Pastor Stephen explains to five-year old Luna what will be happening after asking if she wants to be baptized

Nine year old Kimberly is baptized into the family of Christ

On Wednesday mornings, people from around the La Santa Biblia gather together about half an hour before ten in the morning to listen to the Word of God, sing, and pray together before the distribution of food bags and soup for the children.  The last Wednesday of September, as people gathered together, the anticipation of the special day could be felt in the air.

Baptisms were to take place that morning, three of them. Pastor Stephen Heimer, from Zion Lutheran Church in El Paso, Texas, makes the trip to La Santa Biblia every Wednesday morning to help feed this gathering of men, women, and children.  Together, they read out of the Small Catechism, with Pastor Stephen explaining the purpose behind gathering, behind praying, behind studying God’s Word, and behind baptism.

As the girls set to be baptized arrived, along with their guardians and sponsors, Pastor Stephen spoke with the older ones, explaining what was going to happen through the water and the Word.  Little Luna nodded as he asked if she wanted to be baptized, to be a child of God.  The youngest, at two months, slept through it all until the water was poured over her head.

It is always a joy to witness baptisms at La Santa Biblia.  The church without a building keeps growing in numbers as people in need come seeking resources offered by the mission-church in Anapra.  Through the continuous exposure to the love, care, and generosity of the members of this church-body, people have been experiencing God’s love in the most tangible and elemental way.

Two-month old Dana is baptized into the family of Christ

Yessika asked to be baptized as soon as the last baptism took place

As Pastor Stephen declared two-month-old Dana a child of God, born again into the family of Christ, Yessika spoke up with enthusiasm, “I want to be baptized!”

And so, a fourth baptism happened, because much like the Ethiopian in the book of Acts, there was no reason for it not to happen.  This young woman has been helping at La Santa Biblia for several years now, and is currently taking courses through the deaconess program being offered by the seminary in the Dominican Republic.  She has a heart to serve, much like her older sister Rosy Lira, but had never been baptized before.

To see the little girls –nine-year-old Kimberly, five-year-old Luna, and two-month old Dana –being baptized moved Yessika’s heart with the desire to receive the gifts freely given by God to His children through baptism.

Out of all the mission-churches partnering with Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM), La Santa Biblia is the one that seems to be at a disadvantage, as their only accommodations are a 53-foot storage container, a metal roof to provide shade during the hot months, and a free standing bathroom built out of leftover scraps of lumber and plywood.  Yet, it is at La Santa Biblia where baptisms occur often and where people are seeking to grow in the faith and serve God by serving others.

Donate today to help the El Paso and Juarez mission-churches partnering with YLM to continue taking the Word of God to the Borderland people.