Growing in Faith, Learning, and Confidence
August 17, 2026
By Frank Hynson
Children’s Program
Our children’s program is still going strong. We taught lessons about the resurrection of Jesus and what took place after. These lessons put specific focus on how the people closest to Jesus responded to him and how their exa can guide our response. The children are having lots of fun. We are so thankful for the opportunity to get to know them and share God’s Word. The best part about this program is just getting the chance to spend time with all of our little friends and reminding them how much they are loved.
Discipleship Class
Something that we are very excited about is our discipleship class for those from our children’s program who want to take their faith more seriously. These 15 students have expressed their interest in not just learning about Jesus but truly following Him. Many of them asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior during Camp Encuentro in January. So now Brittany and I have added a day in our weekly schedule to spend in Las Gradas teaching these great kids their “First Steps” in being a follower of Jesus. Using various resources, we have put together a lesson plan that will aid and encourage them in their faith walk through the rest of the year. In one of our latest classes we taught on the structure of the Bible and how to navigate it. This lesson wasn’t as exciting as some of our others and we expected to lose their attention. To our surprise, this lesson turned out to have one the most positive responses from the students. They were so into it that we had to calm them down a little in order to avoid disrupting the preschool class next door. The energy that these young people bring every week fills our hearts with joy and motivates us to do whatever we can to help them on their faith walk.
Interns
One of the biggest impacts made this quarter was the assistance given from our interns with the After School tutoring program run by our teammate Mary. Normally Mary is assisted by her husband Carlos as they help children with homework, academic weaknesses, and preparation for tests. For three weeks our interns were able to provide extra help to the program giving our young people more focused attention in smaller groups, often one on one. Their arrival turned out to be perfect timing to help the kids prepare for their exam week when they are tested on all their subjects. Thanks to the extra help many of our students who normally struggle through exams were not only able to get passing grades, but also received very high marks. Along with improved exam grades, we were able to see other small victories throughout the internship. Here are a few of them. We had one young man whose assignment was to make a diorama for one of his classes, but he didn’t have the resources or space in his house to complete it. In a team effort we were able to provide him with the materials and help needed, and he received a 100! Another student who lacked confidence in himself kept telling Brittany that he wasn’t smart, but he received individual attention and saw that he is capable. His problem was focus, not intelligence. We were able to begin changing his narrative and giving him the confidence to try harder in school. One of our interns was able to help a girl understand some challenging concepts in her math work. The intern shared with us that she could see the moment when the ideas finally made sense to the little girl and the excitement that followed once she understood. We also had a mother contact us thanking us for helping her daughter get an A on her English exam, when she had failed the previous one. Moments like these will stay with the interns helping them in their future endeavors. We are truly thankful for their help and the positive impact they made on these great kids.