by D. Brawn-Mitchell

Created on: September 18, 2008   Last Updated: September 19, 2008

A BABY NAMED LAUGHTER - A missionary story from Senegal, West Africa

"Foday! Only monkeys munch peanuts so quickly. Slow down or you will choke," his dad yelled to him. The new peanuts were so fresh and were Foday's favorite snack. Maamu giggled at the thought of her brother looking like a monkey. Foday laughed too.

"Tonight the visitor comes to tell a story at Uncle Dowda's hut", Maamu reminded Foday on the way home from their father's peanut field. "Are you going?"

"The stories are for grown-ups. I don't know what it has to do with me. It's just not interesting."

"The storyteller says that God has created all people and loves each one very much", said Maamu.

"Yeah, I know but I like listening to funny stories that make me laugh, but I'll go with you if you don't want to walk in the dark by yourself", signed Foday.

The meeting time started with everyone praising God for the good harvest. Our neighbor praised God for the good health of his wife and their new baby.

The visitor had everyone's attention when he said,

"Abraham's wife, Sarah still had no children. She was too old to have any, but God remembered his promise to Abraham and Sarah that He would give them a son. An angel of God arrived at Sarah's tent and announced that she was to give birth to a son. Sarah laughed and said, "I'm too old; it's impossible."

Just as all the men were pondering the thought of an old woman having a baby, a woman's laugh broke the silence.

"Hee heee hee, ha ha ha, an old woman like me having a baby! Hee, hee, hahaha!" laughed Great Aunt Beenay, one of the oldest women in our village.

She was sitting in the backyard of her hut. There was just a stick fence separating her yard from where the meeting was being held. Each meeting she was very quiet as she listened to the stories, but this story was just too funny, and she laughed out loud.

The visitor laughed at Beenay laughing, and then everyone laughed. When the laughter stopped, the visitor continued telling the story.

"The angel heard Sarah laugh and said to Abraham, 'Is anything too hard for the Lord?' God kept his promise. Sarah had a baby that same year, a baby boy."

The story was so funny, Foday thought. "How could that happen?" Then he heard everyone agree,

"God who is the God of Abraham can do anything. He truly is great."

Beenay shouted, "God did it, only God could do that!"

"Abraham and Sarah named the baby Isaac, which means 'Laughter'. Sarah said God had made her laugh and everyone who hears the story will laugh with her", the visitor said. Everyone laughed again.

"What a good story. Yes, it must be true. Only God could do that", Foday said to Maamu on the way home. "He is a great God and can even make people laugh."

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