When Mother closed the Bible, she still looked sad. Carine offered to sing a song.
To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, April 27.
By Andrew McChesney, AdventistMission.org
Little Carine thought Sunday was a wonderful day.
The 4-year-old girl went out with her parents to a shopping center in Salvador, Brazil. Father bought chocolate cake.
The next day, Father put on his police uniform — and didn’t return home for a month.
That afternoon, Mother got a phone call. “Come on,” she told Carine. “We’re going to Grandma’s house.”
That night, Mother began to cry. Carine didn’t know why Mother was crying, but she hugged her. “You taught me to trust God,” she said. “So, trust Him. Everything will be all right.”
Mother silently hugged her daughter.
In the morning, Mother left Carine with Grandmother and only came back in the evening. The same routine repeated itself the next day.
After a week, Carine began to wonder about Father. “Where’s Daddy?” she asked.
Mother paused. “Daddy had an accident,” she said. “He’s in the hospital.”
Alarm filled Carine’s little face.
Mother quickly added, “Don’t worry. Jesus does miracles, and He will do a miracle for Daddy.”
That night, Mother opened the Bible and read to Carine the story about Jesus giving sight to a blind man. She also read about other miracles: Jesus healing a bleeding woman, Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead, Jesus protecting Daniel in the lions’ den, and Jesus saving Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace.
When Mother closed the Bible, she still looked sad. Carine offered to sing a song.
“Singing brings hope to my heart,” she said. “You should have hope as well.”
Mother liked to listen to Carine’s clear, pure voice, and she welcomed the song.
Finally, after a month, Father came home. He looked tired, and he moved slowly, but Carine ran into his arms.
“I’m going to take care of you by singing to you,” Carine announced.
She immediately sang a favorite song, “Hallelujah.” She sang about her love of worshipping Jesus through song and how she would sing “hallelujah” at His feet in heaven one day.
Carine sang to her father every day until he returned to work.
Today, Carine is 7, and she accompanies her parents to various Seventh-day Adventist churches as they tell the miraculous story of Jesus’ healing power.
Her father, Andre, tells how he and two other police officers came under a hail of gunfire when they drove into a crime-ridden neighborhood in Salvador on Sept. 8, 2014. He was shot in the head. Doctors were surprised that he walked out of the hospital a month after the shooting.
Carine’s mother, Josenice, tells people about her daughter’s faithfulness to God during that difficult month. “She was more faithful than me, even when she didn’t even know what had happened to her father,” she says. “She always believed that God would solve everything.”
Then Carine sings “Hallelujah” — and puts her whole heart into the song.
“She worships God when she sings,” her mother said. “People cry when they hear her.”
Carine said she wants to worship God all the time.
“When I grow up, I want to preach and sing,” she said. “Whether it is to a million people or to a small group, it doesn’t matter. I just want to worship God.”
For this and other stories, download the Children’s Mission quarterly (PDF)
