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Resources - Children's Pages
February 2000
Kids’ Page
Good News for Everyone
by Mrs. Anne Groenenboom
The children were helping Mum because something special was happening
the next day. Their grandparents were coming to stay for a few weeks and
Mum wanted the house to be clean and tidy. It took a lot of time each
day for Mum to look after Joel, their new baby brother, so Chris and Amy
helped her as much as they could. Amy helped Carla to tidy up her toys
and Chris vacuumed the carpet while Amy folded up the washing and Carla
helped with the easy things, like Joel’s singlets.
While Joel was asleep, the children helped Mum do some baking. Chris
felt very grown-up because Mum let him start a loaf of bread in the new
bread-maker. He measured the ingredients very carefully and set the
timer all by himself. Amy was allowed to ice the big chocolate cake Mum
that had made and Carla was thrilled when Amy let her help spread the
icing. Chris watched in horror, thinking about the mess his little
sister would make, but to his surprise, Carla did quite a good job.
The next morning Dad had to leave early to pick Grandpa and Grandma up
from the airport. Chris and Amy wanted to go too, but Dad reminded them
that Mum would need some help. By the time Dad returned with Grandma and
Grandpa, everything was tidy and the washing was already hanging on the
line, so Mum could relax. Dad had to hurry off to work but the children
lined up for lots of hugs from their grandparents, who were surprised to
see how much the children had grown.
“Just look at you!” Grandma said to Carla. “You were so small when we
saw you last!”
“I’m a big girl now! I’m almost four and I’m starting Kinder, next
week!” Carla told her excitedly. Mum explained that Kinder was the same
as Preschool, in the state where Grandma and Grandpa lived. Carla showed
them her new back-pack and lunch box, then Chris and Amy chatted about
the classes they’d be in when school started.
“I think it’s time we had a cup of tea,” Mum said, but just then Joel
started to cry so Amy put the kettle on while Mum went to pick him up.
Grandpa and Grandma took turns at cuddling their new grandson while Mum
drank her tea. Later, Mum fed Joel and watched while Grandma and Grandpa
gave the children some presents. The older children had books and there
was a lovely little teddy bear for Joel too.
Joel slept all morning, but he wouldn’t settle down in the afternoon,
when Mum needed to have a rest, so Grandpa and Grandma offered to take
him for a walk around the block.
“It’s a very long block, it might be too far for you to walk all that
way,“ Mum told them but Grandpa replied that he and Grandma were used to
going for long walks, so Joel was tucked into his stroller and off they
went. Amy and Carla went too, but Chris decided to stay home and mow the
grass. He had only been allowed to use the mower a few times, so he
still enjoyed doing the lawns. By the time they returned, Joel was sound
asleep and the children were quite happy to sit and read their new
books, with Grandma helping Carla.
“We’ve already met some of your neighbours,” Grandpa announced. “We’ve
met a very nice lady named Millie Parker, who lives in a little old
house half way down the block.... and Joe Franchetti, who lives down on
the next corner, has invited us down for coffee and to meet his wife.
She was shopping this afternoon. Do you know them?”
“I don’t think so,” Mum replied. “We only know the Jacksons who live
next door and the Browns who live next door to them. We don’t go all the
way down to the next corner very often, because the shops and the park
and the school are in the other direction.”
“Well, you should,” Grandpa told her sternly. “How else are you going to
get to know people, so that you can tell them about Jesus?”
Chris and Amy were very surprised. They weren’t used to anyone telling
their mother what she should do and they waited to hear what Mum had to
say.
“We’ve told lots of people about Jesus,” Mum replied indignantly. “The
Willmans are coming to church now because we told them about Jesus....
and the Briggs family come too. We help people in the neighbourhood who
need help and then we tell them how much they need Jesus.”
“Don’t forget the Jacksons,” Chris reminded Mum. “They weren’t very
interested in hearing about Jesus or coming to church, were they?”
“That’s right,” Mum answered. “They had other things that they thought
were more important, but we finally got through to them, just by
behaving in a loving, caring way. Amy and Carla taught their girls lots
of Christian songs and that helped too.”
It wasn’t long before Dad came home from work and he joined in the
discussion too. “We’ve been helping lots of people in our community and
that’s working well. We hope that if we show love and kindness, other
people will see that we’re different. We think that the way we behave
will show people what it means to belong to Jesus.”
“Yes, but I’m not sure that it always works that way,“ Grandpa
commented. “Lots of people don’t know anything much about Jesus at all,
so they don’t know our reasons for doing the things we do. We really
have to tell people that we love the Lord and that’s why we go to church
and help others.... because that’s what Jesus has told us to do. Then we
can tell them what Jesus has done for us and tell them why they need
Jesus as their Saviour.”
“In our church we’ve been doing some studies on how to really tell
people about Jesus,” Grandma explained. “That’s why we’ve started taking
every opportunity that God gives us to tell people what they’re missing
out on.”
During the next few days, Chris and Amy noticed that Grandma and Grandpa
spoke to people wherever they went.... at the swimming pool, in the
supermarket, and of course, every time they went for a walk. Sometimes
people didn’t want to listen, but Chris and Amy were surprised that
quite a few seemed to be interested in what their grandparents had to
say. When Chris commented, Grandpa explained that, before they went
anywhere each day, they prayed that they would meet people who needed to
hear about Jesus.
By the end of the week, Grandma and Grandpa seemed to have lots of new
friends. They had invited Mrs Parker and the Franchettis to come to
church for Joel’s baptism the following weekend and they had half a
dozen more friends that they were still working on, when they took Joel
for a walk each afternoon. Chris listened carefully to what they said
because he was thinking that he could talk to some of his friends the
same way.
Each morning, the three children helped Mum and Grandma to do some
cooking, ready for a special morning tea on Sunday, after Joel’s
baptism. It seemed as if there would be lots of visitors if all their
grandparents’ new friends came as they had promised. When the big day
arrived, the church was crowded and the children could see that lots of
their grandparents’ new friends were there. Grandpa was talking to some
of them about what the minister had said in his sermon and another lady
was asking Grandma some questions about the bible. Other people were
talking with Mum and Dad and Chris had found a new friend for himself, a
boy named Peter who was staying with his auntie, because his parents
were overseas. They soon became firm friends and Chris was excited when
Peter started asking questions about Jesus. It was much easier for Chris
to answer Peter’s questions, once he’d seen his grandparents in action.
As the weeks went by, most of Grandpa’s and Grandma’s friends kept
coming to church, and that was exciting too. When the time finally came
for Grandpa and Grandma to leave again, lots of people came to farewell
them and to thank them for telling them just what they needed to know,
that Jesus was their Lord and Saviour.
SOME THINGS TO DO.
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Talk about this story with your parents and plan just how you can talk to others about Jesus.
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Make a list of the people who live near you. Maybe they’ve never heard the good news of the gospel before.... and it’s you who can tell them.
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Pray every day that God will lead you to people who need to know your good news. Pray that God will give the courage that you need, to speak and the words to say. Pray too that God will open people’s ears and hearts to hear the message.
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