Following an Old Woman

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, October 15.

By Andrew McChesney

A

n old woman caught the attention of 12-year-old Shanita in the city of Wewak in Papua New Guinea.

The old woman was a neighbor who lived in a house near Shanita’s home. Shanita thought she was a nice old woman. She smiled a lot. She treated Shanita kindly. But she did something strange. Every Saturday, she put on her best clothes and walked to church.

Shanita did not think that it was strange for someone to put on nice clothes and walk to church. She also wore nice clothes when she walked to church. But the old woman went to church every Saturday. Shanita went to church on Sundays, and she did not go every week.

Shanita wondered why the old woman went to church on Saturdays. One Saturday, she decided to follow the old woman to church. When she saw the old woman leave her house, she followed along. They walked together down the street. After a little while, they arrived at a Seventh-day Adventist church. Then the two parted ways. The old woman went to Sabbath School for adults, and someone invited Shanita to go to Sabbath School for children.

Shanita loved the Sabbath School! She listened to stories from the Bible. She made new friends with the other children. She stayed for the sermon and attended the Pathfinders club in the afternoon.

At home, Shanita enthusiastically told Mother and Father about the children’s Sabbath School and the sermon. She described the Pathfinder club to her older 14-year-old sister, Martina, and her little 7-year-old sister, Martiva.

The next Sabbath, Shanita returned to the church. She went back again the next Sabbath and the next. After every visit, she told her parents and sisters about what she had seen and heard. She said the children learned that God created the heavens and the earth in six days. “And that’s not all,” she said. “On the seventh day God finished His work and rested. He blessed the seventh day. He wants us to rest on the seventh day and to remember that He created the earth and all of us.”

Now Shanita understood why the old woman went to church on Saturdays. The old woman remembered that God created the earth and everything in it and was resting, like God, on the Sabbath.

For six Sabbaths in a row, Shanita went to the church to learn more about God. On the seventh Sabbath, Shanita did not walk to the church alone. Her two sisters wanted to go with her. Shanita was happy to walk to church with Martina and Martiva. It was nice to worship God together. Soon Martina joined Pathfinders, and Martiva joined Adventurers. The three sisters began to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if Mother and Father also came to church on Sabbath?” For many, many months the girls prayed for their parents to go to church.

One day, Mother and Father suddenly announced that they wanted to go to church on Sabbath. The girls were so happy! Today, Shanita walks to the church every Sabbath with Martina, Martiva, Mother, and Father. The girls are now praying that Mother and Father will give their hearts to Jesus and get baptized. They know that God hears their prayers and that He will answer them.

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