With a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), young Martha Perez was off to a rocky start.
"When I was little," she recalls, "my mother was a single mother of two. I struggled with my speech. At the age of 4, I was still not able to talk like normal kids do. I was diagnosed with ADHD."
A Mexican American, Martha lives with her parents in Laredo, Texas, and attends Laredo Community College. The rest of her family are in Veracruz, Mexico.
Martha's pastor at Iglesia Metodista Unida La Trinidad in Laredo told her about the World Communion Scholarship, and she is thankful for the help she received.
"I don't have to worry much about not being able to finish my career education," Martha says. "I can continue my career and keep serving God at the same time I grant my education."
While she attends college, Martha works as a cashier at McDonald's and as a server in a nursing home. She helps older adults with activities and participates in Christmas and Passover plays at church.
Why should the church support the World Communion Sunday offering? Martha's answer is to the point. The scholarship "helps fellow Christians who may not have the opportunity or the money to continue a higher education," she says.
Martha tries to set an example by working hard in college and encouraging "younger people to continue school," she says, adding, "I hope that once I have my bachelor's [degree] to help even more people."
She would like eventually to offer free community health services for people who cannot afford medication.
Her goal is to make God proud and, with God's help, "to become someone in life."
Barbara Dunlap-Berg, general church content editor, United Methodist Communications
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, World Communion Sunday calls the church to reach out to all people and model diversity among God's children. The special offering provides World Communion Scholarships, the Ethnic Scholarship Program and the Ethnic In-Service Training Program.
When you give generously on World Communion Sunday, you equip gifted, qualified students from around the globe to become the world changers God created them to be.
