October 18 - The Great Garage Gathering

When ten-year-old Dafne realized there was no children’s group to learn about Jesus, she and her sister decided to start one in a neighbor’s garage. Soon, dozens of kids were studying the Bible together and lives, including Sofia’s, were forever changed.

It just wasn't fair.

Every Friday evening, Dafne's mom
and a group of other adults

gathered at a neighbor's house
to talk about Jesus.

But there was no group of children
that gathered to talk about Jesus.

Ten-year-old Dafne and her big sister,
thirteen-year-old Isadora,

sat on the couch at their home in Brazil

and talked about how it just wasn't fair.

Then the sisters had an idea.

They ran to their mom in another room.

"Hey, Mom," Dafne asked.

"Can we make a children's group
to talk about Jesus?"

Their mom smiled.

"That's a great idea!" she said.

Dafne and Isadora got to work right away.

Returning to the couch,

they wrote ideas for a children's group
on a piece of paper.

They worked on a plan
for the program for a whole week.

The girls asked their friend Gabby

whether the children's group
could meet in her garage

at the same time as the adults' meeting.

Gabby's parents agreed,

so a place was found
for the children to meet.

They had to find kids
to come to their meeting.

The girls went to a park near their house.

They saw several girls talking on a bench
and went over to invite them.

One girl named Sofia

said she usually was alone
and bored at home on Friday evenings.

Sofia knew Gabby,

and she happily accepted the invitation.

Dafne also invited
Sofia's friends to come.

Dafne and Isadora walked around the park,
inviting every child they saw.

Everyone who heard their invitation
agreed to come.

On Friday evening,

all the children from the park
showed up at Gabby's garage.

Dafne was happy and surprised
to see Sofia and 25 other children.

Dafne welcomed everyone and said,

"We are so happy
because it's Friday evening.

It's already Sabbath."

The other kids looked confused.

"How can it be Sabbath?" said Sofia.

It was exactly the response
that Dafne had hoped for.

She explained that the Bible teaches
that the Sabbath lasts

from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Then all of the children read in the Bible

that God rested on the Sabbath
after creating the Earth.

They also read the 4th commandment,

which says, "Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

After the Bible study,

Dafne and her sister served popcorn
with guava and mango juice.

All the kids promised
to come back next week.

They liked the meeting.

The next Friday, children arrived
with gifts of candy and chocolate cake

to eat after studying the Bible.

As the weeks passed,

Dafne saw that Sofia
really liked learning about Jesus.

A few months after the first meeting,

Dafne asked Sofia whether she would like
to give her heart to Jesus

and be baptized.

"Yes!" Sofia exclaimed.

Today, Sofia and several other children
from the children's group

have been baptized.

And that's not all.

Sofia's uncle and aunt
heard her talking about the Bible

and also wanted to be baptized.

Dafne is so happy!

Pray that many people in Brazil
will know Jesus

with the help of this quarter's
13th Sabbath Offering,

also known as
the Quarterly Mission Project Offering.

Part of the offering will help open
a church for children

at the Adventist Academy
in the Northeast of Brazil,

which is located in the region
where Dafne lives.

Thank you for planning a generous offering
for this important project.