“God helped me do well,” Zarry says. “And because of this, everyone in my class knows that I am an Adventist Christian. Sometimes they ask me about what I believe."
Today’s story comes from Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. [Locate Bulgaria on the map.]
Zarry [ZAH-ree] was starting the second grade, but he had a problem. He had been studying in a special program, but that program closed. Zarry had to enroll in another specialized study program. He likes music, so his parents chose a music course for him. And that’s where the problem arose. Zarry’s classmates had been studying music for a year, and Zarry was just starting.
Zarry had to learn two years’ worth of music history and music theory in just one year. He had to practice twice as hard to catch up with his classmates. But Zarry worked hard, and before the end of the year he had caught up with his classmates. At the end of the year Zarry was invited to play in a citywide recital program.
“God helped me do well,” Zarry says. “And because of this, everyone in my class knows that I am an Adventist Christian. Sometimes they ask me about what I believe. I try to answer their questions and share my faith so that they’ll want to know more.”
Letting His Light Shine
Not all of Zarry’s classes are related to music. He studies literature and history and science and math, as other children do. Zarry likes his classes and enjoys the discussions the teacher has. The teacher noticed that Zarry listens in class, and she sometimes asks him to sum up what the class has discussed.
One of Zarry’s literature classes included Bible stories. When he noticed that the teacher missed some points in the story of Moses, Zarry asked her permission to explain a few points about the story. The teacher agreed and was surprised that Zarry knew his Bible so well that he could explain the difficult ideas.
Once Zarry’s teacher learned that he was a Christian, she often called upon him to answer questions about God.
Sharing His Faith at Home
God has helped Zarry be a witness in his own family, too. Zarry wanted to be baptized and asked his father, a pastor, to study with him. His father agreed, and Zarry began studying. Zarry invited his older brother, Larry, to study with him, for he hadn’t been baptized yet either. Larry decided to study the Bible along with Zarry and even invited some of his friends to join the Bible class. Now several of Larry’s friends are studying the Bible too. Zarry hopes they will be baptized together.
Zarry is sharing his faith at school, at home, and at church. We can share our faith with people wherever we are too, just by being like Jesus. If we don’t tell them, who will? And when we give our mission offering, we help tell people that we don’t even know that Jesus wants to be their friend. Let’s give our best—our time, our talents, and our offerings—to God every day.
