The Donkey Boy: Tales from the Life of Jesus

By Doreen Harrison

Ben is like any other 10 year old boy in Galilee, taking goods and fish to market on the back of his donkey. That is why they call him the donkey boy.

But unusual things begin to happen when Ben meets up with a carpenter from the town of Nazareth.

This enchanting tale of one young boy's relationship with Chri

• Language: English
• Publisher: Faithbuilders
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910942161

Doreen Harrison

Now in her eighties, Doreen Harrison spent many years as a school teacher, head teacher and also as a church minister in both the Salvation Army and the Baptist church. A wife, mother and grandmother, her knowledge of children and the way they think comes across in her charming works of Christian fiction. Doreen is also an award winning poet.

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Faithbuilders Publishing

The Donkey Boy

by Doreen Harrison

The Donkey Boy by Doreen Harrison

First Published in Great Britain in 2015

FAITHBUILDERS PUBLISHING www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk

An Imprint of Apostolos Publishing Ltd,

3rd Floor, 207 Regent Street,

London W1B 3HH

www.apostolos-publishing.com

Copyright © 2015 Doreen Harrison

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture quotations contained are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://bible.org Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-910942-16-1

Cover Design by Blitz Media, Pontypool, Torfaen

Cover Image © Martina Misar-tummeltshammer | Dreamstime Stock Photos.

Other stock photo illustrations used under license and are credited throughout.

First printed in Great Britain

Dedicated to all the children in my life.

Contents

The Trouble with Rachel

Delicious Dates

Mysterious Uncle Seth

Sunday Special

At Sea in a Storm

Pigs in a Panic

All Things Bright and Beautiful

The Swallow’s Song

The Trouble with Rachel

Ben was eight years old and quite tall for his age, with a mop of long brown hair and the sort of constantly smiling face which always made you want to smile back. Ben lived with his mum, dad and baby sister Rachel in the little village of Bethsaida in Galilee. There had been two other brothers born between Ben and Rachel, but these had both become ill and died. There was a courtyard behind the house, with a well and a stable for the family donkey. Ben’s father hired the donkey to people who had things to fetch or carry and he also hired Ben to be the donkey boy.

The donkey was trained to follow Ben and together they made a good team. But the donkey was sometimes lazy and then even a short errand might take all day. Ben never hit the donkey although he always carried a stick with him; it was just for effect, really. He wanted to look as efficient as possible. Usually he tried to coax the donkey to move more quickly by speaking gently to it or by giving it something special to eat. However, he was beginning to think that the donkey had grown wise to such treats and went slowly on purpose.

There were times when Ben did not want to work with the donkey. Like most boys his age, he wanted to climb the hills, catch fish in the lake and play games with his friends in the market. That was why Ben thought his name was very useful, for when his father shouted Ben!, even if he shouted very loudly, it only took a fraction of a second to say, and so Ben could always pretend he hadn’t heard. But the donkey knew his master’s voice and he would begin to bray and