“Cease to be angry and forsake the heat of the heart; do not be angry, it leads only to evil” (Psalm 37:8)

One day Andri fell ill. His stomach was in knots and it was very painful. In his pain, Andri was helped by a Christian family. Andri was treated until he recovered. Afterwards, Andri and his mother were introduced to the Christian faith and professed faith in Christ. Since then, Andri has never had a recurrence of his illness. At school, Andri studied harder and became an outstanding and creative student.

Andri, is an 11-year-old boy. Every day Andri is given pocket money by his mother of 5000 rupiah. The money he earns is used to buy ingredients to make chocolate food made from a mixture of Milo and Oreo. He learnt the idea from TikTok. He sold the food he created to his friends. He bought books and school supplies for himself and his younger brother, Andra. Andra is the only one of his siblings who often annoys him because of his extravagance and mischievous behaviour.

Andri and his friends study at a community-run smart home, where there is tutoring and interesting reading books available. Andri often studies there with dozens of children who gather from elementary school children to high school children, tutoring is free at the smart house. 

One day there was a book distribution from his coaches, Andri got a new book that was quite thick, Andri was happy and actively read the book. The book said, Good News for Children (KBUA). Andri took the new book home, and started reading from the front. Andri reads his new book every chance he gets.

One afternoon, Andra was being naughty, she teased her brother until Andri became angry. Andri could hardly contain his anger. Andri went into his room and opened his new book, the Book of Genesis. Immediately he opened the Psalms section and began to read the contents. It said,“Stop being angry and leave the heat of the heart, do not be angry, it only leads to evil”. Andri was amazed. It was as if he heard the book talking to him and advising him not to get angry easily. Andri's anger subsided.

 

Andri then told his father, “It's magic, sir. The book reminded him not to be angry with his sister. The father listened and pondered Andri's story in his heart.

On one occasion, the father met a Christian family who gave a book to their son and said that the book their son was reading had had a profound effect on his son. The father then recounted the words of his son. 

“Once God said, two things I have heard: that power is from God, and steadfast love is from you, O Lord.”(Psalm 62:12-13a)(Psalm 62:12-13a)

Kris Hidayat, LAI Partner for Community development of KBUA's Read Through Programme (Good News for Kids)