mitten adventure. One very cold day in December he called from music school to say that one of his mittens--super warm, real leather, from a special care package that we had received a year ago--was lost. He was sure that he had left it on the tram. He happened to remember the tram's 4-digit serial number, so Tracy called the central transportation office to find out when it would next arrive at the end of the line. At the scheduled time he went there, found the tram, gave the driver some chocolates and a copy of his evangelistic booklet, The Gift and the Prize, and searched all around the area where Jacob had been sitting. No mitten. 

    When the kids got home a couple of hours later they remembered a slightly different serial number. So Tracy called the central office again and went back to the end of the line again, this time with Jacob. They found the other tram, gave more treats and a copy of the booklet to its driver, went to the exact seat where Jacob had been five hours and hundreds of passengers before, and...there it was! Stuck between the seat and the heater. It was amazing to all of us how through persistence and an obvious working of God's grace we got the mitten back.

    Evangelism here is much like looking for that lost mitten. We have to be persistent and committed and pray for people faithfully and trust God to graciously work. 


 I will be glad when spring arrives, and we can pack away the mittens, scarves, boots, heavy coats, and snow pants. But in the meantime, each time I see Jacob's mitten, I am reminded to keep persevering, looking, and praying--like the woman who lost her coin and searched all over the house until she found it. 


"I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10).

In Christ,
Brenda