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The Santa Ana (California) Temple Corps takes Sunday school beyond the building and into the community.
Each week, Juan Valencia Alvarez turns the wheel of The Salvation Army Santa Ana (California) Temple Corps’ motorhome into narrow neighborhood streets, scanning for a place to park.
It’s a challenge. Cars pack the curbs. Sometimes, residents set out makeshift space savers for the familiar white vehicle that brings Bible lessons, prayer—and hope.
When Alvarez finds a spot and sounds the horn in a now-familiar rat-a-tat-tat rhythm, kids begin to appear. Some walk alone. Others arrive in pairs or clusters, pulling along siblings or holding a grandparent’s hand.
“We don’t wait for people to come to us,” said Santiago Murillo, one of the mobile ministry’s volunteer teachers. “We go to them.”
Each week—on Sundays and Thursdays—the customized motorhome rolls into underserved neighborhoods, offering a kids’ program with songs, games, prayer and a Bible lesson, led by a team of rotating volunteers from the Santa Ana Corps. The motorhome visits three Santa Ana neighborhoods on Sundays and makes one stop in nearby Westminster on Thursdays.
On this Sunday, the Bible lesson features Abraham and Sarah, who waited decades to have a child.
What the kids learn is simple, yet profound: Nada es imposible para Dios. Nothing is impossible for God.
Inside the motorhome, the kids sit shoulder to shoulder on benches. Murillo starts with prayer—often inviting a child to lead. Then he chats with them about their week before showing a short animated video to introduce the Bible story.
Afterward, he quizzes the kids. Some shout answers. Others just observe.
That day, the story of Abraham and Sarah isn’t just ancient history. It’s a connection point.
“Imagine a lady who is 90 years old having a baby,” Murillo said. “Only God can do that, right? You just have to believe in God. He’s gonna do everything else.”
That faith fuels this front-line ministry, which brings God’s Word to kids who might not otherwise hear it.
The mobile outreach began more than three decades ago, initiated by then-Corps Officer Lt. Colonel Zoilo Pardo. Since then, it’s become a steady presence in local neighborhoods.
Alvarez, who has been part of the ministry from the beginning with his wife, Yadira, said it’s the transformation he’s witnessed that keeps him coming back.
“What keeps me doing what I do is because the Lord blessed me with salvation,” he said. “I love Jesus. And I see the necessity in the communities for the Word of God—and how lives have been changed by this ministry.”
This year, the Alvarezes received The Salvation Army Western Territory’s Divine Servant award for their commitment to the motorhome ministry.
“Their lives are a shining example of servant leadership, generational impact and the transformative power of the gospel in action,” said Territorial President of Women’s Ministries and Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development Commissioner Colleen Riley during the award presentation.
Murillo has been volunteering for about eight years. For him, it’s personal.
He came to the U.S. as a teenager, walking for a week with his family from Tecate, Mexico, to California, seeking a better life. He arrived at age 13 knowing no English. Every day on his way to school, he passed by a Salvation Army building—unaware it was a church.
His brother found out, though, and invited him to Salvation Army Vacation Bible School. That’s when everything began to change, as he got involved with the Santa Ana Corps.
“God had a purpose for me and my family,” he said. “Now my wife and two kids go to church. My daughter was born into The Salvation Army.”
Decades later, Murillo is still showing up—now for the next generation.
“Sometimes we wonder if what we’re doing is worth it,” he said. “But God always reminds us—we’re doing it for him. We’re just messengers.”
The neighborhoods they visit face serious challenges—poverty, gang activity, a lack of access to resources. Murillo recalled a teenager who was killed just down the street the year before.
“That’s why what we do is important,” he said. “Even if just one person is touched by God, it can ripple through others.”
He encourages the kids to connect with God in prayer every day when they wake up.
“Every day before I go to work, I say, ‘Thank you God for this beautiful day. Please guide me, please keep me and my family safe,’” he said. “And you always gotta ask for your family too, right? Not just for yourself.”
The mobile ministry starts with the kids, but it doesn’t stop there. Each visit opens the door to deeper relationships—with parents, families and the wider community. It connects them to additional support, including food assistance, school supplies and Christmas gifts.
Ultimately, the goal is nothing less than transformed communities—one relationship, one family, one block at a time.
It’s about kids like 8-year-old Destiny, who first showed up at age 6, asking for prayer because her father had died.
She received that prayer support. Now she’s a regular, along with her big sister. Even though the volunteers come prepared with snacks and prizes as incentives for the kids’ participation, Destiny said her favorite thing about coming is still “praying to God.”
The mobile ministry is one way the Santa Ana Corps is taking church outside its walls—meeting kids where they are and planting seeds of faith in neighborhoods often overlooked. But the mission doesn’t end there.
By earning trust and showing up consistently, ministry leaders hope to reach entire families. To do that, they’re praying for more volunteers—people willing to visit with parents and family members while the kids are in the motorhome.
“We’re just messengers, you know. We gotta keep going all the way,” Murillo said. “As long as God wants, we’ll be here.”
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