Read part 1 and part 3!

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The boy continues to rub the polish on my boots. He snaps the rag back and forth.

The conviction burning in my heart rises to my throat. I know what I need to do.

I glance at my friends behind me, all engrossed in light conversation.  I was supposed to be on vacation, but yet maybe there was a reason I chose to wear my boots today.

“So does your family go to church?”

“We go to mass sometimes.” Jeremy taps on the bottom of my boot and I shift in my chair to put my other foot on his box.

“Do you like going to mass?”

“Not a whole lot.”

“Why?” I ask, half-suspecting the answer of this quick minded eleven-year-old.

For the first time, Jeremy doesn’t answer my question. He just shrugs and applies the black polish with a rag.

“Do you think it’s kinda boring?”

He looks up at me with a smirk and nods.

I laugh. “That’s okay. But have you at least learned some Bible stories?”

He shakes his head.

“Can I tell you one while you’re finishing up my boots?”

He smiles. “Yeah!”

I panic for a moment. What story can I tell that will be the most interesting for him? I need to catch his attention.

But I know the answer. I don’t need to make the Bible exciting for him. He just needs to know the most important story of all.

Jeremy’s hands move fast while I tell him the story about the King who sent His Son to rescue His people. But then evil men took this Son and killed him.

Jeremy gazes up at me and for the first time his hands still.

“But this Son, Jesus, did not stay dead,” I say with a smile. “He rose three days later.”

I explain that Jesus also wants us to be a part of His kingdom and if we repent of our sins and accept Him as our Savior then we can go to heaven to be with Him one day.

Jeremy finishes his work and puts his tools back in his box. Then I motioned for him to sit next to me on the stool.

“Jeremy, do you want Jesus to save you from your sins?”

The boy nods. “Yeah, I do. I want him to forgive me.”

I smile. “Okay then. We’re going to pray. Repeat after me.”

Jeremy repeats the words with a tremor in his voice. Then he finishes and he looks up at me with a shy smile.

“Congratulations, Jeremy. You’re now part of God’s family!”

Jeremy gives me a hug then I pay for my shoeshine and send him on his way.

But as he walks back out to the street, a twist in my gut tells me that something is terribly wrong.

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Read part 3!