Lucia [loo-SEE-ah] is 5 years old. She lives in the little town of Opuwo [oh-POO-who] in northern Namibia. [Locate Namibia on the map.]

Lucia is the youngest of several children. Her parents work in their small shop in a Himba village several hours away. They can’t come home every day, so Lucia’s oldest sister takes care of the family.

Once a month Father and Mother return home for the weekend. It’s always an exciting time when Mother and Father come home. The family worships together and laughs as they eat meals together. Then on Sunday, Mother and Father say goodbye to their children and return to their business.

Lucia studies at the Adventist preschool near her home. She has just started kindergarten, and she enjoys school a lot. She learns such practical skills as washing and drying dishes, sweeping the room, and measuring out ingredients for a recipe, as well as math and basic reading skills.

Talking Time

The children in Lucia’s school don’t talk while they are doing their assignments unless they have a question. But during language class and talking time, they may talk freely. “After lunch we have a talking time,” Lucia explains. “We can talk about anything we want. Some children talk about what happened to them or tell about their pet.”

But Lucia likes to tell Bible stories during talking time. Her favorite story is about Daniel. “Daniel and the king were friends,” she explains. “Some of the king’s helpers didn’t like that the king shared secrets with Daniel, so they set a trap. They knew that Daniel prayed three times a day, so they convinced the king to make a law saying no one could pray to anyone but the king. The king liked the idea; he didn’t think about Daniel when he signed the law. The next day the servant told the king that Daniel was praying to his God. The king was sad when he realized that his servants had tricked him, but he couldn’t change the law. So he had to put Daniel into the lions’ den that night.

“But God sent angels to protect Daniel. The next day the king ordered the servants to take Daniel out of the lions’ den. Then he told the people that they must stop praying to idols and pray only to Daniel’s God in heaven. Even the king prayed to Daniel’s God.”

Lucia loves learning about God in school and in Sabbath School. She says, “It’s important to know about Jesus so we can tell our friends. Some of my friends don’t know God as I do. They need to hear that God is mighty and powerful and that He loves us,” she says.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help tell the Himba people of northern Namibia about Jesus.