Piano, Pathfinders, and Jesus

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, September 9.

By Andrew McChesney

H

ave you ever met someone and really hit it off? The two of you had so many things in common that you immediately felt comfortable with each other?

That’s what happened to Anna. She immediately hit it off with Emilia when they met at a music school in Latvia. The two girls were almost the same age. Anna was 10 years old, and Emilia was 11. Anna liked music, and Emilia liked music. That was why they were going to music school. Both girls were learning to play the piano.

But it turned out that they both liked more than just playing the piano. Anna liked dogs, and Emilia liked dogs. Anna liked gymnastics, and Emilia liked gymnastics. The two girls had many common interests, and they quickly became good friends.

Now it so happened that Anna also liked Pathfinders. Emilia, however, didn’t know anything about Pathfinders. Anna had recently joined Pathfinders, when she had turned 10. She enjoyed singing, studying the Bible, and earning honor badges with other Pathfinders. She especially liked Pathfinder campouts. So, when all the Pathfinders and Adventurers in Latvia prepared for a camporee, Anna invited Emilia to go, too.

Emilia liked the camporee very much! She liked sleeping in a tent for a whole week. She liked singing and talking and participating in Bible skits every evening with 300 other children from the 23 Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs in Latvia. She especially liked sitting in front of the campfire. After evening worship, all the children split into their clubs and built campfires. Then the children sat around the flames and listened to mission stories. Emilia loved the mission stories.

After the camporee, Emilia liked Pathfinders just like Anna liked Pathfinders. Anna and Emilia became even closer friends.

Then Anna invited Emilia to come to her house. The two girls began to get together there to study the Bible every Sunday with Anna’s friend Aleksa and other children. In a year, the children managed to read through the entire book of Ruth and 1 Kings.

Anna also invited Emilia to go to church with her on Sabbath. In church, the two girls played the piano together for special music. Anna especially liked playing a duet about Jesus being the Sunbeam of the World.

Anna and Emilia are looking forward to the next Pathfinder camporee. The Pathfinders are preparing a skit about Tabitha, the 12-year-old girl whom Jesus raised from the dead. Emilia will narrate the skit. She has a 10-year-old brother who also will go to the camporee. This will be his first.

Yes, Anna and Emilia have a lot in common. They like the piano, dogs, gymnastics, Pathfinders, camporees, the Bible, and playing special music. But now they have something even more important in common. They both love Jesus.

“I love Jesus, and I love reading the Bible,” Anna says. “I am trying to share this truth with others.”

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help support Pathfinders like Anna andEmilia in Latvia. The offering will help construct a building in Latvia’s capital, Riga, where Pathfinders and other children can learn more about Jesus. Thank you for planning a generous offering.