LACC grad gives back through ministry to children
Attending an LACC school changed LuÃs' life and he now
serves as the school’s administrative secretary.
By Latin America ChildCare
A house that floats. It’s a good thing to have if you live on a riverfront that floods every year.
In Iquitos, Peru, the homes of the Belén neighborhood have traditionally been wood and grass shacks standing on balsa wood rafts. When the Amazon River rises, so do the homes.
It’s picturesque . . . but not that pleasant for the poor people who live there.
Luís Arévalo Torres was the youngest of nine children growing up in Belén. His father, like the other dads in the neighborhood, was a fisherman. His mother sold the fish in the market.
Luís and his siblings were on their own for many hours of the day, so it was a blessing when the Latin America ChildCare School was built in their neighborhood — it gave Luís a place to go, and provided him with an education for the future.
Luís began first grade in 1995 and graduated in 2006.
Today, he’s the administrative secretary at the same school he attended. Luís is also Sunday School director at his church and teaches Christian Education.
While he works to save money for college, Luís has launched an organization called Jóvenes en Acción (Youth in Action) to help extremely poor children in Iquitos.
“I would like my LACC sponsor to know that I am now working to help the poor children of this community,” he says.
His journey from poverty to new hope was made possible by his church and their partnership with Latin America ChildCare in sponsoring the school in his neighborhood.
Latin America ChildCare represents one of the largest integrated networks of evangelical schools in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Founded in 1963, the ministry has grown to partner with more than 300 schools and projects affecting some 100,000 children in 21 countries.
It continues to touch thousands of Latin American children like Luís with the truth of the gospel — equipping them with the basic skills for competing in and transforming their society and giving them the things dreams are made of: a future.
Poverty doesn’t give many options, but many doors to opportunity open when a child in sponsored through LACC.
LACC Director Ken Dahlager says, “LACC not only provides a quality education and the chance to hear about Jesus, but it opens doors. Luís is now learning to be a leader in his school and community but also in his country.” Visit LACC on the Web at www.lacc4hope.org.