Hello and blessings to all my friends and family in Christ. My name is Anita Loera, I am twenty-seven years old and I am from Juárez, Mexico. I was born and raised in this big desert border city where we get very cold winters and very hot summers, But also just as high as our temperatures, my city is known to have a high level of violence and unsafety. Like anywhere else, God is always using people and ministries to reach those lost souls that are in desperate need of the gospel and Juarez is no exception. Juarez is a border city with Texas and New Mexico. It rests between two mountain ranges and the flat river-banks of the Rio Grande. The state has traditionally been one of agriculture and ranching. With the explosive growth of the factory industry, the city has become increasingly industrial, rivaling the state’s capital, Chihuahua City.
I was privileged to be born into a Christian home, My father Misael Loera is the pastor at Peniel Baptist Church, and together with my mother Doris, they direct two community centers in the outer areas of Juarez working together with the support of the Amigos en Cristo Ministry. My parents met in medical school in their 20’s and decided to get married. Years later they dedicated their lives to Christ’s services since they were young. I have a little sister, DJ, who is not so little anymore and will be turning nineteen this June and is in school aspiring to become a dentist. Living Waters Bible Camp has been a big part not only of my life but also in the ministry in Juarez for over ten years or more, helping a lot of families for generations and building important structures to facilitate God’s Word, school learning, and working service in the communities of Anapra and Ampliacion Felipe Angeles and many other colonies throughout the city. I had the opportunity to be a summer staff at Living Waters in the summer of 2012 one year after I graduated from High school. It was my first time coming to a Christian camp in the United States so you can imagine how incredible of an experience I had. I was able to be trained in so many areas of life but most importantly I was equipped for my future life experiences that I had no idea were coming my way like living by myself and far away from my family.
After serving as a summer staff I was accepted in a college in Augusta, Georgia where I obtained a bachelors in Biology Pre-Professional and was able to work in different areas using my career as a tool to work with kids as a teacher’s assistant for science and a professional tutor for college students in Mathematics and Spanish. I lived in Georgia for six years and was part of the student ministry in my school and local church that made me feel like I was at home since their ministry is reaching out to the community and training students to become leaders in their own community. I went to Juarez every holiday for Christmas and Summer and was able to help with Vacation Bible School and youth ministry in the community centers and at Peniel while visiting my family and friends. Since I was little, one of my life goals was to become a Bi-Occupational Missionary and be able to use my career to help people and to facilitate the gospel anywhere in the world where God wanted me. Until that day comes, I am constantly striving to accomplish this goal by learning more each day and letting God do His will by guiding me.
At the start of 2020, the world paused everywhere and all of the government offices did too, making it difficult for the renewal of my work papers. I was in a really difficult situation living by myself and not being able to work and still have to pay for rent, bills and food and being so far away from my actual family that usually brings you emotional support during times like that. I always wanted to continue my education so I applied to several schools and scholarship opportunities in Georgia but they have not been very successful. I spoke with my parents about how I was feeling and my dad automatically called Dennis Siler and talked to him about my situation. Dennis and his family opened their house to me with no questions. Talk about a blessing sent from God! He told me I was welcome to come to Wisconsin and be around family and ministry. I praise God for this blessing because my heart is at peace now and God is straightening the path from the difficult times I was going through.
I arrived in Westby on January 28, 2021, and the Evers Family welcomed me in their home with such great hospitality and love that without knowing me they still have gone out of their ways to make me feel a part of their family. I am so thankful to be able to have a family in Christ that makes me feel as loved as my blood family and that helps with no hesitation. I have been helping at camp in the kitchen when we have groups and also volunteering in housekeeping. While being at camp I applied to school at Emmaus Bible College and was accepted for the coming fall of 2021 and I will be working as a summer staff at camp. I am so excited for all of the new opportunities to serve that God is bringing my way and I can not wait to continue working at camp and at church and eventually to learn more about his word in a Biblical college. My life experiences have made me realize how God’s scripture becomes more and more real to my life (Romans 8: 28, Isaiah 41:10).
I would like to ask the readers of this newsletter to keep me in your prayers during this new stage that I am in so that He can use me to complete His purpose and so that His name can be exalted with all of the ministry that has been done not only in my life but in the lives of the people that we will be serving during the summer.