Sad Little Duku


 


Sudan


 


A sad boy became a glad boy when God helped him find a way to attend Sabbath School again.


 


 


Duku ( DOO-coo) grew up in a village in southern Sudan.  He loved going to Sabbath School and tried never to be late.  He loved to sing songs about Jesus and listen to Bible stories.


But one day something happened that made Duku very sad.  His mother moved to another house, leaving Duku and his father alone.  Duku missed his mother; he wished his parents were still living together.  But his father told him that his mother was not happy living with them, and she did not want to come back.


Then one day Duku’s father had to go on a trip.  He took Duku to stay with his mother.  Duku loved his father, but he had missed his mother and was glad to be able to visit her for a while.


 


Everything has changed


 


But soon Duku noticed that his mother had changed.  She was not as happy as she had been when the family lived together.  When Sabbath came, Duku got up and dressed in his good clothes, ready to walk to Sabbath School.  But his mother did not get dressed.  “Aren’t you going to church today?”  Duku asked, surprised.  Duku’s mother said she was too busy to take him to church.


“Mother, please go to church with me,” Duku begged.  His mother refused and told him to go outside and play.


“Why don’t you want to go to church with me, Mama?” Duku asked.


Duku’s mother became angry and told him “Don’t tell me what to do.  Now go outside and leave me alone!”


Duku went outside and sat down in the shade of a little tree.  He thought about the children who would be going to Sabbath School; he wished that he could be there too.  But he did not know how to get to the church by himself.


The next Sabbath Duku again asked his mother to take him to Sabbath School, and again she refused, and again Duku sat under the tree with tears flowing down his cheeks.


Why are you crying?


Duku’s neighbor, a young man named Isaac, noticed Duku.  “Why are you crying?” Isaac asked.


Duku stood up and wiped his cheeks with his hand.  “I want to go to church, but my mother won’t take me.” He said.


Just then Duku’s mother stepped out of her little house.  “Why don’t you take Duku to church” he asked her.  But Duku’s mother refused to talk about it.


Week after week Isaac watched Duku sit outside his tukul (TOO-cool) ---his hut—crying on Saturday morning.  Isaac could not stand to see Duku so sad.  He marched to Duku’s mother’s tukul and asked her, “May I take Duku to church this morning?”


Duku’s mother was a little surprised, but finally agreed.  “I’m too busy to be bothered to take him.”  She said.


Duku was overjoyed that Isaac would take him to Sabbath School.  Week after week Isaac and Duku went to church together.  Soon they were going to mid-week services, Sabbath vespers and even choir practice together.


Now Isaac was not an Adventist but he enjoyed the church services as much as Duku did.  Soon he joined the Bible study class, and one day Isaac told Duku that he had decided to become a member of the church Duku loved so much.


A Change of heart


Week after week Duku’s mother watched Isaac take her son to the church that she had once attended.  She listened as Duku told her the Bible story he had learned at Sabbath School and sang the songs he loved.  Little by little Duku’s mother began to wish for the happy days when the family worshiped God together.


Duku began to notice that mother was changing.  Instead of brewing beer to sell, she began baking bread and knitting table covers to sell.  And one day when Duku asked his mother to go to church with him, she accepted.


Mother began attending church with Duku and Isaac every Sabbath.  And several months later when Duku’s father returned home, mother and Duku moved back with him.  On Sabbath morning Duku sat between his mother and father in church and smiled.  At last they are a happy family worshiping God together, just as they should.  And Isaac was glad that he had taken pity on a sad little boy and had taken him to church.


Is there someone in your house or in your neighborhood that you can invite to church?  You’ll be glad you did.


 


 


Charlotte Ishkanian


 


 


 


AdventistMissions.org