In January 2017, big forest fires broke out in various places of Chile, including Maule. The scale was so large that the country had to declare national emergency, and the disaster resulted in 11 deaths and over 7,000 victims. The forest fires swept across approximately 4,570 km2 [1,130,000 acres] of forest land and turned it into a heap of ashes.
When everyone was devastated, seeing mountains that were covered in black soot and smoke, an assistance dog trainer came up with a special idea for restoring the destroyed forests. The idea was surprisingly simple. He attached specially designed bags onto the backs of border collies, which are renowned sheep dogs, and let them playfully run around on the devastated mountains. The bags contained various seeds that were carefully selected by specialists, and when the border collies ran around various places of the mountains, the seeds weighing about 10 kg [22 lbs] were evenly sown across the area of 30 km2 [3,300 ha] every day. After six months, seeds were sown across the entire forests of vast size, and in some places, fresh green sprouts grew out of the soil covered in black soot. The appearance of new lives presented hope to the people.
Preaching the gospel is likened to sowing seeds (Mk 4:14; Lk 8:11). It is our due responsibility to carry out the mission of preaching the gospel as those who have received God’s promise, but it may seem vague because there are numerous countries and people to preach to. However, if we do not take any action, no change will ever take place. Only when those who bring good news to the world constantly do their work, the seeds of God’s word embedded with God’s love can be sown in various places of the world and bring out new sprouts of life (Ro 10:14–18). The work of saving the world starts with the little work of sowing a handful of seeds.