Miss Sonia's House

Miss Sonia loves helping children to learn about Jesus and His special Book, the Bible. Each Sabbath boys and girls love coming to her Sabbath School class at the La Teja (la TAY-ah) Seventh-day Adventist church in Montevideo, Uruguay. Most of the people who come to La Teja are very new Adventists, or else they are studying to become Adventist.

The Idea

Miss Sonia not only cares about the children in her Sabbath School class, but she wants the children who live around her to know about Jesus too. When she moved into a new neighborhood, Miss Sonia got an idea—she would invite the neighborhood children to come to her house to learn about Jesus. They would sing Christian songs, play games, do crafts, and learn Bible stories. It would be kind of like a Vacation Bible School.

Miss Sonia was excited about this idea! She got some nice invitations and started walking down her street, giving the invitations to the children and visiting their homes.

Eight children came to the first meeting. The next day more children came, and the next even more. The group met for four days in a row, and then continued meeting once a week.

A New House Needed

The children’s group kept growing, and after six months the group was just too big to meet at Miss Sonia’s house anymore! What could she do? The children were having a wonderful time and Miss Sonia could see that they were learning to love Jesus. She decided to pray about the problem, and Jesus answered her prayers through a friend, named Miss Graciela.

Miss Graciela loved Jesus and she loved children very much. She had just become a Seventh-day Adventist not long before this, and she had a house that was bigger than Miss Sonia’s house. This house was very special to Miss Graciela because it used to be a house church where she came to worship God when she was young. She told Miss Sonia, “This house has always been a place to serve God, so the children can come here.”

Miss Sonia was so happy, and so was Miss Graciela and so were the children! Now they come to the bigger house each week where they continue to have a wonderful time together learning about God and the Bible. “I always loved reading the Bible,” Miss Graciela says, “and knowing that Jesus really loves me means a lot.” And she and Miss Sonia want the children who come each week to know that too.

The Children Love Coming

Aron is 9 years old and he’s been coming to “Miss Sonia’s House” for more than a year now. Miss Sonia visited his house and invited him and his siblings to come. Aron has three brothers and two sisters. He and his two sisters come each week, and Aron especially enjoys the Bible stories and the crafts. His favorite Bible story is Daniel in the lions’ den.

Yemina is 12 years old. She attends the Adventist school in Montevideo, and she first heard about “Miss Sonia’s House” from her teacher. Each week she takes a city bus to get to “Miss Sonia’s House.” It isn’t difficult for her, because she’s been riding the city buses alone since she was 8 years old. She really enjoys coming to Miss Sonia’s House, and says that “it’s very good here. I like the way they treat us—they are very kind.”

Many of the children who have been coming to Miss Sonia’s House are now coming to the La Vida. Seventh-day Adventist Church in Montevideo. Part of your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to build a new place where more people can come and learn about Jesus. Thank you for remembering to bring your mission offerings and your special Thirteenth Sabbath Offering to Sabbath school!