Join the discussion as we begin a new quarter study. Lesson 1 is God’s Mission to Us: Part 1

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Two Boys, Two Prayers: Part 1

By Andrew McChesney

Father was excited when he saw a new sign reading “Adventist Maranatha School” on a street in Conakry, capital of the West African country of Guinea. He wanted his two sons to go to a Christian school, and this might be their chance. He never dreamed that the school would change his life.

Image © Pacific Press

Father entered the fenced compound of the newly opened school and found a teacher. “Is this a Christian school?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “This is a Seventh-day Adventist school.”

Father said his sons were studying elsewhere, and he promised to transfer them to this school. “I want them to have a Christian education,” he said.

Soon the two boys, 11-year-old Junior and 8-year-old Emile (pictured), were studying at the Adventist school. Among their subjects was the Bible, and the boys memorized verses that Father, to his surprise, had never heard. He was even more surprised when the boys declared that the teachers worshiped in church on Saturdays. The boys asked if they could go to a Saturday program in a church located on the same compound as the school. Father thought it was an extracurricular program and agreed.

The boys went to church every Sabbath for two years. Sometimes, schoolteachers visited Father and invited him to come to church. “Would you like to come to our church on Sabbath?” they asked.

Father always refused. “No, I have to work on Saturday,” he said. “I’m busy.”

One Sabbath, the church pastor, Matthew, told the church members, “Today, we will visit the father of Junior and Emile.”

A group of 15 church members, accompanied by a delighted Junior and Emile, arrived at the house. “Can we pray together?” the pastor asked Father.

When Father agreed, the pastor asked if he had any requests. He did. Months earlier, Father, who led a nongovernmental organization, had applied to a Guinean government ministry for a grant, and he was still waiting for a response. The pastor prayed about the grant.

Three days later, on Tuesday, the ministry responded. The grant was approved. Father immediately went to the school and told the teachers about the remarkable answer to prayer. He thanked God for the grant. But the answer to prayer did not convince him to go to church on Sabbath.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering three years ago that helped the Adventist Maranatha School expand in Conakry, Guinea, in the West-Central Africa Division (WAD). Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter will again help spread the gospel in WAD. Read the story’s conclusion next week.

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Daily Lesson for Friday 6th of October 2023

“The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.’ Romans 16:25, R. V. . . . It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22.

“Christ did not tell His disciples that their work would be easy. . . . But they would not be left to fight alone. He assured them that He would be with them; and that if they would go forth in faith, they should move under the shield of Omnipotence. . . . So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail. Go to all nations, He bade them. Go to the farthest part of the habitable globe and be assured that My presence will be with you even there. Labor in faith and confidence; for the time will never come when I will forsake you. I will be with you always, helping you to perform your duty, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, sustaining you, giving you success in speaking words that shall draw the attention of others to heaven.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 29.

Discussion Questions

1. Think about what it means that God’s first words to fallen humanity were not “What have you done?” Or “Why have you disobeyed Me?” Instead the first words were, “Where are you?” What comfort should this truth give us regarding God’s intention for us and our loved ones?
    
2. Think about what it means that God Himself, in the person of Jesus, came to this world in order to save us. Christ on the cross was the ultimate manifestation of God as a God of mission. What does this tell us about His character?
    
3. The mission belongs to God. Therefore, He will equip and empower people for the task. In light of this reality, when you look at the challenges of worldwide evangelization, how can you deal with feelings and attitudes of inadequacy or fear?
    

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