Crying Over Lunch

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, December 30.

By Andrew McChesney

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chiaa cried as she walked to the bus stop to catch the bus for high school in the West African country of Ghana.

She wasn’t crying because she had to go to school. She was crying because she had to go to school without any money for lunch. Mother had given her 15 Ghanaian cedi (about U.S.$1), just enough to pay for the bus fare to school. But Mother couldn’t pay for her lunch, and there was no food at home to share.

Achiaa cried as she boarded the bus. She cried as she sat in her seat. She cried because she couldn’t do anything else.

But then she remembered God. While she couldn’t do anything, God could do everything. After all, Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NKJV).

As the bus bumped down the road, Achiaa tearfully prayed.

“I know You can do anything,” she prayed. “So, please give me some money on the way to school.”

Achiaa wondered how God might give her some money. Perhaps the bus driver would forget to collect her fare when he came to the back to ask the passengers to pay up.

“God, if it is possible, please make the driver forget to collect the money from me,” she prayed.

But something else happened.

An old man with gray hair boarded the bus. Only one bus seat was empty, and it was right beside Achiaa. The man sat down beside Achiaa.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Achiaa was crying too hard to answer.

Then the driver came to the back to collect bus fares. When the driver reached Achiaa, the old man pulled out 50 cedi (about U.S.$3.50) and paid both his and Achiaa’s fares. He gave the rest of the money — 20 cedi ­— to Achiaa.

Achiaa tried to stop crying to thank him. But before she knew it, the old man stood up and got off the bus. Achiaa followed him out onto the street. She wanted to thank him. The bus had stopped only a 30-minute walk from the school, and she could walk the rest of
the way.

But when Achiaa looked for the old man, she couldn’t see him anywhere. He had disappeared.

Then it started to rain heavily. The bus was gone, and Achiaa would get soaked if she walked to school in the rain. She thought about hailing a taxi, but there were no taxis in sight.

As she wondered what to do, a car stopped and its driver offered her a ride. In Ghana, some drivers earn extra money by giving rides to people. Achiaa gave the school’s address, and the driver took her straight there.

When they arrived, the driver surprised Achiaa. He didn’t ask her to pay for the ride. Instead, he gave her 50 cedi. Achiaa didn’t understand why he had given her the money. She only knew one thing: She had left home with 15 cedi but had arrived at the school with 85 cedi. As she had traveled to school, God had given her nearly six times more money than she had had at the beginning.

Achiaa believes God truly can do anything for those who ask with faith.

“I asked Him with faith on my way to school, and He did it,” she said. “I got more than I even asked for.”

Indeed, the Bible says God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

At school that day, Achiaa bought herself a lunch of rice and tomato stew. It tasted really, really good!

Today, Achiaa is studying to become a nurse at a college that will receive part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Thank you for giving a generous offering today to help more students study at the Seventh-day Adventist Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Ghana. The offering also will help another mission project, a bilingual elementary school where children will learn in French and English in Cameroon.