The Good Samaritan, Circa 2015

Each year, my classes rewrite the Parable of the Good Samaritan, putting it into the context of their teenage worlds. Here are several looks at the efforts of some of my juniors. Interestingly, the first two are from international students. My (pronounced me) is from Japan and Alexandria is from China. The kids are very creative! I particularly like My's- you will see why!

My Ngo:

Once upon a time, there were three girls who were always hanging around together at Westbury Christian School. Their names were My, Brenna, and Nelsha. They called themselves best friends. One day, My had a very bad day and she wanted to discuss it with Brenna, so she went up to her and tried to talk. However, Brenna refused to talk because she had to hang out with other friends. So My tried to talk to Nelsha about what happened, but Nelsha did not listen to her because she was busy doing her nails. My was really sad because no one listened to her story and cared about her. But then Coach Hawley, My’s favorite Bible teacher, comes up to My and listens to her story without saying anything. Because he listened to her story, My's bad day turned out to be much better.

Alexandria Zhang:

A man fell off a bridge accidentally. A state swimming champion had a glimpse at the person and said, “This would be really good practice!” A news reporter looked at him, took out his camera, started taking photos, and wrote a news report. However, a young kid walked by and recalled what his teachers taught him in class. The boy took out his toy phone and tried to dial “911” but his toy phone, of course, simply didn’t work. Then, this old lady who was blind heard the man call for “help” and the sound of the person falling into the river. She passed her phone to the child to let him call “911.”

Derrick Cyprian:

One day, a guy from Second Baptist was driving home from school when suddenly his car broke down. A volunteer firefighter drove by and saw him but did nothing to help. Next, a student from Second Baptist whom he recognized saw him but didn't stop, either. Then a student from Westbury Christian was driving along the road, saw him, and had compassion. He helped him push his car to the nearest gas station and paid for his repairs. They went on to play each other in basketball many times and became good friends (even though Westbury Christian won every time).
**Second Baptist is a district rival and as you might guess, Derrick is on our basketball team**

Lowell Wilson:

A woman is walking across the street when someone runs by and steals her purse. A police officer drives by and does nothing because he has to fix his flat tire. A former U.S. Ranger sees it but he does nothing because he has to go to the bar and meet up with his friends. A homeless guy witnesses it and immediately runs, and catches and beats up the thief, returning the woman's purse. She ends up buying him lunch, and a little while later, she ends up falling in love with him!

Applicable quote of the day:

“We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.”
― Timothy Keller, (Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just)

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com