The past few days I have been nagged by the feeling that I have misplaced something – a small bag that contained all my Czech currency. For most of our trip this is not an issue since credit is accepted pretty much everywhere in the Czech Republic, but I like having a few Koruna on-hand for small, personal purchases. Yesterday afforded enough of a break in my schedule to actually search for the missing pouch. I went through every inch of my hand luggage – nothing. I completely emptied my backpack – still nothing. I went through all of our extra bags, texted Chris, and even asked my previous homestay to look for the missing item. When all of this still didn’t uncover the money, I began to search anew. It was some time during the search that I realized that I was living out a parable of Jesus.
In Luke, Chapter 15, the Pharisees and teachers of the law looked down on the crowds that Jesus was drawing to hear him preach, seeing them as worthless rabble. In response Jesus told three short parables in quick succession – the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. The point of all of these was the same – there is rejoicing in heaven when even one sinner repents. His point to the Pharisees was that the crowds of lost people that were drawn to Jesus’ message were precious to God the Father.
Yesterday the team completed our second round of training at Malenovice. This time there were about seven other churches from the US and Northern Ireland that will be putting on camps all over the Czech Republic. In the afternoon we met some of the leaders of the church we will be working with – wonderful young people with a passion to grow the kingdom of God. We will be finalizing the remaining details for the camp with them over the next couple of days, with a camp start on Sunday afternoon. Our travel to camp will occur in stages – leaving Malenovice today for the city of Ostrava, then tomorrow heading to the actual camp site.
While I certainly hope that my “lost coin” experience ends in rejoicing, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter that much. Jesus has taken my misplaced money to refresh my memory about something that is eternally important. God loves beyond all imaginable bounds. His heart is to heal, and restore. To bring hope to the hopeless. To set captives free. As the mission team enters into another season of camp soon, we pray that God gives us wisdom and boldness as we cooperate with him and the local church to share the great news of Jesus. And by His grace, we hope that there will be much rejoicing in heaven as a result.