It is always good to see our first time students (those students that are serving for one week in Western Europe) embrace the core values. First timer Jasmine Castille shares about the Joy of the Sower during her time in Madrid. 

I was prayer walking around an area of the city called Fuen Labrada with Lauren, a girl in my trek. We started out by asking Father to guide us on His path and to speak through us. After a while, Lauren needed to use the bathroom. A young lady at a fruit stand let us use hers a few days before, so we decided to go back there.

Shortly after we walked in, our JSI (JD) walked in behind us. We were focused on plowing at the moment, but JD encouraged us to engage in the work of sowing by starting a conversation with the lady from the fruit stand. He translated for us and Father helped the conversation move smoothly.

We started out talking about her life, then moved on to her beliefs. She told us that she believes no one really knows if they will go to heaven when they die. We asked her if that scared her, and she immediately said yes. I knew then that it was time to share the good news, so we asked her if we could share what we believed.

Lauren and I were worried at first that we would offend her, so JD asked if we could still be friends. She looked at us and said, “Si! Amigas!” After that, we were able to share the great news with her. She understood everything we said. We told her that we believed we are going to heaven to spend eternity with Father when we die, her face dropped. It shocked her that we were able to have confidence in Jesus to know where we would be going after this life.

She agreed to let us come back the next day to talk more. We came back to find out that her stand was closed on Sundays. At first I felt depressed that I would never see her again, but then I remembered to stay thankful and humble because Father allowed us to plant a seed in her life. That was my first opportunity to sow. What strikes me as amazing is that I put so little effort into it. Father took control, put me aside, and worked through me. The Joy of the Sower is so real.

What about you? How have you experienced the Joy of the Sower?