Iglesia Luterana La Santa Biblia in Rancho Anapra, Juarez, is one of several mission-churches partnering with Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) and has been growing in the last five years. Every year, La Santa Biblia has about twenty baptisms, sometimes more, of infants, children, youth and adults.

The help of Rev. Stephen Heimer, senior pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in El Paso, Texas, has made it possible to bring continual instruction and biblical teaching to this growing congregation. Every Wednesday, Pastor Stephen makes the trip to Anapra, bringing along his guitar and Bible, to impart God’s Word to those who come to La Santa Biblia. His caring and friendly nature has given many people opportunities to seek him out for prayer or counseling, receiving comfort from him and God’s Word.

The Wednesday after Easter Sunday, Pastor Stephen brought his family along to witness the baptism of nine children, from a little girl of less than a year to a twelve-year old girl. It was a blessing to witness this miracle as these boys and girls were given new life through the waters of baptism.

La Santa Biblia has been known for having multiple baptisms in one day. Back in 2018, they baptized 28 individuals, from children to adults. In these first four months of 2022, 19 baptisms have taken place in YLM’s partnering mission-churches in Juarez and El Paso. As the mission-churches continue to work towards reaching out to the community through simple acts of kindness, doors are opened to share the Gospel to many.

The mission-churches approach baptism differently, but all agree on one thing –it is a free gift of God for all the nations, no matter the age, that brings new life through water and God’s Word.