"Tim LaHaye - Left Behind Kids 01 - Vanishings" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

But the speaker said, "If you'll just indulge me for a few moments, I promise not to take more than five
minutes of your time. And I plead with you to let your children hear this too."

Somehow, that quieted the crowd. The man launched into a very fast, very brief mes-sage that included
verses from the Bible and a good bit of shouting. Vicki had been to church only once with a friend, and
she had no idea what he was talking about. She was struck, however, that everyone, even the bar-
tenders and musicians, seemed to stop and listen. No one ran around, no one spoke, no one moved.

The speaking didn't seem all that great, but there was a feeling, an atmosphere. The man seemed to
know what he was talking about and spoke with confidence and authority. The best Vicki could figure
out, he was saying that everyone was a sinner and needed God. God loved them and wanted to forgive
their sins and promise to take them to heaven when they died.

She didn't believe him. She hated her life, and if she did things wrong, they weren't any worse than what
her own parents did. They smoked and drank and fought. What was the big deal? And if God loved
them, why were they living in a trailer park?

Vicki wanted to get going, to run with her friends, but she didn't want to be the only one moving.
Everyone else seemed frozen in place. Vicki didn't understand it. She hadn't heard too much of this
religious talk, and she didn't care to hear any more. When she turned to complain to her parents, she was
shocked to see her mother standing there with her eyes closed, silently moving her lips. Could she be
praying?

And her father! Usually something like this would make him nervous and fidgety. It wouldn't have
surprised her if he had tried to shout down the speaker or cause some other disturbance. But there he
stood, staring at the preacher, not moving. "Daddy?" she whis-pered.

He held up a hand to shush her. What was so interesting?. What was keeping all these party people
quiet? The preacher asked his listeners to bow their heads and close their eyes. Nowthere was
something they would never do. If there was anything Vicki's dad and his friends hated more than being
told what to do, she didn't know what it was.

When she looked around, however, almost everyone was doing it! Some just stared at the ground, but
most had their eyes closed. The preacher told them how they could receive Christ. "Tell God you realize
you're a sinner," he said. "Thank him for sending Jesus to die for you, and accept his offer of forgiveness."

Vicki still didn't understand. The whole thing made her uneasy, but something was happening here. She
looked to her dad and was stunned to see he had fallen to his knees and was crying. Her mother
crouched next to him, hugging him and praying with him.

Vicki was embarrassed. As soon as the preacher finished and the music started again, she slipped away
with her friends. "What was that all about?" she asked them.

"Who knows?" a boy said, pulling cans of beer from a paper bag and passing them around. "You ought
to ask your old man. He really seemed into it. Your mom too."

Vicki shrugged. Her girlfriend added, "They left the dance, you know."

"What do you mean?" Vicki asked.