Finding Jesus Before Finding a Church: The Seed of Faith

The Seed of Faith

Some children discover something beautiful about faith: they find Jesus before they ever find a church name, as the seed of faith is planted.

The Quiet Servant

It began with a mother falling ill and becoming bedridden. A nurse at the hospital where the father worked heard about their situation. For six months, this kind woman prayed for the family from a distance, asking God for an opportunity to help.

One day, she knocked on their door, but nobody was home. She tried again a month later and met the father. After that, she began visiting their home regularly after her hospital shifts. She would cook meals, clean their floors, do household chores, and then leave for her night duty—all without ever mentioning which church she attended or even directly saying she was a Christian.

Her actions spoke of Jesus without her needing to say his name out loud. This was the first seed of faith planted in the family's hearts.

The Clapping Hands Place

After serving the family quietly for months, she finally asked, "There are people who clap hands. Would you like to go there? There are children dancing and clapping hands."

For the children, this sounded amazing! They begged their father to take them, and he did. Their mother couldn't come since she was still bedridden. But oh, how they loved it! The joyful atmosphere, the singing, the dancing children—it was wonderful. No one ever told them the name of the church. To them, it was simply "the clapping hands place," and each week they'd eagerly ask to go back.

The Visitor

The nurse also introduced the family to a visitor. Before he returned to his home country, she arranged a phone call with the father. The visitor told him, "In a month, your wife will be healed." The father wondered about the specific timeframe, but kept these words in his heart. The mother had surgery, and remarkably, she was completely restored to health—exactly one month later. This miracle watered the seed of faith that had been planted.

The Explorer

When the family moved back to their home country, they wondered: "Are there Christians here too? Are there people who clap their hands like the ones we visited?"

The youngest brother, only in second grade at the time, became the family explorer. For two days, he searched the neighborhood looking for crosses on houses but found nothing. On the third day, he ventured in a different direction and finally spotted a cross on someone's home.

The two brothers sent him to investigate further. When he didn't return for quite a while, the other siblings grew concerned. They went looking for him and found him comfortably sitting on a couch, happily chatting with three girls! The parents of these girls welcomed them with food, and they discovered the father was a pastor. Soon after, the family began attending their church.

The Sound from Above

Not long after, they heard something familiar from their apartment building—the sound of clapping! It seemed to be coming from the floor above them. The little explorer brother, now experienced in these matters, traced the sound and reported back that he'd found more clappers!

Excitement filled them as they discovered two different Christian communities. It felt like treasure hunting, finding these pockets of faith scattered around. They happily began attending both communities.

The Lesson About Names

One day, the first pastor discovered they were also attending the other church and giving their tithe there too. He was upset.

"How can you go to that church? You come to this church, so you pay tithe here. You cannot pay tithe anywhere else," he told them.

This was the first time they heard that churches had names and expected exclusive financial support. Though they followed his instructions at first, it didn't feel right in their hearts. Eventually, they left that church and found freedom, continuing with the other congregation despite it being farther away.

What They Learned

Looking back as adults, they understood something important that they knew instinctively as children: faith grows from many sources. Some people plant seeds, some water them, some help the plant grow stronger—but it's also the sun, air, and rain that make the tree flourish.

The seed of faith that began with a quiet nurse had grown into a strong tree, branching out in unexpected directions. That nurse who quietly served their family planted seeds of faith through love and service without ever promoting herself or a specific church.

This reflects what Paul wrote in the Bible: "For when one says, 'I follow Paul,' and another, 'I follow Apollos,' are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Sadly, sometimes church leaders today believe everything happens because of them or their church alone. They don't recognize God's work happening elsewhere. They become so focused on their church name, their vision, and their ministry that they sometimes forget it's all about Jesus.

Children often experience faith without knowing church names—they simply follow the sound of joyful worship and recognize the love of Christ in those who serve without seeking recognition. Perhaps there's wisdom in that childlike perspective that adults would do well to remember.

In the end, the seed of faith grows best when it's nourished by love and focused on Jesus, not on institutional names or boundaries.

The Seed of Faith: 1 Corinthians 3:4-7

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