Submitted by Christine Young, Europe President
I’m big on sheep these days. For several months now I’ve been telling sheep stories and now my kids are really tired of hearing my sheep stories and are anxious for me to find a new topic for discussion. It’s become somewhat of a fascination of mine ever since the New Year started and I began asking God, “What is our mission here in Europe?” He said very simply, “feed the sheep.” There began my inquest into the world of sheep as it relates to the ministry of PWOC. I was reminded of an excellent book that I had read years ago, “A Shepherd’s Look at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller. I had really enjoyed reading the book the first time and thought it wise to take a refresher course in sheep by rereading that book and diving into the Word. It’s been great fun.
The mission statement for PWOC Europe is “feed the sheep.” This is not a new mission or commission. In fact in John 21:15-17 Jesus tells Simon Peter three times to feed the sheep.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
My thought is that if Jesus says “feed my sheep” and said it three times, we ought to take Him seriously. I think this command, to feed the sheep, is particularly crucial and relevant as we kickoff bible studies and programming for the year. What are you feeding your sheep in your chapter? Is it good food for them? Will it accomplish our first aim, to lead women to Christ? What fields are the sheep in and when do you plan to move them to the new field to eat? What will be in the new field to eat? An interesting fact is that when sheep are born they gain approximately 100 pounds in the first 100 days. Do you see the parallel to the new Christian and how important it is that we are thoughtful about what, where and how much we feed these new sheep? As I gaze across the fields now I can barely tell the baby sheep from the adult sheep. That’s how fast they grow. Let’s all be thoughtful about what we are feeding the sheep.
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The Europe Regional News is published on the second Thursday of every month. Submit comments or suggestions to: EuropePresident@pwoc.org
