To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, Aug. 5. Click here for photos to share while telling the mission story.

Ask a teen boy to present Muthal Raj’s first-person report.

My name is Muthal [pronounced: MOO-thal] Raj. I was a mischievous boy who skipped school when I was young. My father was worried about the bad habits I was developing and decided to send me to a boarding school in southern India. He said it was for my own good, that I couldn’t avoid classes if I lived in a dormitory.

My father is a farmer, and my mother takes care of my two siblings. They are not Christians. We are poor, and my mother often cried about our difficult financial situation. So sending me to a boarding school was an expense they couldn’t afford. But my parents learned about an organization that helps people like us send their children to Adventist boarding schools. Adventist Child India agreed to sponsor me, even though my family and I were not Christians. So, I was enrolled in James Memorial Higher Secondary School.

I arrived at my new school when I was 8 years old. Everything went fine. I focused on my studies and did well. I also learned about God—the real, living God who is our Creator.

Disobeying Dad

My father knew, of course, that I was studying at a Christian school. He told me many times, “No matter which school you are studying at, you must never change your religion.” But after being at James Memorial Higher Secondary School a while, I chose to accept Jesus as my Savior. But when I told my family, my father was furious. He told me, “Jesus is not the real God!”

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I prayed a lot and read the Bible. I became even more convinced that I needed to accept Jesus, no matter what my father said.

One day my father got into a terrible fight with our neighbor. He was injured seriously and was sent to the hospital. When I learned about my father’s injuries, I cried and prayed to God to save him. God answered my prayers, and my father recovered from his injuries.

God has answered many of my prayers. I was always concerned about getting good enough grades to continue my studies. I prayed about this, and God has helped me. I am now taking baptismal classes in preparation for being baptized.

God is so great! I feel His presence in my life and in the lives of my family members. I am thankful to the teachers at James Memorial Higher Secondary School for introducing me to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

My school has a fine reputation. But it needs a new girls’ dormitory. The one we have now is really old and no longer fit to live in. I’m glad that part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter will help James Memorial Higher Secondary School build a new dormitory that will be a brighter and healthier place to live for the girls who attend this school!

For more photos, visit the Facebook page for the Mission quarterlies

For activities to accompany this and other mission stories, download the Children’s Mission quarterly (PDF)