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MissionCHILDREN’S 2020 • QUARTER 3 • WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA DIVISION AdventistMission.org 3Q20 Children.indd 1 5/16/19 1:40 PM Contents On the Cover: Bonte Medou, 14, loves to sing in Gabon, and Jesus has blessed his music. Because of his singing, two people have given their hearts to Jesus. Story, page 12. GABON 22 Rice for the River God | Sept. 5 4 Praying in Jesus’ Name | July 4 24 Big Feet, Big Trouble | Sept. 12 6 A Falling Bottle | July 11 8 Everything Went Black | July 18 GUINEA 10 The Big Fight | July 25 26 A New Life | Sept. 19 12 Power of a Song | Aug. 1 28 Thirteenth Sabbath: The Big Contest | Sept. 26 14 “It’s Burning!” | Aug. 8 16 A Real Missionary | Aug. 15 30 Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects 18 Voice in the Well | Aug. 22 31 Additional activities LIBERIA 35 Leader’s Resources 20 A Boy Named Daddy | Aug. 29 36 Map Your Offerings at Work Three years ago, the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped build a Seventh-day Adventist high school in Gabon’s capital, Libreville. The school, pictured West-Central Africa Division West-Central under construction in March 2019, was scheduled to open for 280 students in October 2020. You can read ©2020 General Conference of stories from Gabon on pages 4-19 and download the Seventh-day Adventists®• All rights reserved above photos and other Thirteenth Sabbath project 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6601 Adventist Mission Adventist photos at: bit.ly/WAD-2020. 1-800-648-5824 • AdventistMission.org 2 3Q20 Children.indd 2 5/16/19 1:40 PM Dear Sabbath School Leader, Andrew McChesney Editor This quarter we feature the West- we visited Guinea, Liberia, and Gabon. 22 Rice for the River God | Sept. 5 Central Africa Division comprised He said about 75 percent of Adventist of 22 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, schools in the division are located in 24 Big Feet, Big Trouble | Sept. 12 Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Ghana, which is home to roughly half of Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial the division’s 834,183 church members. GUINEA Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, “The church is not strong in French- 26 A New Life | Sept. 19 Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, speaking countries,” Alexis said. “We 28 Thirteenth Sabbath: The Big Contest | Sept. 26 Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, need to help them with schools and even Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its headquarters is small clinics.” 30 Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Guinea and Gabon speak French, while 31 Additional activities The region is home to 436 million people, Liberia and Nigeria speak English. 35 Leader’s Resources including 834,183 Adventists. That’s a ratio If you want to make your Sabbath of one Adventist for 523 people. 36 Map School class come alive this quarter, we The role that Seventh-day Adventist offer a variety of photos, videos, and other education plays in spreading the gospel materials to accompany each mission became abundantly clear as I collected story. More information is provided in mission stories in three countries: Guinea the sidebar with each story. For photos and Liberia, which will receive part of of tourist sites and other scenes from the the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering to open featured countries, try a free photo bank schools this quarter, and Gabon, which such as pixabay.com and unsplash.com. received funds from a 2017 Thirteenth In addition, you can download a Sabbath Offering to construct a school. PDF of facts and activities from the “Education is key to developing the West-Central Africa Division at bit.ly/ church in West Africa,” Alexis Kouadio, WAD-facts. Follow us at facebook.com/ assistant Global Mission officer for the missionquarterlies. West-Central Africa Division, told me as You can download the PDF version of the Children’s Mission magazine at bit.ly/ childrensmission and the youth and adult Opportunities Mission magazine at bit.ly/adultmission. The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering Mission Spotlight videos are available this quarter will help to: at bit.ly/missionspotlight. A printable Construct Kobaya Academy, a K–12 mission bank image, which the children school, in Conakry, Guinea can color, can be downloaded at bit.ly/ bank-coloring-page. Open an elementary school/center of influence in Buchanan, Liberia If I can be of assistance, contact me at [email protected]. Establish a medical center in Abuja, Nigeria Thank you for encouraging children to be mission-minded! AdventistMission.org 3 3Q20 Children.indd 3 5/16/19 1:40 PM GABON | July 4 Pricilia Ndong, 14 Praying in Jesus’ Name he Ndong family loves to pray in I am going to sleep, I’d like You to send TLibreville, capital of Gabon. your angels to be around me and around Father and Mother love talking to the neighbors’ houses. Father, help me to God so much that they named their have good dreams. Please reveal to us the three children after the French word for hidden things that we need to know. In “prayer,” or “priere.” The oldest boy is Jesus’ name, Amen.” Priel; the second child, a girl, is Priella; After Priella also prayed, the two girls and the youngest girl is Pricilia. slipped under the blanket. Quickly they Little Pricilia has prayed before bedtime fell asleep. every night since she was 3. Sometimes Around 2 a.m., while still sleeping, she kneels in front of the bed. But usually Pricilia suddenly couldn’t breathe. She she jumps up onto the bed and kneels felt someone’s hands squeezing her neck. on the nice, soft mattress. She folds her She struggled to gulp in air. She thrashed hands, closes her eyes, and bows her head. around on the bed, trying to get away from One night, when Pricilia was 12, she the hands clutching her throat. Then she jumped on the bed to pray at 9 p.m. Her remembered that Mother had told her to 13-year-old sister, Priella, also jumped on the pray if she had any problems. West-Central Africa Division West-Central bed to pray. They slept in the same bed. “Pray in the name of Jesus,” Mother Folding their hands, they closed their had said. “You can call on the name of eyes, and bowed their heads. Jesus anytime.” “Our Father in heaven,” Pricilia prayed. Although she was terrified, Pricilia Adventist Mission Adventist “We thank You for everything. Now that calmly said, “In the name of Jesus.” Then 4 3Q20 Children.indd 4 5/16/19 1:40 PM she recited Psalms 23, which begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Story Tips Pricilia woke up with a start. Opening her eyes in the darkness, she realized that Find Libreville, Gabon, on the map. she wasn’t dreaming. She really couldn’t Pronounce Ndong as: n-DONG. GABON breathe. Invisible hands were squeezing Pronounce Pricilia as: pri-sil-YA. her neck. Her heart pounded with fright. Pronounce Priel as: pri-YEL. Pricilia slid onto her knees beside the bed. Pronounce Priella as: pri-ELLA. “Lord, thank You for protecting me,” Pronounce “prayer” in French, “priere,” she prayed. “I don’t know who wants to as: pri-YER. harm me. In the name of Jesus, Amen.” Read about Pricilia’s brother, Priel, Immediately, the hands released their next week. grip on her neck, and she could breathe. She took a deep breath of air. She saw that Watch Pricilia on YouTube: bit.ly/Pricilia-Ndong. her sister was sound asleep. Climbing back into bed, she quickly fell asleep with the Download photos on Facebook assurance that Jesus was protecting her. (bit.ly/fb-mq) or ADAMS databank (bit.ly/Praying-in-Jesus-Name). In the morning, Pricilia told Mother about the scary experience. Mother was Download photos of Thirteenth Sabbath surprised and glad that she had prayed. projects: bit.ly/WAD-2020. “Probably someone tried to harm you through witchcraft while you were Three years ago, part of the Thirteenth sleeping,” Mother said. “Who knows what Sabbath Offering helped construct a might have happened to you if you hadn’t high school for 280 students in Pricilia’s called on the name of Jesus.” hometown, Libreville, in Gabon. Thank Pricilia thanks Jesus every day for His you for planning a big Thirteenth deliverance. Every night she prays, “Lord, Sabbath Offering this quarter to help thank you for life and the protection that build more schools in Guinea and Liberia. You give every day.” By Andrew McChesney The Adventist Church was officially recognized by the government of Gabon in 1981. About 73 percent of the population practice at least some elements of Christianity; 12 percent practice Islam; 10 percent practice traditional indigenous religious beliefs exclusively; and 5 percent practice no religion or are atheists. AdventistMission.org RECORD MISSION MISSION 5 3Q20 Children.indd 5 5/16/19 1:40 PM GABON | July 11 A Falling Bottle Priel Ndong, 16 hirteen-year-old Priel Ndong swept He looked up. His family lived on the Tthe floor of his house in Libreville, first floor of a two-story building, and Gabon, on a lazy summer afternoon. neighbors lived on the second floor. After the floor was clean, he picked up Errrrrrrrrrrrr … a green bucket and walked to an outdoor Priel tried to understand the noise. tap. Nobody in his neighborhood had Errrrrrrrrrrrr … running water in their homes, so they all It sounded like a glass bottle rolling went to the tap with buckets to get water on the floor, rolling, rolling, rolling. for drinking and bathing.