SAN ANTONIO – Eduardo Vargas began his service with the DOOR program when he was 15, and he has not stopped participating since then.

In 2000, Vargas’s family moved from Kansas City to San Antonio, so his mother could begin a Spanish-language Mennonite church. In San Antonio, Vargas met Hugo Saucedo, current director for Mennonite Voluntary Service, then serving as director for SALSA, a precursor to the DOOR program in San Antonio.

Saucedo invited Vargas to spend some time with a youth group that came to serve over the summer. Vargas enjoyed meeting youth and hanging out, and the next summer, he spent a week with a different service group. By the third year, Vargas was a DOOR summer staffer. He stayed for three years. The DOOR support system and leaders helped Vargas to develop leadership skills and to feel comfortable taking on additional responsibilities.

“It was Hugo and Danielle (Miller, current DOOR San Antonio city director) and my friend Daniel (Merkt Blatz) who worked with me that helped me to understand the depth of service-learning and my own gifts,” said Vargas.

Early on, Miller noticed in Vargas an innate ability to get along with people from all different walks of life.

“Eduardo has always had a very natural way of interacting with others. He has a strong sense of confidence in his own abilities, and wasn’t afraid to jump in and lead discussions and talk with the groups, even though he was their own age and, at the beginning at least, had some language barriers,” said Miller. “This ability to relate to anyone – even if he strongly disagrees with them – still serves him well.”

After graduating from Goshen (Ind.) College, Vargas moved back to San Antonio and began as assistant city director in San Antonio.

“In Eduardo, I see a willingness to explore God’s call in his life. He is very willing to let the Spirit lead him where it may,” said Saucedo.  

Vargas now works to give leadership to the groups that he used to hang out with during the summer, and to build relationships with agencies and people throughout San Antonio.

“For the future of the church, I think it’s really important that we understand what happens to those around us – to our neighbors, the people on the street and in the soup kitchens. What happens to them matters to us.” said Vargas. “DOOR understands that being a Christian and doing service is not about the mission trip or the actions themselves, but it’s about how we practice our values and the relationship between those living in the city and those who are coming into it.”