Sunflower means "the one who follows the sun". The sunflower reaches high into the sky and follows the sun. It does this because the sun is its source of energy. If it is placed outside the sunlight, it will quickly wither and lose its beauty.
I took this picture of a beautiful sunflower field on a trip to Central Asia. On the trip, I met local Christians that the Danish European Mission cooperates with and supports in their diaconal work. The picture immediately reminded me of the Christians we met and fellowshipped with. They told us about their challenges and several of them were in difficult life situations. Yet their eyes shone with light and hope and their church bore fruit.
There is much darkness in the world - war, persecution and temptation, and we have an enemy that tries to block out the sunlight in our lives. As Christians, we must therefore actively place ourselves in the light and follow God daily, and He will allow us to flourish and together with each other become a beautiful field of sunflowers.
"Abide in me and I will abide in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but only when it remains on the vine, so neither can you if you do not abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5
Thea is a student assistant at the Danish European Mission
