The Little Evangelist

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, January 21.

By Andrew McChesney

H

ave you ever preached a sermon? Juge is a boy in Rwanda. He preached his first sermon when he was 2 years old.

You see, when Juge was very little, he received his very own Bible. It was a picture Bible. Juge couldn’t read, but he loved to look at the pictures. He opened the Bible on the table in the living room. He listened as Mother read stories about brave children in the Bible. He learned the story about the boy Samuel who heard God’s voice at night. He learned the story about the boy David who defeated the giant Goliath. He learned the story about the boy King Josiah who loved God and triumphed over his wicked grandmother, Athaliah. He learned about the children whose mothers took them to Jesus so that Jesus would lay His hands in blessing on them. Juge thought a lot about Jesus. When he slept at night, he often dreamed that Jesus was laying His hands on him.

Juge got to know Bible stories very, very well.

Big adults noticed that the little boy knew the Bible very, very well. So, when Juge was 2, they invited him to stand in front of a church to preach. When he got up to speak, he felt frightened and embarrassed when he saw everyone looking at him. The little boy swallowed hard and told the story of how Jonah was swallowed by a big fish. He was so nervous that he forgot parts of the story. But the Sabbath School teacher was pleased with the sermon. “You did a good job,” she said.

Juge felt encouraged not to give up. He continued to study the stories in his picture Bible. He continued to memorize the stories. Then someone asked him to preach again. He spent all his free time memorizing and practicing the sermon. He placed every chair in the house in the living room and preached to them, pretending that he was preaching at church.

One Sabbath when Juge preached, someone made a video of the sermon and posted it on the Internet. Some journalists saw the sermon and made a video report about Juge called “The Little Evangelist.” Many people watched the report, and soon Juge was receiving many invitations to preach at churches in Rwanda.

Juge loved speaking about Jesus. He loved meeting other children and making new friends. He especially liked seeing people raise their hands as they gave their hearts to Jesus at the end of his sermons.

When Juge was 7, someone invited him to give evangelistic meetings for a whole week in a faraway city. He would need to preach every evening for seven days.

At first, Juge was scared and thought that he wouldn’t be able to preach evangelistic meetings. Then he decided to take his fears to God.

“Dear God,” he prayed, “please give me strength and give me many sermons to preach.”

He preached powerfully, and 24 people were baptized.

Today, Juge is 9 years old. He has preached in more than 60 churches. More than 2 million people have heard his sermons in person or on the Internet.

Juge is one of many children who tell others about the love of Jesus in Rwanda. Some children preach, others sing, and still others recite Bible verses.

“Through the work we do as children, we hope thousands of people are receiving God’s salvation,” Juge says.

His favorite Bible verse is Matthew 21:16, where Jesus says, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”

“The Bible verse inspires me on my missionary journey,” he says.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offering, which helps children in Rwanda and in many other countries around the world hear about Jesus.