Pepper, my new housemate

I have a new housemate. He is a friendly ruffian sort of fellow. He’s a cat that belongs to OMF colleagues who are going back to the UK for a one year Home Assignment. By Cambodian standards, Pep is old for a cat, 7 years old. I think he has more than 9 lives for all the experiences and fights he’s been in. I’ve already had some adventures with him I’d like to tell you about. I’d kept him locked in the house 4 days with Pizza (another missionary cat I’m caring for), a day over the recommended length of confinement before letting him out. He is like an aspiring escape artist, and Oh! how he wanted to get out! He gradually grew more patient with his circumstances, and he and Pizza became more happily contented with each other. Then the awaited moment of deliverance came. All went well for a day and a night as he went in and out through a window I leave open. But then he disappeared. We waited for him, called for him, listened for his cries.  Oh, how I hated to confess to his owners that I’d already lost their cat. The husband had suggested I keep him in a week, which I’d disregarded, so I was feeling guilty, too. It felt unlikely that he'd return as he hardly knew me or his new home.

I prayed for God’s mercy to protect him and bring him home. When the neighborhood children came over hoping to meet him, I told them he was lost and that I was asking God to bring him home. They said, “God will bring him back because you are good.” I replied that God wouldn’t bring him back because I was good, but if He brings him back it is because God is good.

On the second day I took his carrying box with me and went around to neighbors to ask if they’d seen him, and to ask them to let me know if they saw him. That was a little humiliating as they think it very strange to have a cat for a pet like this. One lady said hardly anything to me, just looked at me with humor. My search brought no success. But then in the middle of the night, at 1:00 am I heard a loud crying at my bedroom door (which is different than any door he knew about). Amazing! When I brought him downstairs he went straight for the food. He was dirty/dusty and had one wound on his face, but he was home! The little prodigal was home! I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep for over 3 hours after that.

Happily Pep was home when his family were able to see him when they came over for one last visit. You can see that he is a loved part of the family.

I’ve had a taste of the joy Jesus says God feels when one lost one comes home. Does He have that same intense desire, and then joy when they come back? Forgotten and unimportant was Pep's“sin” (crazy cat!). He was stronger in my affection than before. Hmmm. And then I thought, why don’t I have that same kind of longing for people? Do I not “own” them in responsibility like I do the cat? Or am I a bit like Jonah who had more compassion for the tree that gave him shade than for the people that God had compassion for? From this experience I see my lacks in having God’s heart, but have a new desire for God to give me this heart. If you pray for me, pray this for me. Pray it for all God’s children!