David and his family live in the same house as his grandfather, whom he calls Dedo, and his grandmother, Baba. He loves Dedo and Baba and often spends time talking to them.
David is 7 years old. He lives in Macedonia, a small country in central Europe. [Locate Macedonia on a map.]
Loving Dedo
David and his family live in the same house as his grandfather, whom he calls Dedo, and his grandmother, Baba. He loves Dedo and Baba and often spends time talking to them. Baba loves Jesus, but Dedo doesn’t believe in God. That makes David sad. Dedo doesn’t want to hear people talk about God, not even David.
Sharing the Gift
Every day David prayed that God would help Dedo be willing to hear about Jesus. One day God answered that prayer in an interesting way. David received a gift, a small Noah’s ark with lots of plastic animals. David eagerly ran to show his gift to Dedo. David emptied the bag and asked Dedo to help him put the ark together. Then David asked if Dedo would help him build a scene with the ark and animals.
Dedo didn’t know the story of Noah, so David told him the story. Then Dedo surprised David by asking him to bring the Bible so they could read the story together and figure out how to make the scene.
Learning the Story
David ran and got the Bible. They found the story, and Dedo read it out loud. Then Dedo found a big piece of plyboard, and David helped Dedo arrange the animals in pairs walking toward the ark.
Dedo asked who the people were that came with the set, and David explained that they were Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives as he placed them along the path of the animals approaching the ark. ‘When we were finished, I told Dedo the story again,” says David. “I told him that after God closed the door of the ark, it rained for 40 days. After it stopped raining, it took a year for the earth to dry up so that Noah and his family and the animals could leave the ark.”
When Dedo and David finished the scene, David asked Dedo to write some Bible verses on the board to explain the story. Dedo copied some Bible verses onto the board. In one corner, he wrote, “Thanks to our Lord for taking care of us.” “That was awesome!” David says.
Studying Together
After the Noah’s ark project was finished, David looked for other ways to help Dedo think about God. “I asked Dedo to help me learn my Bible lesson for Sabbath. I ask him to read the lesson and the Bible text to me several times a week so I can learn it. But I really want Dedo to remember it too.
“I love him so much, and I want him to go to heaven with us,” David says with a smile.
Boys and girls, let’s pray for Dedo and all our family members who need to give their hearts to Jesus. And remember, your mission offering helps people learn about Jesus, too.
