“Ohhh-Ohhhh!”

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, October 19.

By Andrew McChesney

E

xcited chatter filled the school van as it whizzed down a two-lane road in Arizona.

Seven Native American boys talked enthusiastically about the fun day that they had spent skiing on the White Mountains. They were happy, tired, and relaxed as they headed back to Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School, where they lived.

The sun was setting in the east, and long shadows were starting to form on the desert ground.

Suddenly, a small, brown fox darted across the road.

In unison, all seven boys gasped sharply.

“Ohhh-ohhhh!”

The van driver, Teacher Allison, didn’t notice. “Oh, look!” she cried out happily. “There’s a fox!”

Foxes were one of her favorite animals, and this one was beautiful. She was excited!

But the boys were horrified. Their faces turned pale and serious. They stopped talking.

Then Teacher Allison noticed the silence. She was surprised that the boys weren’t excited to see the fox. Didn’t all boys like foxes?

“What’s wrong?” she said.

The boys looked at one another for a long moment. Then one said, quietly, “Well, in our culture, that’s a bad omen.”

“What kind of omen?” Teacher Allison asked. She was not a Native American, and she didn’t understand what he meant.

“We can’t talk about it,” the boy said.

“Well, OK, teach me,” she said.

The boys looked at each other again. Then the boy explained that Native Americans consider it bad luck if a small fox crosses your path at sunset.

“It means something bad is going to happen to someone in our family,” he said.

Teacher Allison was astonished. “What?” she said.

“Well,” the boy said, “someone in our family will probably get sick and die, or die in a car accident. You never know how it’s going to happen, but someone will die in the next month.”

Teacher Allison pulled the school van over to the side of the road. She thanked the boys for bravely sharing their fears. She thanked them for teaching her about Native American culture. She said she wanted to share something as well. “Here is what the fox meant to me,” she said. “This fox is a beautiful creature created by God for our enjoyment. It doesn’t have the power to impact our families just because it crossed the road.”

She said she wanted the boys to know that they didn’t need to be scared when they were with God. “So, I’m just going to pray for the fox and for us,” she said,

Bowing her head, she prayed, “Dear God, please give the fox a safe journey. Please give us a safe journey, too. Keep the boys’ families safe, and help these boys to know You.”

The boys were surprised that their teacher had taken the time to pray. Several didn’t look pleased with the prayer. But Teacher Allison didn’t mind. The boys didn’t need to like the prayer. They had had a good day skiing with her, and she hoped that they would know the power of God.

The boys sat in silence for the rest of the drive back to school. No one wanted to talk. Teacher Allison turned on some Christian music.

A month passed. Then a boy from the van ride came to Teacher Allison. He said that he and the other boys from the van had realized that a month had passed since they had seen the fox and no one in their families had died.

“You know, we were talking about it, and we realized that nothing happened to our families after you prayed,” he said.

Teacher Allison was so happy! Not only had God heard her prayer, but the boys also were beginning to trust God.

Pray for the children at Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School to know God as their special Friend. Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings have supported mission work at the school for many years. The two most recent Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings for the North American Division, collected in 2021 and 2018, are helping to construct a new Student Life Center on the school campus. Thank you for your offering this quarter.