A Small Missionary

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, September 2.

By Andrew McChesney

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nna loves Jesus very much, and she loves to talk about Him with her friends in Latvia. She loves to talk about Jesus so much that her mother calls her “a small missionary.”

Anna can’t remember when she first started talking about Jesus with her friends.

But perhaps it was on a day when she was 5 years old.

That day, Anna was riding in the car with her best friend, 5-year-old Aleksa.

Mother was driving the car in the front seat.

As they traveled, Aleksa was behaving badly. She kept moving around in her seat. She fidgeted. She wiggled. She wasn’t sitting nice and still like a well-mannered little girl should sit.

Anna watched quietly from her side of the seat and then spoke up.

“Aleksa,” Anna said quite firmly, “Jesus Christ will soon come. Are you behaving correctly?”

In the front seat, Mother overheard Anna and was surprised. She wondered what Aleksa would say. Aleksa did not go to church, but she knew a little about Jesus from her grandmother.

On hearing Anna’s question about her behavior, Aleksa turned her head curiously toward Anna.

“How will Jesus come?” she asked.

“When will Jesus come?” she added. “Why will Jesus come?”

The questions were important. The questions were big for a little girl like Anna to answer.

But Anna answered as best as she could. She said Jesus promised in the Bible that He would come to earth on a big white cloud in the sky.

No one knows exactly when Jesus will come, but He also promised in the Bible that He would come soon.

Why will Jesus come? To take His children home! Jesus loves children very much, and He has prepared a home for them where they can play with lions and lambs and live with Him forever.

Aleksa stopped moving in her seat. She stopped fidgeting. She stopped wiggling. She sat nice and still like a well-mannered girl should sit as she thought about what Anna had said.

It was the first time that she had heard about Jesus’ coming. She liked the sound of it very, very much. She wanted to be ready to meet Jesus.

The Bible describes Jesus’ coming like this, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7, NKJV).

But no one knows exactly when it will be. Jesus Himself said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

But Jesus also said, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12).

In describing the home that Jesus has prepared for His children, the Bible says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6).

After the conversation about Jesus’ coming, Anna and Aleksa spoke many more times about Jesus.

Anna truly was “a small missionary.” Because of her influence, Aleksa’s mother, brother, uncle, and two grandmothers have given their hearts to Jesus and are waiting for His soon coming. Today, Anna and Aleksa are 14 years old and Pathfinders. They also are waiting for Jesus’ soon coming with happy hearts.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help children in Latvia learn more about Jesus and His soon coming. The offering will help construct a building in Latvia’s capital, Riga, where Pathfinders and other children can get to know Jesus. Thank you for planning a generous offering.