Mom didn’t expect Juliana to refuse a cake for her 11th birthday.

“I want to bake you a chocolate cake,” Mom said a few days before Juliana’s birthday.

“No, thank you,” Juliana said. Mom looked surprised.

“Why not?” she said.

“I want to feed the homeless people rather than have a cake,” Juliana said. “Let’s make soup for the homeless.”

Juliana had seen a crowd of homeless people sleeping at the bus stop when she and Mom had gone out, and she couldn’t stop thinking about them.

“It’s too difficult and too much work,” Mom said. “It would cost too much money for the ingredients. We also don’t have a big pot to cook enough soup.”

But Juliana wasn’t discouraged.

“I want to give soup to the homeless,” she insisted. “This is the work of God.”

Juliana had learned about God at a Seventh-day Adventist church in Salvador, Brazil. She first went to the church because she wanted to join its Pathfinder club. She had seen a neighborhood friend wearing the Pathfinder uniform, so she wanted to be a Pathfinder too. A little while after she joined the club, she gave her heart to Jesus and was baptized.

Mom was glad that Juliana loved God, but she wasn’t interested in going to church.

After Mom said she couldn’t cook soup without a big pot, Juliana visited some of her Adventist neighbors and asked if they had a big pot that she could borrow. Two neighbors gave her big pots, and she brought them home three days before her birthday.

But she still didn’t have the ingredients for the soup. The matter seemed hopeless, so Juliana prayed, “God, please give me wisdom and touch Mom’s heart to allow me to make soup for the homeless.”

The next day, Juliana gingerly asked Mom again whether she could make soup for the homeless.

Mom got angry. “Go to the grocery store and ask for them to donate the food for the soup!” she replied. She secretly hoped that Juliana would be too shy to go to the store.

But Juliana happily skipped to the neighborhood store, praying, “Thank you, God, for answering my prayer!”

At the store, she told the manager about her desire to make soup for the homeless and asked if he would donate the ingredients.He told her to return the next day.

Juliana went to several other stores with the same request, but all the managers also told her to return the next day. She visited her Adventist neighbors again, and they promised to bring over some vegetables.

The day before Juliana’s birthday, she stopped at the first grocery store after school. The manager gave her a huge bag of vegetables! The other stores and her Adventist neighbors also gave her food as they said they would.

Mom was shocked when she saw bags of onions, chili peppers, potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, corn, spices, and other ingredients for soup.

“What is all this?” she asked.

“These are the ingredients for the soup that you’re going to make!” Juliana beamed and showed Mom the two big pots that she had borrowed.

Mom was amazed at Juliana’s determination to help the homeless. With the help of several Adventist women, they made the soup.

On her birthday, Juliana put on her Pathfinder uniform and, with her friends and Mom, loaded the two big pots of soup into a car. When they arrived at a bus stop where some homeless people sat, a friend announced, “Today is Juliana’s birthday, and she has made soup for you!”

The homeless people were delighted. Everyone formed a circle around Juliana and clapped and sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

Mom felt ashamed that she hadn’t wanted to help the homeless. She realized that Juliana was filled with the love of God, and she wanted to be filled with God’s love too. Two months after Juliana’s birthday, Mom was baptized.

Today, Juliana, Mom, and several other church members go out twice a month to feed the homeless and share God’s blessings.

You can give to this quarter’s 13th Sabbath Offering, part of which will help open a place in Juliana’s city, Salvador, Brazil, where people can take Bible studies and healthy cooking classes. Think about ways that you, too, can help people in need in your community. Thank you for your mission offering!

ARGENTINA | April 6

Abigail Darrichón Quinteros, 3

Bible Baby

In Argentina, little Abi started hearing Bible stories before she was even born. Every morning while still in bed, Mom opened a children’s Bible and read a 10-minute story out loud to her unborn child. Every evening before falling asleep, Mom opened the Bible again and read another 10-minute story.

Mom read about how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. She read about Noah, the animals that went into the ark, and the rain that fell and caused a flood. She read about God calling little Samuel in the middle of the night to serve Him.

Mom hoped that her child would also serve God one day. She wondered whether the baby could understand the daily Bible stories she read aloud.

Finally, little Abi was born. Mom and Father were so happy!

As she did before, Mom read the Bible to Abi every morning and every evening for 10 minutes. She read to Abi about Noah’s ark, Creation week, and little Samuel.

As the months passed, Abi grew and grew. She began to crawl and then walk. When she was 1 year and 10 months old, she began to talk.

By this time, Mom held Abi on her lap for worship, helping the little girl turn the pages of the Bible as they read. Mom kept wondering whether Abi understood the Bible stories and kept hoping that Abi would serve God one day.

Then Abi did something unexpected. One day as she sat on the floor, she raised a tiny fist and began to wave her arms up and down.

“Tok, tok, tok,” she said every time her arm came down.

Then she raised both arms and, wiggling her fingers, brought them slowly down. She raised her arms again and, wiggling her fingers, slowly brought them down. Then Abi said, “Grrr, grrr. Grrr, grrr.” She paused.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh.”

Pause.

“Roarrrr. Roarrr.”

Pause.

“Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzz.”

Mom watched without a word. She wasn’t sure what Abi was doing.

That night after Abi fell asleep, Mom realized what had happened. “Abi does understand the Bible stories!” Mom excitedly told Father. “Today, she told her first Bible story all by herself. She told the story of Noah’s ark.”

Tears formed in Mom’s eyes. She was so happy that she had spent all those hours teaching Abi from the Bible.

Now, Abi is 3, and she has a little sister named Ali. She still loves the story of Noah’s ark. But her favorite story is about Baby Jesus. She takes her favorite stuffed animal, a teddy bear, and stuffs it under her shirt to pretend that she is Mary. She places other stuffed toys on her bedroom floor to represent the sheep in the Bethlehem stable where Jesus was born. She gives the role of Joseph to her sister, Ali, who is 1.5 years old.

Abi tells Ali many stories from the Bible. She talks about Noah, Creation, and Samuel. She’s also teaching Ali to pray. Even at three years old, Abi is already serving God as a missionary, just as Mom hoped she would.