In Mexico, April 30th is known as Día de los Niños, which is a day dedicated to celebrating children, and the members of Iglesia Luterana Santisima Trinidad made sure, after everything was “cancelled” in 2020, the children of Kilometro 30 and the colonia of San Francisco would get something to let them know they are special and celebrated.
Together, the congregation raised the money to give out over 200 hamburgers, bags of chips, and cans of soda. On April 24th, the children received their meals first then their parents or legal guardians. Pastor Jose Hernandez, shepherd of Santisima, one of Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care’s (YLM) partnering mission-churches, shared how much he has missed seeing these children.
“It’s been over a year,” he shared over a virtual YLM meeting, “The Juarez government are allowing churches to operate at 30% but children are not allowed to come to church. I have missed their sweet little faces and it was good for my heart to see them all, even if it was for just one day.”
Due to COVID restrictions, members of Santisima came together at the church to prepare the burgers, wrap them up, and load everything up. They then went to Kilometro 30 and colonia San Francisco to distribute the wrapped burgers, chips, and drinks, taking the time to pray with the children, talk with the adults, and show love through presence and action.
“We’ve done this hamburgesada (hamburger fest) for twenty-one years,” Pastor Hernandez explained, “It was hard not being able to do it last year because of the pandemic, but we weren’t going to let another year go by without us celebrating those beautiful children.”
As things slowly pick up pace, and constant changes come their way, the people of Santisima Trinidad are eager and willing to pick up the ministry they have been supporting in both impoverished areas, and YLM is grateful to be a part of helping them reach out to their communities, near and far, with the love of God, in word and deed.
