Children's Corner: Martinsfest

By Calvin Veith

In a city called Erfurt, in Germany, lived a boy named Daniel. Every year Daniel looked forward to November 10, the day called Martinsfest. At night the children carried lanterns in a big parade.

This year Daniel spent the whole week before Martinsfest making the best lantern ever. He cut and glued, and cut and glued some more until his design was finished. Daniel made a truly awesome lantern.

Daniel could hardly wait for the children's lantern parade to begin. He was proud of his special lantern. That night, thousands of children from Erfurt and other villages marched through town. Daniel walked down the streets with his lantern glowing in the dark, right up to the big church where the parade ended.

When the parade was over, Daniel found Mama and Papa, and they started home together. Along the way, they saw a big tent right in the middle of the town. Through the tent opening, Daniel saw lots of people listening to a man. He and his parents stepped inside to hear what the man was saying. He was talking about Martinsfest, so Daniel and his parents walked in and sat down.

The man explained that there were TWO men named Martin remembered on this special day. One lived long, long ago, and had been a soldier in the Roman army for 25 years. Then he had a vision which caused him to believe in Christ. He was called St. Martin. The other man, named Martin Luther, lived in Germany about 500 years ago.

When Martin Luther was a young man living right there in Erfurt, he couldn't understand the language spoken in church services. So Martin studied and began to read the Bible for himself. He couldn't believe his eyes when he read in the Bible that salvation is a free gift from God. He read that all people do bad things, no one is good enough to go to heaven. But Martin also read that God sent His perfect son Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead to forgive us from our sins. If we believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him to take away our sins, we can go to heaven.

Martin Luther thought these were the best words he had ever read. He wanted everyone in Germany to be able to read God's Word, so he translated the Bible into German. The Bible says in John 8:12 that Jesus is the light of the world. Anyone who follows Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Some Germans were not happy with the truth Martin Luther discovered in the Bible. They tried to kill him so he wouldn't keep telling people what he had read. Martin hid in a castle for a while to stay safe.

After Martin Luther died and the years passed by, a sad thing happened in Germany. Many people didn't remember why they carried lanterns during Martinsfest. They forgot that Jesus is the light of the world.

Before that night in the tent, Daniel didn't really know who Martin Luther was, and he wasn't too sure about God either. Daniel hadn't known the reason children carry lanterns during Martinfest is to remember the man who made it possible for the German people to read the Bible for themselves. Daniel, like many other boys and girls in Germany, needed someone to tell him about Jesus.

Maybe when you're older, you will go to Germany and tell children like Daniel about Jesus. But you don't have to wait. You can tell people about Jesus right now. You can tell them that the Jesus is the light of the world. You can tell them that the only way to get to heaven is by believing that Jesus died for their sins. You can give Bibles and gospel tracts to your friends, so they can read about Jesus for themselves.

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