To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, December 10.

By Vaguna Satupa

J

unior missed home so much. He missed his uncles and aunties. He missed his grandparents. He especially missed Mother and Father.

Junior missed his family because he was studying at a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school far from home.

When Junior finished eighth grade, his big wish was to go to an Adventist high school for ninth grade. But there was no Adventist high school in his country of Tuvalu. Tuvalu is a tiny country of nine islands in the Pacific Ocean.

So, Junior prayed.

“God, please help me to go to an Adventist school,” he prayed.

His uncles and aunties also prayed. His grandparents prayed. And Mother and Father prayed.

God answered their prayers in an amazing way. Junior was able to go to an Adventist high school in another country, Fiji. To get to the school, he had to fly two and a half hours on an airplane from his home in Tuvalu to his new school in Fiji.

Junior was so happy that God had answered his prayers. He was so happy to study at Navesau Adventist High School. But he missed home.

Then something bad happened. A mosquito bit Junior, and he fell ill with dengue fever. He felt terrible!

Then something even worse happened: COVID-19.

Far away in Tuvalu, Junior’s family decided that he should fly home.

His family was eager to meet him at the airport. But because of COVID-19 rules, no one could give Junior a hug or even shake his hand. Instead, Junior was taken away to a special quarantine house. He had to stay all by himself for 14 days in quarantine to make sure that he did not have COVID-19 and could not infect anyone.

Junior didn’t understand why he had to stay in quarantine. He was sure that he didn’t have COVID-19. He had dengue fever, and he felt terrible. He prayed.

Junior didn’t know it, but as he was lying in quarantine, Mother asked for special permission to be locked in quarantine with him. She wanted to take care of her son, and she was ready to spend 14 days with him.

The first night that Junior was in quarantine, he suddenly woke up and saw to his surprise that he was not alone. Mother was standing at his bed! He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Mother, is that you?” he asked.

Smiling, Mother assured him that she was there, ready to care for him until he recovered. Junior smiled back. Suddenly, he felt a whole lot better! God had answered his prayer. “I’m OK,” he said.

And he was. Junior quickly got better and, when the 14 days in quarantine ended, he went home. He was so glad to be with his uncles and aunties, his grandparents, and Mother and Father. He was especially glad for God’s loving presence in his life.