Big, Beautiful Bale

In Sofia, Bulgaria, teachers at the Colorful Hope Adventist kindergarten prayed for hay to create a Bethlehem scene for their Christmas program. When no one would sell them any, God provided a clean bale—unexpectedly found on a city sidewalk. The miracle strengthened the faith of teachers and families, showing that God cares about even the smallest needs.

Christmas was just around the corner, and a Seventh-day Adventist kindergarten in Bulgaria wanted to celebrate.

The teachers planned to transform the kindergarten into the little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Then, they could invite all the kindergarten children—along with their mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, uncles and aunts, and cousins—to come and learn about the birth of Jesus. Many of the children came from families who didn’t know Jesus.

The teachers talked excitedly about turning the kindergarten into Bethlehem. They could place a city gate in one area and build a carpenter’s workshop nearby—like the one where Jesus’ father, Joseph, worked with wood. A store could stand in a corner, and next to it could be a stable with a manger holding Baby Jesus. An entire room could become a Bethlehem field where shepherds watched their sheep and heard the angels proclaim Jesus’ birth.

But there was a problem. To create a field, the kindergarten needed hay—lots of hay. But the kindergarten was in the middle of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Hay grows in the countryside, and there didn’t seem to be any hay in the city.

Teacher Maria asked some kind friends to try to find a big bale of hay. They were happy to help and looked and looked for some hay. Eventually, they learned that there were horse stables just outside the city. Everyone knows horses eat hay, so they called the stables to ask whether they could buy some. But the owners refused. They said that they had only enough hay for their horses and couldn’t possibly spare any for the kindergarten.

Teacher Maria and the other teachers felt sad. It seemed there would be no hay for their Bethlehem field.

Then, something amazing happened—just one day before the little town of Bethlehem was set to open. Teacher Maria received a photo on her phone. It showed a big, beautiful bale of hay sitting on the leather backseat of a car. The message that came with it read, “You won’t believe what happened.”

Sure enough, when Teacher Maria learned what had happened, she could not believe it.

Two friends had been walking down a sidewalk in the city center when they saw a bale of hay. It was a clean bale sitting on the sidewalk. At first, they walked right past it. But then one said, “Do you realize what we just saw?”

The two looked at each other and went back. Surely someone had left it there to feed a horse. But no horse was in sight.

Then the friends saw the big display window of a nearby store and realized what had happened. The hay had been part of the window decorations, but someone had changed the display and thrown out the hay.

The hay traveled grandly on the leather backseat of the car to the kindergarten. Then, the teachers happily spread it around the room. Bethlehem now had a real field of hay.

The next day, when the little town of Bethlehem opened, two people dressed as angels stood in the hayfield and told the children—along with their mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, uncles and aunts, and cousins—how a choir of angels announced Jesus’ birth.

The hay stayed in the kindergarten room for many months. Children sat on it during morning worship and knelt on it when they prayed.

Later, the teachers used some of the hay in the kindergarten’s garden to help vegetables grow. Some of the hay lasted until the next Christmas, when it was divided between three churches that also wanted to share the Christmas story.

“The hay had a long and faithful service,” said Teacher Maria. “We are amazed that God cares about even the smallest details. We know He always provides the big things—but He also takes care of even the smallest things.”

The teachers have shared the hay story with many parents, and they are happy to know that they can turn to God with even the smallest request.

Part of this quarter’s offering will allow the Colorful Hope (Tzventna Nadezhda) kindergarten move out of a rented facility into a building of its own in Sofia. More than half of the children who attend come from families who are not members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—and some do not even believe in God. Thank you for your generous support of this life-changing project in Bulgaria.

Automatický systém — Misijné príbehy