SMIALL MIRACLES OF FRIENDSHIP

1 Peter 4:10

A little Jewish boy was living in Poland during the tense prewar years - when relations between Jews and Gentiles had already become strained.

This 5 year old Jew is particularly friendly with a Christian boy and they used to exchange toys, foreign stamps, stories, jokes etc. One day, they playfully decided to swap ....... prayers.

"You teach me a Jewish prayer, and I'll teach you a Christian one," proposed the Polish lad.In their sweet, trusting innocence, both thought it would be fun. Their repertoires were, understandably, limited, so they both chose important prayers, cornerstones of their respective faiths.

"Let's memorise them!" the Polish child exclaimed. And so they did.

Ten years passed, and everything changed. By then, most Jews were either in concentration camps or were dead.

This young lad, now fifteen and orphaned, was fleeing Europe, disguised as a Gentile, aided by his Germanic facial features and forged documents. So far, he had been successful in eluding the Nazis.

One day, he was on a train when a Nazi soldier boarded his car and demanded to see everyone's papers. This young man handed over his forged documents, but for some reasons, the soldier was suspicious. Finally, the Nazi turned to him and said with a sneer, "So, you are a Christian, my friend? Well, just to prove that you are who you say you are, why don't you recite-right now, here on the spot-such and such Christian prayer that all good Christians know!"

And the soldier smiled in glee, waiting to pounce on his obvious prey.

But somewhere inside him, a long-buried memory stirred. So the young man obliged the Nazi, reciting the prayer perfectly. The soldier, surprised, let him go, never knowing that the Christian prayer he had requested was the only one the Polish lad knew.