Emmanuel wanted to annoy 13-year-old Aggee during a break between French and physics classes at the Seventh-day Adventist school in Libreville, Gabon.

He knew that Aggee had a short temper, so he started saying mean things.

Annoyed, Aggee immediately slapped the boy on the cheek. Emmanuel didn’t like being slapped, and he slapped Aggee back. Now Aggee was furious. He punched Emmanuel.

Children crowded around the fighting boys. “Don’t stop!” they yelled. “Let them fight!” A teacher’s assistant came running, causing the children to scatter to their seats. He pulled them apart.

“Why are you fighting?”

“He was mean to me,” Aggee said.

“He hit me,” Emmanuel said.

“You shouldn’t fight. Fighting is for animals. Apologize.”

As punishment, the boys had to spend two hours away from the other children, quietly thinking about what they had done. It was a long two hours.

After some time, Aggee whispered to Emmanuel, “Why were you mean to me?”

“I was only joking,” Emmanuel whispered back.

Aggee wished that he hadn’t lost his temper.

That summer, Grandfather sent Aggee to a Pathfinder campout.

Aggee’s Bible teacher also went to the campout, and he spoke for morning and evening worship. At the end of the three-week campout, he asked whether any children wanted to give their hearts to Jesus. He told them how Jesus could change their hearts. Instead of anger, He could give them peace and love.

When Aggee heard that, he remembered his short temper. He remembered how his temper led to fights and made his parents unhappy. He wanted to change, and he prayed, “Lord, I want to follow you.”

Then Aggee stood up and went to the front. People were surprised to see him standing. His Bible teacher was happy that he wanted to be baptized.

After baptism, when Aggee came out of the river, he felt the same as before. He thought maybe something miraculous would’ve happened, but everything still seemed normal.

But as the days passed, he noticed that he no longer enjoyed many things of the past. His friends noticed that he wasn’t easily angered like before.

Just the other day, Emmanuel brought some cakes to sell in class, and Aggee didn’t want to buy one.

“I don’t want to buy anything today,” he said. “I’m not feeling well.”

“Come on, buy one!” Emmanuel said.

“No, I can’t,” Aggee said.

Emmanuel’s face twisted in anger, and he slapped Aggee.

But Aggee didn’t feel angry at all and he quietly walked away. He was so grateful that with Jesus’ help, his days of having a short temper were over. Jesus was changing his heart.

Three years ago, part of the 13th Sabbath Offering helped construct a high school for 280 students in Aggee’s hometown of Libreville, Gabon. Thank you for helping change lives through the 13th Sabbath Offering. It makes a big difference!