Plant the Seed

He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.

All who heard him were amazed and asked, “Isn't he the one who in Jerusalem was killing those who worship that man Jesus? And didn't he come here for the very purpose of arresting those people and taking them back to the chief priests?”

But Saul's preaching became even more powerful, and his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so convincing that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not answer him. (Acts 9:20-22, Good News Translation)

Last Sunday I wrote about how Saul, who had been persecuting the early Christians, was called by God to spread the word of salvation through Jesus Christ. It was an amazing conversion, and Saul (soon to be known as Paul) took off on his mission. He shared the story of Jesus with anyone who would listen in city after city.

In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul. While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.”

They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3, GNT)

Hard to believe but just twenty years ago this weekend, I heard about a mission trip to Kenya, and one year later that trip to Africa changed my life. And hopefully changed the lives of at least a few of the Kenyans I met. But it was nothing – I mean NOTHING – like what Paul experienced during the remainder of his lifetime.

I can’t share with you here all the places Paul traveled to, all the people he met, all the time he spent in prison. All the people he saved.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Just one person at a time. Show them the love of Jesus Christ. Plant the seed. Watch it grow. 

(The first picture is a group of school kids we encountered in one of the slums. The picture above is of one of our team members, Amanda, planting a tree with her Compassion child. I didn't imagine at the time that seven years later, I would be doing the same thing with my Compassion child in Kenya.)