Going to school on Sabbath is a challenge that many children around the world face. Let's visit Timor Leste to see how Febrina found God and how your 13th Sabbath Offerings were put to use!
Hello my name is Febrina Pires. I’m working in the “Salvation Store” Los Palos Timor Leste.
One day I was visited by my uncle, and He said, “Let us study the Bible”. I wonder why do we have to study the Bible. Then my uncle said, “Because this is the truth”.
Then we went on in studying from Matthew chapter 6 verse 33. I really loved this verse when I first read it, and decided to further study the word of God.
We completed all the series of the lessons from my uncle. And finally I decided to go to Dili to be baptized in Fomento Church.
Because I was keeping the Sabbath the teachers took me out of school. This is why my grandmother took me away to Dili. There she still doesn’t allow me to keep the Sabbath. Because I didn’t like it there, I ran to Los Palos so I can attend church on Sabbath.
There in Los Palos, I met brother Jalindo Lay (03:28) that called me to work for him in his shop.
One day a customer came to our shop and wanted to buy cigarettes. We told him that we do not sell cigarettes here. Then he asked why don’t you sell cigarettes? Our answer was, because smoking can damage your health. Our customer replied, yes it would damage our health but not yours so what’s the big problem? We explained to them that if we sell cigarettes, and you buy them from us, and you get sick or die, we are the ones that should be responsible for your illness or death. This is why we don’t sell cigarettes.
I came to work here to save some money so that, if there will be a school here, and I keep the Sabbath holy, I can continue my education there.
We want to go to church instead of attending school every Sabbath. In Timor Leste, Adventist is a minority religion, and we don’t have even one Adventist school here.
We are praying that one day soon, there will an Adventist school here, in Los Palos. So that each Sabbath we can go to church instead of going to school.
Please pray for us, students in Timor Leste, so that we can continue our education and in the same time keeping the Sabbath holy.
After this was filmed, the first Adventist School opened in Timor Leste in 2015 thanks to your support of the 13th Sabbath offerings.
