Lyuba [lee-OO-bah] lives in a small village in Armenia. [Locate Armenia on the map.] There are only 14 or 15 Adventist believers in Lyuba’s village, and they worship in her family’s house. Lyuba and her younger brother and sister are the only children in the church, so they worship with the adults.

“We tried to have a children’s program outside,” Lyuba says. “But the children were noisy and wouldn’t listen. It was hard to teach them, and their noise made it difficult for the adults to worship. So we had to stop holding the children’s meeting. That’s sad,” she says.

Lyuba’s Witness

Lyuba shares her faith with her friends and teachers. Schools in Armenia have classes on Sabbath. Lyuba told her teacher why she wouldn’t be in school on Sabbaths. “The whole day is God’s, not just the hours we’re in church,” she said. “God wants us to spend His holy day worshipping Him.”

When Lyuba started fifth grade she had different teachers for each class. One of her teachers told her that she must attend classes, even on Sabbath, or she’d miss too much work. Lyuba told her teacher that her friends give her the assignments, and she completes the work so she can be prepared for class on Monday.

Her friends don’t want Lyuba to miss anything on Sabbath, especially parties. So they’ve asked the teachers to change the dates for tests and parties so Lyuba can join them.

Summer Camp Witness

Lyuba invites her friends to visit the church, but often her friends’ parents don’t let them go. So Lyuba invites them to other events such as the church-sponsored day camp held each summer in the school. Because the camp is held in the school, some of the parents allow their children to attend. The school principal even visited the summer camp last year. He told Lyuba’s mother that the camp is a good thing for their village. At the end of the week of camp a special program is held in church on Sabbath. The children take part in the program, and this is another way to introduce them and their parents to Adventists.

“Most of my friends don’t know much about God,” Lyuba says. “If they could just come to church and listen to the Bible lessons they would learn that God has lots of things to tell them.”

Praying for the Children

Lyuba prays for her friends all the time. She asks God for wisdom to tell others what she believes, and she asks God to help her friends learn the truth of the Bible and to help them want to know God.

Let’s pray for Lyuba and her family. Let’s pray for the children she is trying to reach in her village. And let’s remember that when we bring our mission offerings to Sabbath School, we’re helping people in faraway places such as Armenia learn that Jesus loves them and wants to spend forever with them in His home. [Close with prayer.]