Clapping for Jesus

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, November 8.

Clap your hands. Clap your hands again.

Why do people make noise with their hands? Sometimes people clap their hands to show joy. Sometimes people clap their hands to show appreciation or approval, like after hearing a wonderful song at a music concert.

Twelve-year-old Antony stood outside to an old house in Brazil and loudly clapped his hands.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Now the boy wasn’t clapping his hands to show his joy. He wasn’t clapping to show that he liked the old house or someone inside the house.

He had another reason. He was clapping because the house was so old and falling apart that it didn’t have a doorbell that he could ring. The house was so old and falling apart that it didn’t even have a door that he could knock on.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Antony was clapping because he wanted to get the attention of the people inside the house. He wanted the people to come out because he had something important to tell them.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Finally, a grandmother came out of the house. She wondered what all the clapping was about. She looked and saw the boy standing with his mother.

Antony was pleased to see the grandmother. Flashing a big, bright smile, he said, “Good morning! We have come here to invite you to a special meeting with prizes and snacks tonight. But most importantly, we will share the Word of God tonight.”

The grandmother wasn’t sure that she wanted to go to the meeting.

Antony smiled even more widely.

“Just come!” he said. “You’ll like it.”

It was hard for the grandmother to turn down such a special invitation from such a happy boy.

She smiled and agreed to come to the Seventh-day Adventist church for the evangelistic meeting that evening.

Antony and his mother left and walked over to the next house. It also was old and falling apart. It also didn’t have a door.

Antony put his hands together and clapped.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A moment later, a man appeared. He didn’t look happy to see the boy and his mother.

“What do you want?” he asked, gruffly.

Antony smiled. “Good morning!” he said. “We have come here to invite you to a special meeting with prizes and snacks tonight. But most importantly, we will share the Word of God tonight.”

The man gave an excuse about being busy that night.

But Antony didn’t give up. He smiled even more widely.

“Please come,” he said. “You’ll enjoy it.”

It was hard for the man to turn down the boy’s invitation. He managed a slight smile and agreed to come.

So it was that Antony and his mother walked up and down the street for several hours, clapping outside houses and inviting people to come to church.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

When people saw Antony’s smile and heard his persistent invitation, many agreed to come. Some people also asked for prayers, and Antony prayed for them.

That evening, Antony was excited to see many people whom he had invited come to the meeting. He was delighted that they had come to learn about Jesus. He was glad that he could clap his hands for Jesus.

“It makes me so happy to invite people,” he said. “I feel incredible. Jesus can touch their hearts because I invited them.”

Pray that many people in Brazil will know Jesus with the help of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering. Part of the offering will help open a church for children at Pernambucano Adventist Academy, which is located in the region of Brazil where Antony and his family live. Thank you for planning a generous offering for this important project.