One day, I came home from school feeling sad.

“Michael, what happened?” my mom asked.

“Three boys at school bully me. They call me Potato Boy and walk away from me.”

My mother tried to ask the teacher for help, but there was no follow-through. When we talked about it in family worship time, my dad said, “We should pray before doing anything else.”

We prayed, and I put the bullies’ names on my prayer map, a list of people in our lives we pray for often. We all continued praying to God about this problem.

Then, on February 6, my 10th birthday, one of the bullies came up to me and, looking at me, stumbled over his words as he said in English, “Please forgive me.”

“I will forgive you,” I said, shocked.

I went home very happy and, as my mother, brother, and I were walking to the restaurant to celebrate my birthday that afternoon, I told my mother what happened. She hugged me and rejoiced.

My dad joined us after getting out of language school. When I told him the news, he was shocked and said, “God has answered your prayer, Son.”

“He has,” I agreed, smiling.

When we went home, I received my birthday presents from my mom and dad. I had a great birthday. But do you know what the best present was? It was the apology from the bullies who are now my friends. And to this day, they bully me no more. God answered my prayers.

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

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