“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” — Luke 19:10 (NLT)
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?” — Luke 15:4 (NLT)
One of the most compelling pictures Jesus gives us of the heart of God is that of a shepherd who discovers that one sheep is missing. Ninety-nine remain, yet the shepherd does not dismiss the loss as statistically insignificant. One is missing, and that one matters. So he goes in search of it.
For the contemporary Pentecostal church, this parable deserves renewed attention. We rightly devote considerable prayer, energy, finances, and organisation to evangelism. We hold crusades, plant assemblies, conduct community outreaches, preach through digital platforms, and invite people to make decisions for Christ. This passion must continue. The Great Commission remains our mandate until Christ returns (Matthew 28:18–20).
However, alongside the crucial work of reaching those who have never responded to the gospel stands another urgent mission field: those who once responded, joined our fellowships, worshipped in our assemblies, entered the waters of baptism, attended our Bible studies, or even served in ministry, but are no longer among us.
Could it be that while we are searching far and wide for new converts, thousands of previous converts are quietly slipping away? The time has come not only to count those who come through our doors but to actively look for those who have gone missing.
EVERY MISSING SHEEP HAS A STORY
The shepherd in Luke 15 knew that one sheep was missing because he knew his flock. That simple observation carries profound implications for pastoral ministry. People do not disappear from congregations merely as numbers; every missing person has a name, a family, a history, and a story.
Some leave because they relocate. Others gradually become spiritually cold. Some encounter severe financial difficulties, marital breakdown, bereavement, illness, or other life crises. Some struggle with sin and withdraw because of guilt and shame.
Young people may wrestle with deep questions about faith that they feel unsafe discussing openly. Others may have experienced disappointment, misunderstanding, or spiritual abuse within the church.
Still others made genuine decisions for Christ but were never adequately integrated into the fellowship or intentionally discipled.
Research across Christian literature highlights this ongoing tension. In You Lost Me, David Kinnaman and Aly Hawkins (2011) explore why many young believers disengage from church life.
Thom and Sam Rainer (2008), in Essential Church?, likewise examine church dropout rates among younger generations. While socio-cultural studies cannot replace Scripture, they prompt vital reflective questions for our local assemblies:
We should not only ask, “Why did they leave?”
We must urgently ask, “Did we notice when they left?”
The Good Shepherd always notices the missing sheep.
FROM CONVERTS TO DISCIPLES
Pentecostals have historically carried a fire for evangelism, and this heritage must be preserved. But our spiritual responsibility does not end when someone steps forward during an altar call.
Jesus did not command us merely to obtain decisions; He commanded us to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).
In The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman (1963) highlights a foundational pattern in Jesus’ ministry: while Christ preached to the multitudes, He invested deeply and intentionally in individuals.
Evangelistic proclamation was always coupled with deep relationships, grounding instruction, and preparation for mission. Dallas Willard makes a complementary argument in The Great Omission (2006), challenging the church to recover discipleship as central to the Great Commission.
This raises a crucial question about how we measure evangelistic fruitfulness.
Suppose a local crusade records 500 decisions for Christ. We rejoice—heaven rejoices over every sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). But where are those 500 individuals after six months? Where are they after one year? Have they been baptized in water and filled with the Holy Spirit? Are they receiving systematic biblical instruction? Have they been integrated into a local assembly? Are mature believers walking alongside them?
Conversion opens the door to discipleship; it does not mark the end of our responsibility.
LET US GO BACK AND VISIT
There is a remarkable statement in Acts 15:36 that serves as a powerful guiding principle for recovering disconnected converts. After extensive missionary journeys, Paul said to Barnabas:
“Let us now go back and visit our brothers and sisters in every city where we preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” (Acts 15:36, NKJV)
Paul was concerned not only with where the seed had been sown but with what had happened to the soil and the plant. Let us go back. There is profound pastoral wisdom in those four words.
Perhaps we need to go back to our evangelistic reports, our baptismal registers, our youth ministry attendance sheets, and our movement registers.
We must go back to families we have not seen in months, to the young adult who gradually stopped coming, to the brother who retreated after a difficult season, and to the sister who once served zealously but is now nowhere to be found.
And then, we must ask Paul’s simple pastoral question: “How are they doing?”
OUR RECORDS COULD BECOME MISSION FIELDS
Every local assembly should periodically undertake an intentional “Search and Restore” initiative. Within our Pentecostal setup, our Home Cell system and specialised ministries (PEMEM, Women’s Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Children’s Ministry) provide the ideal framework for this work.
A cell leader’s attendance roll should never be treated as a mere administrative chore; it is a spiritual radar. When a member absents himself or herself for three consecutive cell meetings, the radar should ping. Before a name is quietly dropped from a local assembly’s register, there ought to be a documented trail of intentional, loving pursuit.
Take the records from previous years and cross-reference historic conversions and baptisms with current active participation. The objective is not to manipulate statistics or condemn those who have stepped away but to identify precious souls who require a loving touch.
Many of these missing believers live only a few streets from our meeting places. Their phone numbers remain in church directories, a deacon knows their workplace, or a cell leader still connects with them on social media. Yet nobody has intentionally gone looking.
Jesus presents a radical approach: the shepherd does not stand at the fold announcing, “The door is open if you wish to return.” He goes searching. There is a world of difference between being willing to receive people back and actively pursuing them.
SEARCH WITH LOVE, NOT CONDEMNATION
How we approach those who have drifted is critical. A person who has been absent for months or years often anticipates judgment. Opening a conversation with, “Why haven’t you been coming to church?” immediately erects emotional barriers.
Our primary posture must be one of listening and love. A phone call or home visit should simply communicate: “We missed you. How are you and your family doing? We wanted to see you, listen to you, and pray with you.”
Galatians 6:1 instructs us to restore a brother or sister “gently.” Restoration is a ministry of care, not an interrogation.
BALANCING PURITY AND PURSUIT
Pentecostal ecclesiology rightly emphasises church discipline, holiness, and moral accountability. However, we must ensure that our commitment to purity does not morph into cold exclusion. When a convert stumbles into sin, the impulse of the Good Shepherd is not immediate ostracisation but gentle restoration (Galatians 6:1). Discipline itself must be redemptive. If our administrative processes are quick to discipline or drop backslidden believers but slow to shepherd them toward repentance, we prioritise institutional reputation over pastoral care.
Some conversations may require deep humility from leadership. A returning member may express genuine hurt caused by a fellow believer or a leader. A healthy church must be humble enough to listen, acknowledge failures where appropriate, seek reconciliation, and grant healing. We must be far more interested in restoring people than in defending our institutional image.
The R.E.A.C.H. Strategy for Local Assemblies
Recovering disconnected converts cannot rest on the district pastor alone; it must become the shared vision of the entire congregation. To operationalise this vision, local assemblies can implement the “R.E.A.C.H. Framework”.
[R]ecords Audit → [E]mpathetic Contact → [A]ddress Root Causes → [C]ovenant Integration → [H]olistic Discipleship
R — Records Audit: Regularly audit baptismal, convert, and cell group registers to identify individuals who have drifted over the last 1–3 years.
E — Empathetic Contact: Deploy trained cell leaders and mature officers for non-confrontational, caring check-ins focused on active listening rather than attendance tracking.
A — Address Root Causes: Offer tailored restoration pathways—whether through conflict resolution, hardship relief, or discreet counselling for moral and personal struggles.
C — Covenant Integration: Reintroduce returning members into home cells or affinity groups where genuine social, spiritual, and relational bonding occurs.
H — Holistic Discipleship: Pair restored believers with intentional mentors to anchor them in Scripture, prayer, spiritual gifts, and Spirit-led ministry.
While digital platforms and communication tools help us track and coordinate follow-up, technology cannot replace personal relationships. A mass text message will never substitute for a brother or sister noticing your absence and walking into your living room to check on you.
RECOVERY CAN PRODUCE MULTIPLICATION
Searching for missing sheep is not a distraction from spiritual growth; it is a catalyst for dynamic, sustainable expansion.
1. Restoration Strengthens the Individual: Returning to a healthy Christian community restores access to corporate worship, biblical instruction, mutual accountability, and spiritual protection (Hebrews 10:24–25).
2. Restoration Transforms Families: When a parent, spouse, or young person is revived in faith, the spiritual impact ripples throughout the entire home.
3. Restored Believers Become Powerful Witnesses: A believer who can testify, “I drifted, but God sought me, healed me, and restored me,” possesses a uniquely persuasive witness for reaching others who are lost.
4. Recovery Exposes Systemic Weaknesses: Analysing why converts drift reveals gaps in our assimilation, youth transitions, and newcomer integration, allowing us to build stronger systems for the future.
In this sense, the lost sheep teaches us how to better shepherd the ninety-nine.
BEYOND ATTENDANCE TO BELONGING
Restoration must mean far more than filling empty seats on a Sunday morning. A person can sit in a sanctuary every week and remain profoundly isolated.
Acts 2:42 describes the early church as devoted to “the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Their faith was defined by deep belonging, shared life, and mutual commitment.
Our goal is not merely to return people to church services but to restore them to intimate fellowship with Christ and His body, rooted in the Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and actively engaged in the mission of God.
EVERY NUMBER HAS A NAME
The Scriptures do not condemn counting; the book of Acts carefully tracks numerical growth (Acts 2:41; Acts 4:4). The danger arises when we count people without caring for the people we count.
Behind every evangelistic statistic stands an immortal soul with a name, a story, a family, and daily battles. Therefore, our quarterly reports must expand beyond asking, “How many were saved?” We must ask:
How many are being discipled in home cells?
How many have been baptized and grounded in local assemblies?
How many are actively walking with the Lord today?
And where are the ones who went missing?
When Jesus reinstated Peter in John 21:16, He instructed him: “Take care of my sheep.” Evangelism and pastoral care are not competing mandates; they are two sides of the same Great Commission. We seek those outside the fold, disciple those who enter, and pursue those who wander.
UNTIL WE FIND THEM
There is a vast harvest waiting within reach of our local assemblies. Their names are in old cell registers. Their photographs are in baptismal albums. They once sang in our choirs, prayed at our altars, attended our youth camps, and shared in our fellowship.
Today, they are missing. What would happen if our assemblies decided that these precious individuals were worth going after?
Let us continue to organise massive crusades. Let us plant vibrant assemblies, send missionaries, and leverage digital spaces to proclaim Christ where He is not yet known. But as we go searching for those who have never heard, let us also go looking for those who came, sat among us, and quietly drifted away.
Let attendance registers become prayer lists.
Let church databases become primary mission fields.
Let leaders become searching shepherds.
Let members become pursuing brothers and sisters.
Jesus concludes His parable by revealing the shepherd’s response when the missing sheep is recovered: “And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders” (Luke 15:5). There is no anger, resentment, or lecture in that picture. There is only boundless joy.
May this become the testimony of our churches: we preached to the lost, we welcomed the convert, we discipled the believer—and when some wandered, we loved them enough to search for them “until we found them.”
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
1. Bonhoeffer, D. (1954). Life Together. Harper & Row.
2. Coleman, R. E. (1963). The Master Plan of Evangelism. Revell.
3. Hull, B. (2006). The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ. NavPress.
4. Kinnaman, D., & Hawkins, A. (2011). You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church… and Rethinking Faith. Baker Books.
5. Menzies, W. W., & Menzies, R. P. (2000). Spirit and Power: Foundations of Pentecostal Experience. Zondervan.
6. Putman, J., Harrington, B., & Coleman, R. E. (2013). DiscipleShift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. Zondervan.
7. Rainer, T. S., & Rainer, S. S. III. (2008). Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts. B&H Publishing Group.
8. Stetzer, E., & Rainer, T. S. (2010). Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations. B&H Publishing Group.
9. Willard, D. (2006). The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperSanFrancisco.
Written By Apostle Samuel Berko (AREA HEAD, AMRAHIA)
