Meet the senior campus ministry students at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA.  At the request of their theology teacher Robyn Gibson, TLAU’s very own Leonard Nelson recently delivered them a presentation on our organization and the impact it is having on the poor of El Salvador.  Evidently what they gleamed wasn’t a sob story or guilt trip or a bunch of boring pictures but a clear challenge to get up and do something.  And that they will.

“The goal of the class is to form students to be strong Christian leaders,” says Robyn. “But real leaders are nothing but servants who understand themselves to be part of a larger human family.”

The class was especially impressed with TLAU’s strategy to improve conditions in El Salvador: helping people help themselves while avoiding the “Santa Claus” approach to charitable giving, thereby preserving the dignity of those who need help while simultaneously encouraging a sense of stewardship.

Their plan for Virgen de Guadalupe? A benefit dance (any theme suggestions?), a jeans day where JSerra students may donate to the cause in exchange for the privilege of dressing down for a day, and possibly a family dinner night at a local diner.

“We’re all very excited about this,” their fearless leader adds.  “I honestly think my students will gain more than they give.”

And that they will.