Once upon a time, in the wide, grassy plains in Zambia, Africa, there lived a little impala named Ilya. Ilya had soft brown fur, big curious eyes, and legs that could jump higher than you could ever imagine!
Below left is a male lion with his pride. Below right – male Impala in a bachelor herd.
Ilya lived with her family in a big group called a herd. They spent their days munching on yummy grass and playing fun games like tag. But sometimes, Ilya felt scared because there were animals like lions who wanted to eat impalas for lunch!
One day, while Ilya was playing with her cousins, she heard a loud bark. It was the alarm call! “Quick!” shouted Ilya’s mom. “Lions are coming, we need to run!”
Ilya’s heart raced as she started to run. She zigzagged left and right, just like her mom had taught her. As she ran, she came to a small stream. On the other side was safety, but Ilya couldn’t see the bottom of the stream.
“Jump, Ilya!” called her mom. “You can do it!”
But Ilya was afraid. “I can’t see where I’ll land,” she cried.
“You have to trust, little one,” her mom said gently. “Sometimes we can’t see everything, but we still need to take a leap of faith.”
Ilya took a deep breath. She thought about how her mom had always kept her safe. Even though she couldn’t see the bottom of the stream, she decided to trust. With all her might, Ilya jumped!
Whoosh! Ilya soared through the air, higher than she’d ever jumped before. She landed safely on the other side, right next to her mom.
“You did it, Ilya!” her mom cheered. “You took a leap of faith!”
That night, as Ilya snuggled close to her mom under the starry sky, her mom told her a special story.
“Ilya,” she said, “your jump today reminds me of something very important. Just like how you trusted me even when you couldn’t see everything, there’s someone who wants us to trust Him too.”
“Who’s that?” Ilya asked curiously.
“His name is Jesus,” her mom explained. “We can’t see Him, but He loves us very much. He wants us to trust Him and follow Him, even when we don’t understand everything.”
“But how can we follow someone we can’t see?” Ilya wondered.
“It’s like taking a leap of faith,” her mother explained. “We can’t always see everything clearly, but we know that God has told us that Jesus will save us by forgiving us for our sins if we receive Him by faith! But we trust that God is there to receive us if we come to him by faith. To be saved from our sins, we need to:
- Admit that we have sinned and ask God to forgive us.
- Believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.
- Receive Jesus as our Savior and trust Him with our lives.
When we do this, God forgives us and welcomes us into His family forever.”
Ilya thought about her big jump and how scary but exciting it had been. “I think I understand,” she said. “Trusting Jesus is like taking a big, happy jump into His arms!”
“That’s right, my little one,” her mom nuzzled her gently. “And the best part is, when we trust Jesus, He promises always to catch us and keep us safe forever as part of His family.”
As Ilya drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of taking wonderful leaps of faith, knowing that Jesus would always be there to catch her.
The End
Zambia Hunt 
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