Let's Pray

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, July 2.

By Andrew McChesney

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our-year-old Sebastián looked up at Mother and Father at the table at breakfast.

“Let’s pray,” he said.

Mother and Father looked at each other in surprise. They believed in God, but they never prayed before eating.

“Let’s thank God,” Sebastián said.

Mother bowed her head and closed her eyes. Father bowed his head and closed his eyes. Little Sebastián bowed his head and closed his eyes. Mother thanked God for the food.

After breakfast, Sebastián went to his school in Cliza, Bolivia. Sebastián had started studying at the Seventh-day Adventist school earlier that year. At the school, he was learning the alphabet and numbers. He also was learning to pray and to thank God for everything.

That evening, when he had returned home from school, Sebastián looked up at Mother and Father at the table at supper.

“Let’s pray,” he said. “Let’s thank God.”

The family bowed their heads and closed their eyes as they thanked God for the food.

Soon the family was praying before every meal. They also thanked God for everything that they had. Mother and Father were very happy. They could see that Sebastián was a special boy who was blessed by God.

When Sebastián was 6 years old, he asked Mother to take him to church on Sabbaths. Mother and Father didn’t want to take him to church on Saturday. But Sebastián had heard about Sabbath School at his school, and he wanted to go. He kept asking Mother until she agreed to take him. But she did not go into the church. She waited outside the door until Sabbath School ended and then took Sebastián back home. Sebastián was happy to go to Sabbath School, but he wanted Mother and Father also to go to Sabbath School. So, he kept asking them until Mother started going to Sabbath School with him. Father, however, would not go.

Sebastián prayed that Father would go to church with them. Mother began to pray that Father would go to church with them.

Then Sebastián got a baby sister. Little Samanta was born into the family — and Father agreed to go to church for a special ceremony to dedicate little Samanta and Sebastián to God.

Then, when Sebastián was 8, Mother decided to get baptized. A year later, Sebastián got baptized. He kept praying for Father. He always asked Father to go with him to church activities, especially to Pathfinders. He wanted his father to be closer to God.

God answered Sebastián’s prayers. When Sebastián was 10, Father got baptized.

Today, Sebastián is a happy 12-year-old boy. Six-year-old Samanta also is happy. But Mother and Father are especially happy. They thank God every day for everything that they have — and especially for Sebastián, whom God sent to change their lives.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on September 24 that will help open four new churches in Bolivia so more people, like Sebastián and his family, will be able to go to an Adventist church and learn about Jesus in their city. One of those new churches will be in Cochabamba, a city located only 25 miles (40 km) from Sebastián’s home.