Spanish children Bibles and story books were given out to students as they received their backpacks

A brand-new backpack full of school supplies give many students a sense of being prepared for the new school year, which helps balance out the nerves of new teachers and challenges, both academically and socially. For children in poverty-stricken Anapra, these backpacks are a little more than just preparing them for the new school year -it is an act of kindness showing them they are important and cared for by others.

For ten years, Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) has been working with partnering mission-churches in El Paso and Juarez to provide this needed resource to school children. Year-round donations of brand-new backpacks have been gratefully received from individuals and churches throughout the United States, as well as school supplies collected by LWML groups such as the ladies of Zion Lutheran Church in El Paso, TX. These donations have already made their way across the border into Anapra and up to the mountains of Chihuahua, where children are eager to learn but scarce resources make it difficult for them to have what is needed to achieve their academic goals.

Many different kind of faith-based resources were given out to over 160 students, as well as teachers

“We were able to distribute twenty backpacks among the children in the two Chihuahua missions we shepherd,” Rev. Misael Tovar, pastor to Gloria Dei and San Lorenzo, a little rural town out in the foothills of the Chihuahua mountains, shared at a weekly staff meeting, “And we have a few new families with children who have joined us in the last couple of weeks, so we’ll need more backpacks.”

Students were overjoyed at receiving new backpacks, their beautiful smiles the reward of the hard work done by the members of La Santa Biblia

Pastor Jose Hernandez, shepherd of Santisima Trinidad on the west side of Juarez and the San Pedro y San Pablo mission moved to Kilometer 33, has also distributed backpacks to children of his main congregation, along with those in Kilometer 30, where their congregation has been working at growing a new mission church for several years, and Kilometer 33, a new outreach area where seeds are being planted.

Students were borrowing their teacher’s bilingual Bibles to look through them

“We make sure to do more than just hand out backpacks with school supplies,” Pastor Hernandez shared, “We also remind them of the love God has for them and encourage them to seek God in His Word and through His church.”

At Iglesia Luterana de La Santa Biblia, located in Anapra within walking distance of the Mexico/New Mexico border, the underlaying purpose for this annual distribution of backpacks was evident as over 160 students from a local primary school, Ignacio de Ayante, stood in lines, talking and laughing while playing games as they waited for the distribution to start.

The curiosity of children and their desire to learn opens up opportunities to share the Good News of God’s love with them in many ways

While this school is a government-funded school, it was appreciated by all the teachers, along with Nancy, the school’s director, when they each received a bilingual children’s Bible along with a large bottle of hand sanitizer.

“We want to encourage them to share God’s love found in His Word to their students,” Rosy Lira, deaconess of La Santa Biblia, explained, “They had the option to decline, but every teacher thanked us as we gave them these Bibles.”

Students, from 1^st to 6^th grace, received children’s Bible story books, Spanish New Testament Bibles, and many other faith-encouraging items along with their brand-new backpacks. Some of the students actually requested extra faith material to share with their younger or older siblings who weren’t part of their school.

“It was inspiring to see how these children curiously looked through what they received,” Karla, a staff member of YLM, shared afterwards, “Helping these kids break the cycle of poverty by encouraging and supporting education is a good thing, but what is most important, is planting the seeds of faith within their young hearts.”