Ginbot 7 — May 15

Abba Athanasius, the Faithful Church Father

Today we remember a church father named Abba Athanasius (say it: ah-thah-NAY-shus), who held on to the truth no matter what. He grew up in a big city called Alexandria, in Egypt. When he was a boy, his family did not yet know God.

One day, little Athanasius watched some Christian children playing. They were pretending to do the things that happen in church. He wanted to join them, but they said, "You are not a Christian yet, so you cannot play with us." So he said, "Then I will become a Christian!" The children were so happy. Right then, a kind church leader named Abba Alexander walked by. He looked at the boy and said, "That child will grow up to do something very special for God."

And he did! When Athanasius grew up, he became the archbishop of Alexandria, the leader who watches over all the churches in that great city. He gave away everything he owned to people who were poor, because he loved God most of all.

Some people were teaching wrong things about Jesus. Athanasius always told the truth: that Jesus is truly God. Because he would not stop telling the truth, unkind rulers sent him far away from his home, again and again. But Athanasius was never afraid. He kept praying and trusting God wherever he went.

One time, while he was away, Athanasius prayed for a whole town that did not yet know God, and soon that whole town came to love Jesus! Another time, when he was shut away, God sent an angel to set him free. God watched over him every single day.

After many years, Athanasius came home for good and led God's people in peace until he was very old. Because he had been through so much hard work and waiting and still kept loving God, people gave him a special name: "Apostolic," which means he was as brave and faithful as Jesus' first helpers.

You are not a Christian yet — and the boy answered, "Then I will become a Christian!"

That child will grow up to do something very special for God.— Abba Alexander

A Greeting to John

We also send a happy greeting to a holy man named John. The Bible says that God gave John so many spiritual children, people who learned to love God because of him, that they were too many to count.

It is just like the promise God once made to Abraham long ago: that his family would be more than all the stars in the sky and more than all the grains of sand on the beach. What a kind and generous gift from God!

His children were more than the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea.