The Little Monkeys Find Forgiveness

Once upon a time there was a family of monkeys who lived deep in the jungle of South America. But this family was different from any ordinary family. There was a daddy monkey and two young monkeys, Maya and Manny. They didn't have a mother.
Now the daddy monkey was always busy collecting food or finding safe places to take Maya and Manny. And the little monkeys felt very lonely. They wanted their daddy's attention so badly that they did awful things to each other and to their friends. They never wanted to take a bath or help with the cleaning. They told lies and didn't do their homework.
"One day I am going to run away and never come home." Maya told Manny.
"Well that's fine with me. I get tired of you being here, you are always in my way.” Said Manny.
"Do you think our daddy would come and look for me?" Maya asked.
"NO, I don't think he would really notice you were gone." Manny replied.
Just then a beautiful parrot flew out of the jungles’ canopy and landed next to the little monkeys.
"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation.” The parrot told them. “And I want to tell you a story that I heard in a nearby village.”
The parrot stretched his colorful wings and settled in more comfortably. Maya and Manny huddled closer, curious to hear what the parrot would say.
"A stranger came to the village near the river and told the people there about a man who loved them so much that he would wash all their sins away." The parrot told them.
Maya and Manny remembered all the bad things they had done to each other and to their friends. They kept listening as the parrot continued.
"This was the same man who had created the whole earth and all of the living creatures. He was the only true and living God; and his name was Jesus."
Maya and Manny were fascinated. "Tell us more." They said.
"Well, this man Jesus knew that the people would never accept him unless he was in the form of a man, so he came as a baby and grew and did many wonderful things. He loved the people so much that he wanted them all to spend eternity with him in heaven. So he died on the cross; taking all the sins upon himself, then in three days he rose from the dead!"
Maya and Manny were so excited. "How can Jesus forgive our sins?"
“All you have to do is believe in Jesus and ask him to forgive you and he will.”
“Let’s ask him right now!” The little monkeys prayed and asked Jesus to forgive them of all their sins and they told him that they believed in him and wanted to love him as much as he loved them. Then the parrot told the little monkeys one more thing.
"I have been watching from high above when I fly around the jungle and I have seen that your family is different than many other monkeys. You will have to work hard to help each other and you need to know that your daddy loves you so much that he goes out and finds food to take care of you. Just because someone you love isn’t always there doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Sometimes being apart only makes love stronger. You need to work together as a team and ask Jesus to help you.”
The little monkeys thanked the parrot and then waited for their daddy to come home. They were excited about asking his forgiveness and to tell him about Jesus also.