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"Happy Sabbath!"
A voice cut through the darkness.
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Anita stirred in her bed.
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"Rise and shine, Sunshine!"
her father said,
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poking his head into the door
of Anita's bedroom.
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It was 4:00 in the morning.
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Anita's eyes popped open.
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It was time to get up!
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After breakfast, Anita put on
her favorite Sabbath dress.
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Then she slipped
her bare feet into flip flops.
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She gave her Sabbath shoes
to her mother to put in a bag.
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Now she was ready for the trip to church.
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Anita climbed into the backseat
of the family's white van.
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Her father slid behind the wheel,
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and Pastor Kamu took a seat beside him.
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Anita's mother sat with her in the back,
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and they were joined
by five university students.
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Nearly every Sabbath,
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her parents traveled
to new churches in Indonesia
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to speak about Jesus.
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At 5:00, the van left the campus
of Mount Klabat University,
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the Seventh-day Adventist school
in Indonesia
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where Anita's father and mother
were teaching as missionaries.
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The sky was dark,
and few cars were on the street.
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But her father still had
to be careful as he drove.
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He steered around sleeping dogs
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and sometimes had to stop for cows
that were crossing the road.
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Anita slept on her mother's lap.
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About an hour and a half later,
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Anita awoke as the van came to a stop.
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She liked this part of the trip to church.
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She and the others
boarded a small motorboat,
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and soon they were cruising on the ocean.
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Anita looked across the dark blue water.
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Light was just beginning to crack
on the horizon
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as the sun rose.
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Warm, humid air rushed against her cheeks
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as the boat navigated gentle waves.
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After an hour,
the boat docked on an island,
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and the group transferred
to another boat for a 30-minute ride.
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Then, they landed on yet another island
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dotted with coconut trees
amid a lush green jungle.
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Anita was glad
that she had worn her flip flops
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and not her nice Sabbath shoes
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because she liked feeling
the mud between her toes
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as she walked along the trail.
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About 45 minutes later,
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Anita saw a small village
with a Seventh-day Adventist church.
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Sabbath School would begin soon,
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and the church
was already crowded with people.
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The people greeted Anita
and the others with delight.
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Grandfathers and grandmothers
smiled broadly.
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Fathers and mothers beamed with joy.
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They were so happy
to welcome the visitors.
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They knew that it had taken effort
to reach their village.
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Little children waved excitedly at Anita
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and clustered around her.
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A little girl ran up and pinched
the white skin of Anita's arm.
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A little boy nervously reached out his arm
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and tugged on her red hair.
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The village children
had brown skin and black hair,
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and this was their first time
seeing anyone who looked like Anita.
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Inside the church,
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her mother pulled
Anita's Sabbath shoes from the bag,
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and Anita slipped them on.
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Now she felt ready to worship God.
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Later that afternoon,
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Anita put her flip flops back on
for the long trip home.
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She was tired but happy.
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Every Sabbath, the long trip
to a new church was an adventure.
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Best of all, every Sabbath,
Anita got to worship God.
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Anita liked being a missionary kid!
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This story happened nearly 40 years ago,
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but missionary kids today
still make adventurous trips to church
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thanks to your world mission offerings!