There are so many outstanding families and individuals at Impact, it almost seems unfair to single anyone out. However, in order to give an idea of how God works in people’s lives here, Clara Escobar’s story is timely and covers a lot of territory. Like so many of a growing percentage of Hispanic families that are in the Houston area, Clara’s family is relatively new to the U.S. Clara and her husband, Melvin, have been here long enough to learn enough English to communicate fairly well, but language is still a struggle. Life is a struggle when the roots are not deep in the culture. Work is hard to find and sustain, other things that can be handled fairly easily for a typical resident are more complicated when documents are not in order or missing. Somehow, Clara made a connection with Alejandro Arango, Impact’s Hispanic minister of 15 years, and began to study the Bible. This shy apprehensive young lady started to open her eyes to the blessings of God through Christ. Her face that often seemed stern and protective, started to soften, as did her heart. She invited her Aunts Virginia and Maria to the study times. She began bringing her family and extended family to church. The fact that the ministers accompanied her to visits with her brother in a Texas prison helped her see that there were people there to help. The distribution center met needs of her family from time to time. It was God’s message to her that made the biggest difference. She was baptized in the Fall of 2005. Since then, she has brought many family members to church and activities. They have helped with the Garage Sales, worked at the distribution center, and volunteered for various things in the church.

God has made a change in Clara, but the blessings of God have been transferred to those around her. Two of her aunts, one brother, and her mother have been baptized. Neighbors have been introduced to a church family that loves them. Melvin, her husband, even bought a van (at a special price) specifically to be able to bring neighbors and friends to church. Clara’s sister, Maria Mendez was brought to the church for prayers, and ever since, that family has benefited from a chain of prayer support that has sustained them through a journey of surgeries, complications, and the eventual healing of Maria’s body. But it wasn’t just her sister who needed the prayers. The entire family was affected by Maria’s hospital stay and medical situation. The church helped in some ways, but it was the prayer support that Clara’s family was most impressed by. Clara really learned how to communicate prayer needs and encourage people to pray. She learned more about the power of prayer in the process.

It is difficult to choose just one family at Impact to write about, but Clara Escobar and her family seems to be able to reflect in broad way the way God is acting through Impact. Feeding and clothing those in need, consistent Bible study and spiritual support, marital counseling, opportunities to serve, bringing people to Christ, visiting the sick and those in prison, and growing in the direction of service to God, and ultimately shining for Him are things the Bible teaches us to do. These are things that happen regularly at Impact with many families. These are things that are reflected in Clara’s story, and no one can ignore the joy of Christ that now is reflected in Clara’s face. Praise God for what He is doing to change lives at Impact.