Every Friday, 79 children packed into the lunchroom to listen to the Bible story. As they sang songs about the Gospel, memorized verses, and played games, each child learned things he or she had never heard before.
“What’s heaven?” one child interrupted the Bible lesson to ask.
“I’ve never sinned, have I?” another one mused.
The child who particularly caught my eye was Andreas (name changed). For one thing, Andreas could not seem to sit still (or stop distracting the other children) long enough to hear the Gospel. But he seemed to really want to connect with any adult who would listen to him. Every week at the end of the Bible lesson, Andreas approached the teacher, asking questions about salvation. But every week, he was quickly distracted and refused to accept salvation. Each week, he had a different excuse. “I want to live forever! …or at least for 100 years!” he informed his confused teacher one time. Another time, the only thing he could concentrate on was his book about dinosaurs.
Last Friday, after I taught the Bible lesson and explained the Gospel, Andreas came back to talk to me as usual. “Hi, Andreas, what can I do for you?” I asked, expecting the conversation to last 30 seconds before he lost interest.
“I have made a decision to ask Jesus to forgive my sins,” Andreas announced, looking me squarely in the eye.
Wanting to be sure Andreas understood this decision, I began asking him questions about the Gospel. He answered the first two perfectly, then excused himself to use the restroom. I sighed inwardly, assuming that was it for the day. But a few minutes later, he ran back into the room and sat down quietly, waiting for me to continue the conversation we had already started. He could hardly wait to pray and tell Jesus all about the decision he wanted to make. “Please take away my sins!” he blurted out quickly and confidently.
“Why can Jesus do that for you?” I prompted, still wanting to see how much he understood of the Gospel.
“Because he died for me. And he didn’t stay dead, either–he came alive again three days later!” It had taken a long time, and lots of people praying, but Andreas finally understood.
