“Scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”  There’s nothing like a missions trip to refresh the meaning of those words to the heart!  I just returned from Newfoundland, Canada, where I spent a week with a group from our church, and there in that beautiful province you can see that verse in Matthew 9:36 up close and personal.  Scattered small towns and fishing villages dot the west coast there with very little to no gospel witness.  The people are open, friendly, and hard-working.  Their hospitality is such that you’d think you were in the good ol’ South (except their summer is more like our late fall, and there’s no sweet tea).  Most importantly, they need a Shepherd.  A Savior.  They need Jesus.  But you know, it’s not just the rocky coast of Newfoundland.  From the dense jungle along the Amazon to the mega-metropolis of Mexico City, Sao Paulo, or Tokyo, they need the Shepherd who laid down His life for them.  And in all reality, we don’t even need to leave our country to see them.  They’re right here where we live, too.  Right across the street.  In line at the grocery store.  At that next table in the restaurant.  Right there where we work.  If we’d just open our eyes, we’d see them.  Lost, scattered sheep in need of that divine Shepherd.  I’m afraid that sometimes we just get too busy or too wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t notice.  Or we don’t live in a way that reflects that fact that we know the Shepherd.  Let’s ask the Lord today to help us see them as He did.  If we’ll do that, we’ll have the same result; we’ll be moved with compassion.  Compassion to do something, to say something, to introduce them to the Great Shepherd.  So look around you today.  What do you see?