As we sat in the crowded living room, the children bounced up and down on the couches excitedly—all except one child, who sat quietly, hands in her lap, looking down. I was immediately drawn to her. “What’s your name, Sweety?”
“Lisa” (name changed). She refused to give more than a one-word answer. In fact, throughout the entire week of clubs, all her answers were one-word answers—or so quiet I couldn’t hear. Her sister was much more outgoing, answering all my questions in great detail. “Which animal would you like to be?”
“I’d be a cat. Or maybe a tiger. But something fierce. How about a tiger?” But when I asked Lisa the same question, she just shrugged her shoulders and looked down. My fellow teachers and I prayed all week for Lisa, but she remained unresponsive.
The final day as my co-teacher presented the Bible lesson, each child raised his or her hand to learn more about salvation. My co-teacher looked at me for help. “Can you explain salvation to this side of the room while I work with the other side?” I was thrilled to see that Lisa, hand raised high, was in “my” group. As I asked each child thought-provoking questions about the need for salvation (sin) and the way of salvation (Christ), Lisa was brimming with answers. “He died and came alive again to take away our sins! I want Him to take away my sins!” She prayed in her own words.
“I will never leave you,” I read from Hebrews 13:5. “Now that you have trusted in Jesus to take away your sins, He promises to never leave you.”
Lisa clutched the Bible in her arms. “Now I have a Bible!”
I smiled. “Actually that’s mine, but we’re gonna get you one by the end of today.” She kept her grip on my Bible. “I’ll keep it until then!”
Throughout the rest of club, Lisa insisted that I sit next to her, which I was happy to do, since she still had my Bible! “Show me the verse again about how He took away my sins,” she whispered as a co-teacher taught the missionary story. “Show me the verse about how He’ll never leave me.” She couldn’t stop reading the Bible! And when she got her own, she couldn’t stop smiling. What a far cry from the little girl who couldn’t decide on her favorite animal!
It is amazing to watch God transform these children’s lives. These are the stories that keep me teaching week after week. These are the stories that keep me teaching year after year. “Before and after” stories.
