The Boy Who Saved His Church

Ten-year-old Wellington loved flying kites in Brazil.

His family lived in the busy city of Mauá, and on windy days Wellington could hardly wait to get outside.

He grabbed his favorite kite—a bright one that would be easily seen—and hurried out the door. Everyone knows you cannot fly a kite in a house. That would be silly. The ceiling would stop it in about three seconds!

He walked down the street, scanning the area. A good kite flier always looks for an open space without nearby houses, trees, or power lines. Nothing was worse than watching your kite get stuck in a tree or tangled in wires. A big grassy park was the perfect spot, but sometimes Wellington flew his kite right there in the wide street in front of his house.

The real challenge was getting the kite to climb into the sky. But Wellington was good at it. Standing with his back to the wind, he held the kite high, waited for the right gust, and let the string out quickly. If the wind was strong enough, the kite would leap upward, dancing and twisting before catching the breeze.

Once it was up, Wellington had a special trick—he let the kite drift far away from him, then pulled it back toward him, over and over. Each time, the kite climbed a little higher, until it was just a small, colorful dot against the wide blue sky. Then he’d lean back and watch it float and dip, free and happy.

One day, during school vacation, Wellington was in the street flying his kite when he saw a man and a woman walking toward him. They smiled warmly.

“We’re the directors of a Pathfinder club at a Seventh-day Adventist church nearby,” the man said. “Would you like to join?” the woman added. “We do all kinds of fun activities—and we learn about Jesus from the Bible.”

Fun activities and learning more about Jesus sounded better than flying a kite.

Pathfinders? Wellington had never heard of such a thing. His family was Christian, but they weren’t Adventists. Still, the idea made him curious. Fun activities and learning more about Jesus sounded . . . well . . . even better than flying a kite.

With his parents’ permission Wellington joined the Pathfinder club when school started again. He learned to camp, cook over a fire, march in formation, and earn colorful honor patches for his sash. But the best part was learning about Jesus in a way he had never had before.

After a while he began studying the Bible regularly with someone from the church. Week after week, month after month, he discovered more about God’s love. Three years later, when Wellington was 13, he made the most important choice of his life—he decided to give his heart fully to Jesus and be baptized. His whole family came to the church to see it. Wellington felt as if his heart was soaring higher than any kite he had ever flown.

From then on, he worshipped at the church every Sabbath. The members became like a second family to him. But over time he began to notice something troubling—some of the other Pathfinders had stopped coming. Then more stopped. Soon there were hardly any young people in Sabbath School. Even the number of older members had dwindled.

Wellington worried. What if the church closed? He prayed earnestly: “Please, God, do a miracle.”

As he prayed, another thought came to him—maybe he could be part of that miracle. He remembered how the Pathfinder leaders had come to him when he was just a boy in the street. Now it was his turn to go to others.

The next Sabbath morning Wellington and a friend walked to the home of a boy who hadn’t been to church in a long time. They knocked on the door. “Good morning!” Wellington said cheerfully. “We’d like to have Sabbath School with you in your home today.”

The boy smiled and let them in. The next Sabbath they went to another home. Week after week they kept visiting. After three months five boys and girls had returned to church. After six months 22 young people were coming to Sabbath School every week!

Wellington was overjoyed. God had saved his church—and even more important, He was saving hearts. Wellington felt like a kite, lifted high by God’s hand. “I praise God, who held my hand,” Wellington says. “Today I can’t live without Him.”

Have you ever felt that you are too young to do something for God? Wellington’s story reminds us that God can use anyone—no matter their age—to bring others to Him. What began with a simple kite on a windy day became the start of a journey that changed not only Wellington’s life but the lives of many young people in his church. When we say yes to God’s call, He can help us soar higher than we could ever imagine!