The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Posted By: Sean Heath

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 

- Matthew 18:10-14

Traveling for an hour to the top of the mountains to a little village called San Francisco, we went with our new friend to see her ministry in action. She is a college student who spends every Saturday and Sunday investing in the lives of a dozen or so children. We travelled by bus for over 30 minutes to the center of the city, then after exiting the bus we took a sharp left and walked up and up and up, until we finally made it to the skyline of Cajamarca. 

We left the busy city area of Cajamarca full of people and honking cars and are now way up in the mountains kissing the clouds. We knew we had arrived when children came running to greet us. They surrounded us and gave us lots of hugs and kisses. We immediately saw the joy that our precious friend brings them every week and the reason she travels so far to see them. The kids started to scatter and we began knocking on doors to let people know we had arrived. As rain started to fall from the sky, River and Sailor started running, laughing, and dancing as they enjoyed the freedom from this quaint little village. 

After about twenty minutes of waiting on others to come, we all finally entered into a little lady's home. Her bright colored home serves as the house church. All the kids were very excited as they quickly found their seats. We brought speakers with us to play worship music from a cell phone. In the house, sweet voices filled the air as everyone was singing loudly. As for the "American Gringos" (our family) we tried our hardest to figure out the words. The chorus of the music sounds so familiar to us, but we find that in Spanish the words quickly escape us. We still clap along and smile as we get looks of curiosity, and some glances of embarrassment from the little children.

After singing with the kids, God's incredible love is shared and how He sent His only Son to die on the Cross for our sins and how all can choose to follow Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. With the use of colorful beads, we help make each child a bracelet to help remember our sin, Jesus' sacrifice, God's love, Christian purity, and Christian growth. With these bracelets, we hope each child will take these colorful symbols with them and share the story with others. 

What a blessing to be a part of this special day as we see our sister in Christ minister to the "lost sheep" here in Peru. It is a beautiful picture seeing hearts for God and the spiritual maturity to teach others about the love of Jesus Christ.

Lord, help us to always remember that each child, every individual here on Earth is so precious to you. Thank you for reminding us of this in the story of the parable of the lost sheep as you teach us in your Word that,"he rejoices more over that SHEEP than over ninety-nine that did not go astray". Lord, help us to find that one person to disciple, that one child that needs Your love, and for all of us to be obedient to follow you wherever you may lead us to share your love with others.