“I’ve prayed before,” 11-year-old Raphael asserted. “My dad was in Afghanistan and I was praying for him and he got shot three times but he never died.”
I tried not to look surprised, as I remembered all over again (as if I had forgotten!) that the children I teach on a weekly basis have tremendously intense stories. “Have you ever talked to God about your sins when you pray?” I prompted gently. We had just finished Bible lesson in this after-school Good News Club©, and Raphael had stated that he wanted to believe in Jesus to take away his sins. We had worked our way through the Wordless Book, all the way to the clean page, and I’d explained that he could have his life cleaned from sin by believing in Jesus to take away his sins.“Two of them.” He turned and performed a handstand (his sixteenth of the day), and I bit the inside of my lip to keep my voice calm. “Can you come to look at this clean page? This is the coolest part of the story!”
I knew Raphael wanted to listen and was paying attention—he just had so much energy, it was hard to sit still. But Good News Club was probably not the best place for handstands. “Raphael, what if you could have all of your sins forgiven?” I asked, as he scuttled back over to me and peered intently at the Bible verse underlined in my Bible. “John 1:12 promises Jesus will forgive all your sins, not just two if you believe in Him to do that.” “I want that,” Raphael said instantly. “Why don’t you talk to God about this?” I suggested, hoping he could avoid more handstands until he had finished talking with God. He bowed his head, then looked up, vibrating with energy. “I did it.” “What do you want God to do for you?” I asked for the third time, silently praying he could sit still sixty seconds long.
Raphael and I had gone round and round on the definition of sins, the question of if there were good and bad sins, and I was taking no chances on what he understood. “I told God I believed in Him to take away my sins. He can do that because of Jesus,” Raphael answered, grabbing my Bible lesson picture book and flipping through the Bible lesson I had just taught the class.“What did God do for you?” I asked him.“He forgave my sins.” “If you believed that when you asked Jesus to forgive you, then God forgave all your sins,” I told Raphael. He looked up at me, suddenly still. His eyes widened, shoulders slumped in relief, and he whispered, “Whew.” I knew then that despite the handstands, despite the noise of the children next to us, and despite the many other distractions, Raphael had understood and believed. This was real to him.
