Joanna lives in a village on the top of a mountain in western Greece. [Locate Greece on a map.] There is no Adventist church in her village, so the family drives down the mountain to a town an hour away to attend church.

Surprise Audience

Joanna loves Sabbath School, especially the Bible stories. She enjoys reading her Sabbath School lesson. One day Joanna took her Bible and Sabbath School lesson to school. During recess she sat down in the sunshine to study her lesson. Soon some classmates stopped to ask what she was reading.

“I’m studying my Bible lesson,” Joanna said.

“What Bible lesson?” one girl asked, thinking it was religion class, which the children have twice a week.

“It’s a lesson from the Bible. I study a new one every week, and we talk about it at church on Sabbath,” she said.

“Read us your lesson,” someone said. So Joanna began reading the first story. The children listened until the bell rang, calling them back to class.

Recess Religion Class

The next day Joanna again took her Bible and lesson outside to read. Once more some more children gathered around. “Read us another story,” one of them said. Joanna began reading the second story. The children listened quietly until the bell again called them inside. “If you come back this afternoon,” Joanna said, “I’ll read you the rest of the story.” During the next break several children returned, and Joanna finished the story. The children asked several questions about the story.

The next day Joanna read the next lesson, about when Jesus comes again. “Is it true that Jesus will come again?” a boy asked.

“Yes, it’s true,” Joanna told them. “One day soon Jesus will come again with all the angels in heaven. Those who love Jesus will go to heaven with Him.” The bell rang, and the children hurried back to class.

So Many Questions

That afternoon some of Joanna’s classmates caught up to her and peppered her with questions.

“You’re not Orthodox,” one boy said. “Are you Muslim? Do you follow Allah?”

“No, I’m a Christian,” Joanna answered. “I believe in Jesus Christ. I read the Bible and follow what it teaches about God. In Exodus, God’s rules say that we should worship Him on the seventh day, not on the first day. So we worship on Saturday, not Sunday. We obey the other commandments as well.”

The children asked questions, and Joanna answered all she could. But she had to hurry home so her mother wouldn’t worry. She told her friends that she would be happy to talk to them again the next day.

Praying for Her Friends

But the next day Joanna’s classmates didn’t come to hear a story. Joanna read her Bible lesson alone. After school, some of her friends again walked home with her, but they didn’t ask questions about God.

Joanna told her parents what had happened at school that week, and the family prays that her friends will want to know more about God and will give their life to Him.

Joanna isn’t giving up trying to share God’s love with her friends. She asked her Sabbath School teacher for copies of a CD about Jesus’ second coming to give to her friends. She plans to keep taking her Bible and lesson to school. “Even if my friends don’t come to listen to the story, I will study my lesson,” she says. “I’m glad I could share the Bible stories with my classmates, and I hope they want to hear more about God. I believe that they will come back.”

A Lighthouse for Jesus

Joanna is being a lighthouse in her school, shining the light of God’s love for all to see. We can be lighthouses, too, by sharing stories about Jesus with our friends. Another way that we can be lighthouses is by bringing our mission offerings to Sabbath School. These offerings will help tell people around the world that Jesus loves them.

Let’s pray that Joanna’s friends will want to know more about God. [Close with prayer.]