A Child's Prayer in the CongoTheresa Stone - 11 Jun 2013

A missionary family in Congo Brazzaville sent friends of 24-7 Prayer this beautiful story after their child, Cherissa asked God for a violin. 

"Cherissa fell in love with the violin the moment she first laid eyes on it at the age of two. She had been asking to learn ever since and whenever she brought the subject up, which was often, I would shift uncomfortably. She would ask me why she couldn't and I would have to explain to her that violin teachers did not exist in remote Africa. 

I would suggest learning the piano (which I can just about teach her) or the flute (which our missionary colleague plays.) She would say ok, but I would hear her asking God to let her learn the violin one day.

I secretly hoped that this passion for the violin would pass, but to my dismay, it never did. This has been a constant sting to me as a mother. What kind of a mother am I to deny my child such a perfectly healthy interest. What if she was supposed to be the next Niccolo Paganini and I stifled her potential! I might have prayed once or twice about this, but mostly I silently resented God for this. 

Three weeks ago, Kate arrived from America to volunteer at our hospital for nine months. She brought a violin for Cherissa, and that was how our girl cried her first tears of joy. She was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't speak for several minutes and cried tears of happiness. 

It turns out that violin teachers exist in even in remote Congo. Cherissa loves taking violin lessons from Kate, she says it's even better than she thought! She may well lose interest in the violin within a few months, but she has received something far more precious. She knows that God is answering her prayer, not her mummy's prayers, but her prayers. God, you do hear every prayer." 

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) 

This blog was first published at 'New Sight,' A charity run by Joyce & Henri Samoutou.