August 1999-Adult/Youth Servant Trip
VOLUNTEERS TEACH BIBLE SCHOOL IN ZARAGOSA,
MEXICO
The arrival of two vans carrying the Adult/Youth
Servant Team from St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Barrington, produced
a Pied Piper-like response from the children in the Zaragosa community
of Juarez, Mexico. From every direction the children came running
to Bible school at Santisima Trinidad, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
During the week of July 18, twenty-five members
of St. Matthew (16 teenagers and 9 adults) taught Bible school in
Zaragosa, a quickly growing area on the eastern edge of Juarez.
Despite the team's limited Spanish-language skills,
they taught songs and Bible verses and helped the children complete
craft projects related to each day's Bible story. To teach the Bible
stories the team used animated videos which had been dubbed in Spanish.
On the first day of Bible school, 83 children
attended. By Friday, the last day of the program, attendance had
grown to 176.
The program was designed for children ages 5 through
12, but children as young as 2 and as old as 14 took part in Bible
school. In order to attend Bible school, many older children had
to bring their younger siblings because they are caring for them
while their parents work in local factories.
The neighborhood around Santisima Trinidad is
now dominated by newly constructed manufacturing facilities belonging
to American companies. This has brought a prosperity to the area
and a great influx of people.
This area of Zaragosa is not poor by Mexican standards.
However, while many of the homes are constructed of concrete blocks,
others are built of cardboard, packing crates, and shipping pallets.
Streets throughout the neighborhood are all dirt.
The Servant Team used Ysleta Lutheran Mission
in El Paso, Texas, as their home base during their mission trip.
This was the seventh team sponsored by St. Matthew
since 1995. In addition to teaching Bible school, Servant Teams
have completed construction projects and provided medical services
in the Juarez area.
Since St. Matthew started sending Servant Teams,
the program has had three goals. Team members are given the opportunity
to experience the faith in another culture, to assist in ministry
projects which could not be accomplished without their help, and
to live as a Christian community of faith.
The 1997 and 1998 Adult Servant Teams from
St. Matthew helped to build the church building at Santisima Trinidad.
On October 9, St. Matthew will be sending a team of 19 adults to
Ysleta to work on construction and medical projects.
