GENERATING A JESUS GENERATION-7 & 8 SPANISH ENRICHMENT

Martin Luther Jr/Sr High School has been awarded a "To All Generations" Grant that is funding a 7th & 8th grade Spanish program at St Paul Lutheran School, Fairmont; St Paul's Lutheran School, Truman and Martin Luther Jr/Sr High School, Northrop taught by Senora Veronica Balderas.  Our goal is to help students become more familiar with the Hispanic culture and the Spanish language so that they will be prepared to witness. The mission statement of Martin Luther High School is “preparing students for discipleship until Christ’s return.” The mission statement of the LMCS reads “In grateful response to God’s grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities and the world.”  Understanding, familiarity, and compassion prepares hearts for ministry. Senora Balderas has the heart for ministry and the skills to introduce young children to a culture they are unfamiliar with. In the long term, students could end up with six to eight years of Spanish training rather than two or three. This immersion will better prepare them for mission work and/or interacting with their Hispanic neighbors as they step out into the world to share God’s Word.

Public school funding was used for textbooks but it would not cover anything religious. We took advantage of the wonderful resources Concordia Publishing House has and ordered Christian resources. Each student was given a copy of La Historia de Jesus (My Stories about Jesus) as their own to keep. We also ordered 25 Cien Historia Biblicas (One Hundred Bible Stories) for the students to use in class, as well as the companion activity book and bilingual edition for the teacher. We also ordered single copies of Las preguntas de la vida, las respuestas de Dios (Life's Big Questions, God's Big Answers) and La vida de jesus: Pasion (The Life of Jesus: Passion) to be used in the classroom. In each book we placed a sticker that said "This book was provided to you by the “To All Generations” Grant of the MN South Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod via Martin Luther Jr/Sr High School. GO AND TELL OTHERS ABOUT JESUS!"

Students from St Paul's Lutheran School, Truman perform "A-B-C's" and  "Let it Snow" in Spanish.

Pictured are some of the 7 & 8 Spanish students with their Bibles and books that they will use in their "Generating a JESUS Generation-Spanish Enrichment" Classes. Front l-r: Samuel Marroquin Balderas, Cedar Bohlsen, Teacher Senora Veronica Balderas, Hailey Simpson, Vienna Thompson. Back l-r: Noah Johnson, John Henry IV, Levi Stevens, Caleb Meyer, Ashley Burkey, Kate Kolbe.