Miracle Orphan Boy

Story Tips

Find Timor-Leste on the map.
Pronounce Timor-Leste as: TEE-mohr LEHSH-tay.
Pronounce Tatamailau as: tata-MAY-laow.
Download photos on Facebook: bit.ly/fb-mq.
Know that the premature death of Basti’s parents was probably connected to a tradition of marriage contracts in Timor-Leste. When a husband cannot pay the required dowry to the family of his wife, he must provide money or animals for funerals and holy days for many years after the wedding. The tremendous pressure from debt obligations, and the threat of curses from the inability to pay, drive people to live frugally, often to the point that they are malnourished and susceptible to further health complications. This is probably what happened to Basti’s parents.
Download Mission Posts and Fast Facts from the Northern Asia-Pacific Division: bit.ly/ssd-2022.
This mission story illustrates the following components of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: Mission Objective No. 1, “To revive the concept of worldwide mission and sacrifice for mission as a way of life involving not only pastors but every church member, young and old, in the joy of witnessing for Christ and making disciples”; and Spiritual Growth Objective No. 6, “To increase accession, retention, reclamation, and participation of children, youth, and young adults.” The construction of a dormitory at Timor-Leste Adventist International School will help fulfill Mission Objective No. 4, “To strengthen Seventh-day Adventist institutions in upholding freedom, wholistic health, and hope through Jesus, and restoring in people the image of God.” Learn more about the strategic plan at IWillGo2020.org.

Before 13th Sabbath

Send home a note to remind parents of the program and to encourage the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on March 26. Remind everyone that their mission offerings are gifts to spread God’s Word around the world, and that one-fourth of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go directly to help projects in the four countries of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. The projects are listed on page 3 and on the back cover.
The narrator doesn’t need to memorize the story, but he or she should be familiar enough with the material so as not to have to read it. Alternatively, the children can act out the story, playing the roles of Basti, the angel, the uncle and aunt, the American missionary girl and her father, and Basti’s new family of the missionary father, mother, and brother, Jira.
Before or after the story, use a map to show the four countries in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division — Timor-Leste, Laos, Vietnam, and Pakistan — that will receive the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Describe the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering projects.

Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects

The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering next quarter will help the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division to establish:

Church and elementary school, Belize, Angola
Men’s dormitory, Adventist University of Angola, Huambo, Angola
Domestic violence and counseling center, Lombe, Angola
Sequele elementary school, Luanda, Angola
Community outreach and leadership development center at Mzuzu campus of Malawi Adventist University, Malawi
Better Living Center and FM radio station, Mayotte

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, March 26.

By Raymond House

igh in the mountains of Timor-Leste comes the story of Basti.

Basti, a shy boy who was small for his age, was happy living with Father and Mother in majestic mountains covered with thick, green jungle. From his village home, he could see the peak of Mount Tatamailau, which at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) is the nation’s tallest mountain.

But 11-year-old Basti wasn’t thinking about Mount Tatamailau. He wasn’t thinking about the mountains covered with thick, green jungle. He wasn’t thinking about his village home. He was thinking about Father and Mother, and he felt sad. His parents had died suddenly, and now he needed to move away from the mountains to live with his aunt and uncle in the big city of Dili.

As Basti got ready to move down the mountain, he had a dream. In the nighttime dream, he saw a shining white angel with a very kind face. The angel came to him and soothed his aching heart and his dark future with words of calm and peace.

“Do not be afraid,” the angel said. “God will take care of you.”

When he woke up in the morning, Basti was confident that God would take care of him. He didn’t know how, but he was sure that God loved him and would help him.

A short time later, he was living in the big city with his aunt and uncle. His missed his village home. He missed the mountains. He especially missed Father and Mother. But he knew that God would take care of him.

As the days passed, he enjoyed playing with his young cousins in the street outside his new home. He also made a new friend, a neighbor girl who sometimes joined them in their street games. The girl came from an American missionary family who lived on the same street. Basti learned that the girl and his cousins were classmates and studied at the same school.

When the missionary parents heard about Basti, they wanted him also to study at the school, the only Seventh-day Adventist school in the country. They prayed, and amazing things began to happen. First, money was found to pay for Basti’s studies at the Adventist school. Then his aunt and uncle decided to give their hearts to Jesus and were baptized. Basti enjoyed going to church with them every Sabbath.

After that, a missionary family decided to adopt Basti. Basti’s aunt and uncle loved him, but they didn’t have much money to take care of him and their own children. The missionary family already had a young son, Jira, and they were happy to take care of Basti, too.

Today, Basti is a happy, active boy with many talents. He has never forgotten the dream with the angel. God promised to take care of him, and He has!

Without the assistance of the Seventh-day Adventist church and school in Timor-Leste, Basti’s story could have had a much different ending. Six years ago, part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped open the Adventist school in Dili. Today, the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help construct a dormitory so children from villages in Basti’s mountains and elsewhere can live and study at the school. Thank you for giving a generous offering so this project and the other important projects in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division.

Story Tips

Find Timor-Leste on the map.
Pronounce Timor-Leste as: TEE-mohr LEHSH-tay.
Pronounce Tatamailau as: tata-MAY-laow.
Download photos on Facebook: bit.ly/fb-mq.
Know that the premature death of Basti’s parents was probably connected to a tradition of marriage contracts in Timor-Leste. When a husband cannot pay the required dowry to the family of his wife, he must provide money or animals for funerals and holy days for many years after the wedding. The tremendous pressure from debt obligations, and the threat of curses from the inability to pay, drive people to live frugally, often to the point that they are malnourished and susceptible to further health complications. This is probably what happened to Basti’s parents.
Download Mission Posts and Fast Facts from the Northern Asia-Pacific Division: bit.ly/ssd-2022.
This mission story illustrates the following components of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: Mission Objective No. 1, “To revive the concept of worldwide mission and sacrifice for mission as a way of life involving not only pastors but every church member, young and old, in the joy of witnessing for Christ and making disciples”; and Spiritual Growth Objective No. 6, “To increase accession, retention, reclamation, and participation of children, youth, and young adults.” The construction of a dormitory at Timor-Leste Adventist International School will help fulfill Mission Objective No. 4, “To strengthen Seventh-day Adventist institutions in upholding freedom, wholistic health, and hope through Jesus, and restoring in people the image of God.” Learn more about the strategic plan at IWillGo2020.org.

Before 13th Sabbath

Send home a note to remind parents of the program and to encourage the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on March 26. Remind everyone that their mission offerings are gifts to spread God’s Word around the world, and that one-fourth of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go directly to help projects in the four countries of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. The projects are listed on page 3 and on the back cover.
The narrator doesn’t need to memorize the story, but he or she should be familiar enough with the material so as not to have to read it. Alternatively, the children can act out the story, playing the roles of Basti, the angel, the uncle and aunt, the American missionary girl and her father, and Basti’s new family of the missionary father, mother, and brother, Jira.
Before or after the story, use a map to show the four countries in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division — Timor-Leste, Laos, Vietnam, and Pakistan — that will receive the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Describe the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering projects.

Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects

The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering next quarter will help the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division to establish:

Church and elementary school, Belize, Angola
Men’s dormitory, Adventist University of Angola, Huambo, Angola
Domestic violence and counseling center, Lombe, Angola
Sequele elementary school, Luanda, Angola
Community outreach and leadership development center at Mzuzu campus of Malawi Adventist University, Malawi
Better Living Center and FM radio station, Mayotte