He bent over on the bench, one hand clutching his stomach, which hurt. He closed his eyes and prayed, “Our dear Lord, thank You for always being with me. Thank You for always hearing me. Please hear me now. Help me to have friends who don’t tease me. Help me to have friends who are a good influence. Amen.”
To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, February 1.
By Andrew McChesney
Javkhaa’s ears stuck out. His ears stuck out really far. He didn’t think anything about his ears until other boys began to tease him — and he didn’t like it.
Now there was nothing wrong with Javkhaa’s ears. Many boys have ears that stick out, but not at Javkhaa’s school in Mongolia. The other boys began teasing the 8-year-old boy.
When school finished every day, he knew that he had to go straight home. Mom didn’t want him hanging out with the other boys because they used bad words and did naughty things.
Javkhaa didn’t have many friends, and he wanted the other boys to like him. He wanted them to be his friends. So, one day he ignored Mom’s instructions and followed five big boys instead of going home.
The boys didn’t want to be Javkhaa’s friends. Instead of being happy that he was with them, they began to tease him about his ears.
Javkhaa was sad. He wondered if he was ugly. Then one of the boys called him a bad name. He didn’t like that at all. He raised his fist and hit the boy.
The five boys jumped on him, like five angry bears pouncing on a small lamb. They hit him and kicked him and ran away.
Javkhaa lay on the ground and cried. He wished that he had obeyed Mom and gone home straight from school. Standing up, he walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Then he remembered God. He bent over on the bench, one hand clutching his stomach, which hurt. He closed his eyes and prayed, “Our dear Lord, thank You for always being with me. Thank You for always hearing me. Please hear me now. Help me to have friends who don’t tease me. Help me to have friends who are a good influence. Amen.”
Getting up, he ran home as fast as he could. When he got near the house, he dusted off his clothes so Mom wouldn’t see that he had been in a fight. He tried to look happy as he walked into the house.
Mom didn’t notice anything wrong. “Wash your hands, and eat your supper,” she said.
After eating, Javkhaa went to his bedroom and changed his clothes. He thought about the day. “Why did they beat me up?” he wondered.
Javkhaa didn’t talk to those boys for the next week, and they didn’t talk to him. Then, one by one, the boys came to him to say that they were sorry.
Javkhaa forgave them, but he didn’t hang out with them after school anymore. He realized that Mom was right. The boys used bad words and did naughty things. When he was with them, he also wanted to use bad words and do naughty things. They were a bad influence. He wanted friends who were a good influence. He prayed for friends.
Two years later, Javkhaa’s family moved from their small town in the Gobi Desert to Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Javkhaa started studying at the Seventh-day Adventist school in the city. He was so happy! No one made fun of his ears. Instead, his new classmates spoke kind words and did good things. They were a good influence on him, and he could be a good influence on them. He made many good friends.
“God gave me friends just as I prayed,” Javkhaa said. “I think one of the biggest blessings in my life is to go to this school.”
Today, Javkhaa is 14 and studies at Tusgal School in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A previous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped his school grow with new classrooms and a library. This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a children’s recreation center where children will learn to speak kind words and do good things in Ulaanbaatar. Thank you for your support.
