Anna Holper is an energetic, social, 13-year-old girl attending Immanuel, Manitowoc, Wis. She loves her friends and family and enjoys sports like basketball, volleyball, and softball. Her parents, Ryan and Rachel, describe her as kind, determined, adventurous, and always willing to let her light shine for Jesus at school and in the community.

Ryan and Rachel learned early on that it also was important for Anna to have access to a sign language interpreter at school. “The interpreter helps fill in the gaps of information she may have missed, whether it is content information or social interactions from peers,” Rachel explains.

While the Holpers’ goal has always been to send their children to WELS schools, they needed to decide between Anna learning about God’s Word at school every day with no interpreter and Anna having full access to information in the classroom with the help of an interpreter. To ensure she had the resources she needed to succeed, Anna spent much of her childhood in the public school system.

When Ryan accepted a call to teach at Manitowoc Lutheran High School, Manitowoc, Wis., in 2019, the Holpers were thrilled to learn that the Manitowoc public school district had not one but three WELS sign language interpreters. “Although God brought many wonderful Christian interpreters and teachers into our children’s lives in the public school,” says Rachel, “our continued prayer was for all of our children to be able to attend our Lutheran schools—with full access to communication and information—so they could learn about Jesus.”

In 2024, the Holpers’ prayers were answered when Dave Wilson, principal at Immanuel, found a way for Anna to have a full-time interpreter at Immanuel. Because Immanuel is part of the Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP), the cost of a full-time sign language interpreter would be 90 percent covered by the program after the first year.

That first year, however, would be expensive—about $45,000. Between Anna’s SNSP scholarship, generous individual donors, and significant grants from WELS Christian Aid and Relief and WELS Mission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Immanuel and the Holpers achieved their goal.

The final piece to the puzzle was Angie Mehlhorn, a WELS part-time sign language interpreter in the Manitowoc school system. Although she was not looking for a full-time position, Mehlhorn saw an opportunity to serve the Lord and accepted the job as Anna’s full-time interpreter at Immanuel.

In the combined seventh- and eighth-grade classroom, Wilson and other teachers wear a small microphone that transmits sound directly to Anna’s cochlear implants. To understand the conversations and interactions happening around her, however, she depends on Mehlhorn. “I basically interpret everything that everyone says in the classroom,” Mehlhorn explains. “Anna is very bright. . . . She’ll look at me to see what her peers are saying and how that relates to her education.”

When the Holpers reflect on the journey that brought Anna to Immanuel, it is easy to see God’s loving provision. “After so many years of praying, God was helping all these pieces fall into place,” says Rachel. “It is so humbling and fills us with so much gratitude to see God’s hand throughout the years as he has used many people along our journey to bless our family.”

Learn more about how WELS Christian Aid and Relief can partner with your congregation to help those in need.