Today, four days after heavy rain, Edie and I were walking along a dirt road when we happened to find a mud puddle filled with hand-sized fish along the side of the road. We were amazed to find fish there where rainwater flows across the road into a large grassy field a quarter of a mile from the creek.

After a couple of moments of admiring the beautiful fish swimming in the wheelbarrow-sized puddle, we realized that they were stuck and would soon die if we did not help them. They were already struggling to breathe because they had used up most of the oxygen in the water. One fish was floating on its side—a sure sign of distress. The ditch where the water had flowed had already dried up, leaving them no way back to the creek.

We went back to the house to get a bucket and a net from the neighbor’s pool, and we scooped out 12 or 13 fish. As we attempted to net the fish, they swam in panic and stirred up the mud making it impossible for us to see them—nor them us. It took many scoops of the net to transfer the fish to our bucket, which we then carried to the creek to release them back where they would live happily again.

This little experience reminded us why we are working in the mission field. Jesus compared the work of preaching the gospel to a fisherman netting fish. We are interested in netting human fish for Jesus because we know that it will save their lives. Soon Jesus and His angels will take the “good fish” out of this world and carry them to the heavenly river of living water. Are you ready?

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