SHIELD OTHER CHILDREN Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; - (Psalm 79:11) READ: Acts 2:1-19 In 1982, the year after I became the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, my wife, who was teaching at the small school we had started at the church's headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos State, asked if I could assist her in the school. She felt that since I had become a full-time pastor, my help would go a long way. In that school, nobody was paying any fees. Those who attended the school were children of church members who wanted a secure place for their children to stay while they were away at work. We had a small bus at that time to transport those children from their various homes to school every morning. One morning, the bus had gone to pick up the children and was returning to the school when it was caught in the midst of an armed robbery operation in Oyingbo, a community in Ebute Metta. Gunshots were fired, and a stray bullet hit one of the pupils inside the bus. The bullet passed through the child's body and brought out his intestines as it created an exit wound. To cut a long story short, the driver turned back and started heading towards the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). There was heavy traffic on the road, so it took them approximately two hours to reach LUTH. When they got to the hospital, the doctors looked at the boy, saw the amount of blood he had lost, and concluded that there was no need to waste time on him. They were certain that there was nothing that could be done to save the boy, so they didn't bother to attend to him. However, the school helpers, who were also on the school bus, and other people with them did not stop praying for the boy. One hour later, a doctor said, "This boy is still breathing. Let us do something, even if all we have to do is stitch him up." So, they took him into the theatre, removed the bullet, stitched him up, and waited for him to die. To the glory of God, that child has now become an adult, and he is still alive today! Beloved, make it a duty to pray for other people's children. Let God use you to save someone's child through prayer. Rather than complain about the bad character of some of the children around you, get on your knees and pray for them to be well-behaved and God fearing. ACTION POINT: Commit to praying for the children around you. BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 1-2 Open Heaven Devotional by Pastor E A Adeboye