 „Hi...
I’m feeling miserable right now and only want to write a few words. Last night I had a dreadful ending of a wonderful day and I went to sleep crying. That is why I’m so wiped out today… I just had my camera adjusted… then all of a sudden ALL my photos and videos were deleted. No files left on the camera… I cried so hard and was really desolate and the feeling is still there. More than 150 pictures… that perhaps I cannot recapture… that’s I want you to know.”
This is how the email sounded, that I got from a young woman a few weeks ago. She is working with our missionaries in Peru as a trainee. Many years ago the same thing happened to me. Three weeks of vacation in the mountains, with touring glaciers, mountain climbing and bathing in the beauty of nature - just to find out at home that all my photos were destroyed due to a broken camera. Experiences, encounters and situations could not (at least in the original) be recaptured. More than annoying!
As I reflect on this situation, another thought comes to mind: how does God feel about all the lost people on this earth? He created all of mankind, with the goal to have fellowship with them and to rejoice with them and in them. ALL of them – as the Bible says – are lost. It’s not that God made a mistake. No, it was their own decision. The result is that all of creation is lost for eternity - like the photos of the trainee: just erased.
Experts told me that there are now programs available, that can partially or completely restore a deleted picture. That is good news.
An even better news is this: the largest imaginable restoration program ever created, was thought of by God himself: not a software, not a download from the Internet, or some other trick. He sacrificed His Son Jesus Christ, so that all lost human beings can be restored to their original purpose. This unique restoration program of God works 100 % if we make use of it.
Where is the problem now? In the proclamation!
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!” (Mark 16:15) is Jesus’ assignment for his disciples. We, as the disciples of Jesus, who have gone through God’s restoration program and have experienced His life changing power first hand, are the channels of distribution thought of by God to announce this program. No matter what Jesus calls us to do, it always has an active element: “Go!”, “preach”, “make”, “teach”, “baptize”, “be” (salt and light), “shine” etc. What are we waiting for? That Jesus serves us everything on a silver plate?
The world is still filled with ethnic groups, tribes and peoples that have never heard the gospel! These ethnic groups, tribes and peoples are filled with people created by God for fellowship with Him and without Jesus they cannot fulfill this purpose. In short: they are lost. In God’s eyes they are much more precious than lost photos and they are living right in front of us in our neighborhoods, our cities, our country, in neighboring countries and in the “ends of the earth”, wherever that may be.
 The world is waiting!
It is time that we take the commission of Jesus seriously and let Him show us where on this globe and how we should announce the good news of restoration through Jesus.
We, as Globe Europe, are willing to give churches and missionaries a hand, by encouraging, training and supporting them. In this way we can join together to do our part in saving and restoring as many lost as possible.
E. Riepl
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