Santo Tomás Lutheran Church is a congregation that serves the Hispanic community in Phoenix, Ariz. It is “family ties” that have brought many people to walk through the doors of our church. This personal invitation from one family member to another to hear the good news that Jesus is their Savior continues to be an integral part of our ministry. “La familia es todo” (Family is everything), was the quote I remember one of our church members sharing with me. What this member was really stating was how important those ties are; as witnessed in the case of Irma and her relatives.

It was 2011 when I first met German (Hehr-mahn) and his family. It was German’s sister, Irma, who introduced them to me. At the time, he and his wife Dallana (Dah-yah-nuh) had three young girls who were not baptized. They were not church going people even though they both grew up in Catholic families. Irma, a member of our church, invited them to accompany her one Sunday so they could hear and understand better what we preach and teach. At first, they did not show much interest as the weeks and months went by. I decided to call them again to see how they were doing. They told me they wanted to baptize their three young daughters. We met at church along with the padrinos (godparents) to discuss how God blesses us through his wonderful sacrament of baptism. On December 24 of that same year, during a special afternoon service, we baptized their three daughters.

German and his family continued to visit our church as their Christian family ties began to grow with fellow believers from Santo Tomás. In 2021 we decided to restart our new youth Catechism classes. I visited German and Dallana to invite them to enroll their daughters in class; they accepted. German also extended an invitation to his sister Mariela to encourage her and daughter to also begin classes. For over a year, Mariela, German and Dallana sat together learning about God’s love while at the same time their children were taking Catechism classes and learning about their Savior.

This journey of faith for German, Dallana and Mariela, all members of the same family, began with a simple invitation from a relative. It was Irma who understood their spiritual need, and more importantly, that family ties have deeper meaning when it involves God’s grace offered freely through faith in Jesus their Savior.

On August 28, 2022, German, Dallana and Mariela were received as communicant members of Santo Tomás. God is good! In October of this year, their four children will also be confirmed along with nine other students from the Catechism class of 2022.

Irma never expected that her personal invitation to her brother German and his family ten years ago would lead to seven relatives being brought into Santo Tomás’ family to grow with fellow brothers and sisters in their saving faith. In the end it really comes down to the fact that by God’s grace, “La familia en Cristo es todo,” (the family in Christ is everything).

Written by Rev. Tom Zimdars, home missionary at Santo Tomás Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Ariz.