Scripture Inspiration

"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine… and go to look for the one that wandered off?" — Matthew 18:12

This verse paints a vivid picture of persistence and care. The shepherd doesn’t settle for ninety-nine; he searches until the one is found. That same principle of systematic searching is at the heart of computer science.

Tech Connection: Breadth-First Search (BFS)

In computing, we often need to find something lost — a file in a directory, a node in a network, or the shortest path in a maze. One of the most reliable ways to do this is the Breadth-First Search (BFS) algorithm.

• How it works: BFS explores level by level, starting from the root and expanding outward.

• Why it matters: It guarantees that no node is overlooked, and it often finds the shortest path to the target.

• Faith parallel: Just as the shepherd searches every corner of the pasture, BFS systematically checks every node until the lost sheep is found.

  A Simple Python Example

  from collections import deque

  
  

  # Graph representing sheep in a pasture

  graph = {

      "Shepherd": ["Sheep1", "Sheep2"],

      "Sheep1": ["Sheep3", "Sheep4"],

      "Sheep2": ["Sheep5", "Sheep6"],

      "Sheep3": [],

      "Sheep4": ["LostSheep"],

      "Sheep5": [],

      "Sheep6": [],

      "LostSheep": []

  }

  
  

  def bfs_search(graph, start, target):

      visited = set()

      queue = deque([start])

     

      while queue:

          node = queue.popleft()

          print(f"Visiting: {node}")

          if node == target:

              print(f"Found the lost sheep: {node}!")

              return True

          visited.add(node)

          for neighbor in graph[node]:

              if neighbor not in visited:

                  queue.append(neighbor)

      print("Lost sheep not found.")

      return False

  
  

  # Run BFS to find the lost sheep

  bfs_search(graph, "Shepherd", "LostSheep")

  
  

  
  

  Sample Output

  Visiting: Shepherd

  Visiting: Sheep1

  Visiting: Sheep2

  Visiting: Sheep3

  Visiting: Sheep4

  Found the lost sheep: LostSheep!