July 2007 - Adult/Youth Servant Trip
ST. MATTHEW MISSION TEAM TEACHES BIBLE SCHOOL IN MEXICO
On July 14, a 28-member mission team sponsored by St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Barrington, traveled to El Paso, Texas, to teach Bible school in Zaragosa, Mexico.
Each summer since 1998, a mission team from St. Matthew has taught Bible school at Santisima Trinidad, the Lutheran congregation in Zaragosa, a community on the eastern edge of Ciudad Juarez. When Bible school opened on Monday, July 16, 197 children registered for the program. This was the largest first-day attendance for Bible school. By Thursday enrollment had grown to 247.
To teach the daily Bible lessons, the team used songs, skits, Bible verses, crafts, and even a quiz show. This helps to maximize the limited Spanish language skills of the team. Many of the children enrolled in Bible school have returned year after year. The team has even taught the children of children they taught in their early years.
This year three adult members of the team were from St. Luke Lutheran Church, Montgomery, IL. That congregation hopes to begin a mission trip program of their own and accompanied the team from St. Matthew to see how mission trips are done.
Since their inception, these mission trips have been led by the Rev. Gerald Schalk, pastor of St. Matthew. With his impending retirement in 2008, this year’s trip also prepared the team for a transition in leadership. Next year the team will be led by David Moll, Assistant to the Pastor for Youth Ministry.
While the team works in Mexico each day, they live at Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso.
