Always in Jesus

After being baptized, I no longer went to school on Saturdays, because I had learned about the Sabbath.

My name is Febrina, and I’m 17. I learned about Jesus from my uncle Marcos. I’m proud of him because he’s the one who brought me into the Adventist church. I studied the Bible with him when I was in the fifth grade and then was baptized the next year.

After being baptized, I no longer went to school on Saturdays, because I had learned about the Sabbath. I felt happy and enjoyed reading the Bible, because it is true.

Challenge

By the time I was a junior in high school, the teachers began to notice me and my religion because every Sabbath I wasn’t in school. One day I was taken to the school office for a meeting with the teachers. One of them asked, “Why don’t you attend classes on Saturday?”

“I don’t attend class on Saturday because I go church,” I replied. After I explained more about the Sabbath, the group became very angry. They decided that I must attend class every Saturday, and if I didn’t, I would be expelled.

After that meeting I went home and prayed about this problem. I asked the church to pray for my school. The following Sabbath I didn’t go to school, and so I was expelled.

The Bible verse that helps me to always be strong in Jesus is Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” This verse really strengthens me.

Going to Work

After being expelled, I just stayed at home for a while. The church members continued to pray, asking God to strengthen me, so I decided to do something. Instead of just staying at home, I went to work. Now I work in a shop in Lospalos. This shop is owned by a Seventh-day Adventist, so every Sabbath it is closed.

In this shop we want to share Jesus with the people who come in. One way we do this is by not selling cigarettes or alcohol. When the customers ask for these things, we explain that we don’t sell them because the Bible tells us that they’re not good for our bodies, and that our bodies are the temple of God. Almost every day someone asks us about these things.

I pray to God about my future education. I don’t know where I’ll continue my studies. I request all church members to help me by praying for an Adventist school to be in Timor-Leste. But whatever happens in my life, even if more challenges come to make me fall, I have decided to always stay in Jesus.

Expelled by Family

Editor’s Note: Sometimes believers are expelled by schools for accepting Jesus and His special Sabbath day, and at other times, parents disown their children when their son or daughter becomes a Seventh-day Adventist. This is the story of one such case:

My name is Helena. I learned about Jesus from Adventist missionaries who came to my village. The missionaries were very kind to the people, and did many social activities, such as helping people to clean the village, the road, and people’s houses. I was interested in what they were doing, so I went and joined them every day.

While we were working together, the missionaries invited me to study the Bible with them. We studied for two months and then I decided to be baptized. That was in 2009. I was very happy to study the Bible, because I found new lessons for my life. The verse that always encouraged me to study was Matthew 7:7—“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” It said just to come and ask Jesus in prayer. So when I have problems in my life, I think about this verse.

Before studying the Bible with the missionaries, I was loved by my mother and father, and all of my relatives. But after I accepted God in my life they abandoned me, and in fact, they now hate me.

After my baptism I decided to become a missionary. So I worked as a missionary for two years and then met and married a wonderful Christian man. I’m thankful to God because we are both in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We now have a son, and I stay home with him while my husband works for ADRA Timor-Leste..

But I don’t know how to appease my family so that we can have as good of a relationship as we once had. So I ask you, please pray for my family—especially for my mother and father, so that one day they will again receive me as their daughter. And also please pray for an Adventist school in Timor-Leste, so that we can bring our children to study there. Thank you.