Children learned of Bible stories teaching of God’s faithfulness to us

“Stay in School” Scholarship recipients helped plan, organize, and lead their 2022 VBS

It has been a couple of years since Santisima Trinidad organized and held a Vacation Bible School (VBS). Prior to 2020, Servant Event teams would partner with Pastor Jose Hernandez, shepherd of Iglesia Luterana Santisima Trinidad on the east side of Juarez, to help bring the Gospel to their community’s children through music, crafts, games, and Bible stories.

“VBS is a great way for us to reach out to unchurched families, invite them to our church services and activities,” Pastor Hernandez shared earlier this year, “Churches throughout the world saw the negative impact of the pandemic to their congregation, and for us, it was noticeable among our younger church members.”

In Mexico, during the shut-downs that kept churches from meeting, the biggest impact seen was with children, because even after churches were allowed to congregate at half-capacity, the government asked to keep children out of social gathering events, such as church.

“We needed to find a way to get our children back into church,” said Pastor Hernandez, “So we decided to combine this year’s distribution of backpacks along with a five day VBS organized and led by our youth, specifically those who are receiving Stay in School Scholarships.”

Thanks to multiple donors, Santisima was able to give children their backpacks during their VBS week

By the end of the third week of August, 45 kids attended VBS at Santisima Trinidad, enjoying the opportunity to sing, play, learn, and eat together. Santisima Trinidad has the largest group of students receiving scholarships through Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care’s (YLM) “Stay In School” scholarship program. As part of their scholarship requirements, these youth attend church weekly and assist Pastor Hernandez with different ministry opportunities.

“The youth were in charge of everything. Those who take music classes with me took care of the music, while others did the story telling and helped lead games and crafts.”

By the end of the week, not only did these youth learned the hard work and joy that comes with sharing the Gospel, but they exhibited some understanding of their own responsibility to the church as members.

“They got together and painted our church sign,” Pastor Hernandez shared afterwards with a smile, “I didn’t ask them to, they simply saw the need and did what they were able to do.”

If you would like to contribute towards the “Stay in School” Scholarship program, you can donate through YLM today!