A Girl Named TMI

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, April 4.

By Gina Wahlen

In the heart of Africa lives a little 6-year-old girl named TMI.

TMI stands for Total Member Involvement, a Seventh-day Adventist evangelism program in which every church member gets involved in sharing Jesus with someone else.

The girl named TMI was born just as TMI evangelism was sweeping her home country of Burundi. It was an exciting time as Burundians told neighbors, friends, relatives, and even strangers about Jesus. People were meeting in small groups to study the Bible. Then they gathered at big evangelistic meetings. Many people gave their hearts to Jesus at the meetings and were baptized.

TMI’s father and mother were elated to witness TMI evangelism with their own eyes. They were thrilled to participate in TMI evangelism by telling others about Jesus. Their joy peaked when a little baby girl was born to them amid all the TMI activities. Father and Mother decided that the perfect name for their perfect daughter was TMI.

As a baby, TMI was a constant reminder to everyone that they needed to tell someone else about Jesus. Whenever Father or Mother called TMI’s name, people remembered that God was calling them to get involved in Total Member Involvement.

As the little girl grew up, TMI became more than just her name. TMI started to become the way she lived. TMI liked to sing about Jesus. When she sang, she felt good all over.

When she was 4 years old, she prayed for a good voice to praise Jesus.

“Dear God, help me so that I can sing,” she prayed.

TMI hadn’t planned to pray about singing, but as she thought about how she could share Jesus, the words just rose in her heart, and she started to pray silently.

TMI prayed the same prayer the next day and the next. “Dear God, help me so that I can sing,” she prayed.

About that same time, she joined a children’s choir at her church. One of the church members noticed that she had a sweet voice and suggested that she could sing alone. Church members even helped her record six songs in a professional music studio.

Soon other church members noticed TMI’s voice and began to invite her to sing at Sabbath worship services. Then she was invited to sing at big evangelistic meetings.

TMI’s father and mother were delighted that she was singing for Jesus. Every time she sang, Father said, “You did well, my daughter.” Mother said the same thing. “You did so well, my daughter,” she said.

Before long, TMI began first grade in a public school. Some of her classmates asked the teacher if she could sing for them. They had heard her singing in church and at evangelistic meetings, and they wanted their own concert.

“Could you let TMI sing for us in school?” they asked.

The teacher agreed, and TMI began to sing at school.

When classmates from non-Adventist families heard her sing, they began to follow her to church on Sabbath. They asked if they could join her in the church’s children’s choir. When those children went home, they asked their parents to go with them to church on Sabbath.

So it was that a little girl named TMI became a living example of Total Member Involvement by using her voice to share Jesus with others.

How can you share Jesus with others?

One of the mission projects for this quarter is the Buganda Dispensary, a clinic located near TMI’s home in Burundi. Thank you for giving to this important project.