Augustine: Troubled Youth, Famous Thinker
This is an electronic version of our Glimpses for Kids children's worship bulletin inserts.
These are designed to present Christian biographies for Children's church, educational or worship ministries.  The
books Augustine wrote 1,600 years ago are still printed and studied today.
He wrote about his life in great detail, so we know much about him.
Augustine was one of the most influential Christians
since the time of Jesus. Here is part of his story, beginning when he
was 16 years old:
I had to sneak by her. Mother prayed for me in her bedroom every night,
and if I wasn't careful, she would hear me leaving now. I didn't want
another lecture.
"Yes, Lord, help me clean up my sinful life," I whispered in agreement
to her prayers. "Later, not now."
Quietly, I slipped out the door. It was almost midnight, but the moon
was bright, filtering light through the fruit trees just outside our North
African home. My friends and I were meeting to have some fun that night.
Romanianus was the last of the five to arrive at Marcus' house. "I have
the baskets," he said. "Let's go!"
Hiding in the Moonlight
We ran from bush to bush in the moonlight, hiding carefully as we neared
the neighbors' orchard.
"You go first, Augustine," whispered Marcus.
I glared at him.
How is it that Marcus always gets these grand ideas and then pushes me
to do the dirty work?
I wanted to look good in front of the other guys, so I went first while
the others hid and watched. I ducked low, walking hunched over until I
reached the tree. I pulled a pear from the lowest branch, then another,
and another. A rush of excitement went up my spine. Within minutes my
arms were laden with ripened yellow and green pears. Romanianus brought
out one of his bushel baskets and I filled the bottom of it with the stolen
pears.
"Come on," I whispered, waving to the guys in the darkness. "Let's do
it!"
Marcus squealed with delight. "Look at this! It's all ours! For free!"
Juice dripped from my chin as I ate one of the stolen pears, all the
while looking for movement from the neighbor's house. Nothing.
"Let's go," I said, tossing a core into the bushes, "or we won't be able
to carry it all."
 Peer
Pressure
I didn't steal things because I was poor or hungry. My parents had enough
money to buy plenty of food and clothing and a good education. I wanted
to steal just to see how it felt--and to get in good with my friends.
In fact, we had stolen far more than we could eat, and got rid of the
evidence by feeding the pears to Marcus' pigs. After all our fun, I sneaked
back into my house, tiptoeing past my mother's darkened bedroom. Everyone
was asleep.
I gripped my pillow and laughed into it. That was fun!
Find out how Augustine discovered an important
truth in part 2 of this "Glimpses for Kids" children's worship
bulletin insert.
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