One structural engineer has assessed that the building damaged by fire this spring needs to be torn down. The damage from the fire as well as a plethora of problems would make it extremelly difficult to bring up to code. The insurance company sent their own structural engineer today to provide a second opinion. Architect Mark Warrick from Austin, TX, is working on drawings to replace the building with housing for missionaries, students, and volunteers. The families that were displaced by the fire have found housing: Ann and Joe in an El Paso apartment and the Ramos family in YLM’s building #2. Please pray that today’s visit from the structural engineer will provide enough confirmation to expedite the adequate provision of funds to rebuild our missionary/student housing.
One structural engineer has assessed that the building damaged by the fire needs to be torn down. The fire damage as well as a plethora of other problems would make it extremely difficult to bring up to code, and there is question whether the old adobe walls would function properly.
The insurance company sent their own structural engineer today to provide a second opinion. Please pray that today’s visit from the structural engineer will provide enough confirmation to expedite the adequate provision of funds to rebuild our missionary/student housing.
Our pro-bono architect, Mark Warrick from Austin, TX, visited YLM last month to discuss design options, look at site plans, and take measurements. In addition to designs for a replacement building, he is drawing up a master plan for the entire mission complex!
The families that were displaced by the fire have found housing: Ann and Joe in an El Paso apartment and the Ramos family in YLM’s building #2. Thank you all for your prayers concerning this.
Enrique Carrejo, our long-time and much loved driver for servant events, was diagnosed with cancer last fall. A few months ago he was admitted into an El Paso nursing home and placed under Hospice care. The cancer had become too extensive to treat. As Enrique lives out his final days, please pray for his comfort, peace, and steadfast faith. He remains in good spirits even as his condition deteriorates and is visited regularly by pastors and members of San Pablo. Please pray him and for his family.
Ysleta Lutheran Mission Servant Events did a plethora of activities that put to use the many God given talents that each member of the different groups had to offer.
Bert and Judy Griffin of Trinity Lutheran Church in Centralia, IL led a group of seasoned veterans in working in cooperation with Pastor Hernandez of Santisima Trinidad. The group was willing to leave the mission by 5:30am each morning in order to work in the cooler temperatures. This allowed them to complete the construction of a porch for Pastor, along with several roofs for families in need. There were two members from Trinity Lutheran who were willing to stay back and do “odd jobs” at the YLM campus. Through their efforts, with help from a few fellow group members, over 900 backpacks were prepared for the YLM school supply distribution in August. Donated by Dell, it was a requirement that the labels be removed from the bags before distribution. A few man hours and sore fingers later, the task was completed. It is such a blessing to have groups that continue to come and support YLM year after year!
Coming from way up north from Roseville, MN Sally Schuster was not deterred by fears of violence or swine flu. She was willing to take her group from King of Kings into Mexico to live at San Lucas in Anapra for the week. This was her groups first time working with YLM, but they quickly rose to the challenge of completing a house for a young family. Given the heat, and a broken swamp cooler the group set the goal of completing the house by Thursday to allow for some swimming and relief from the heat on Friday. Hard work and some building practice back home in Minnesota allowed the group of rookies to meet their goal successfully. With a young son and another child on the way, Mariela and Alejandro were very grateful to have a home in which their family could continue to grow. King of Kings had a rewarding first experience with YLM and earned a few take home lessons as well; one being: don’t cover each other in tar in Mexico when mineral spirits are scarce!
Adding to the diversity of the tasks completed at YLM for the week was the group from University Lutheran. Nancy and Jon Maylath of West Lafayette, IN are themselves seasoned veterans when it comes to brining groups to YLM to host Vacation Bible schools. Typically, they did VBS in Mexico, but they opted to stay state side this year, allowing the YLM ministry to grow in the colonia of Sparks. Monday through Thursday, every morning consisted of a VBS that drew 40 to 50 children. The afternoons held CPR and First aid lessons, blood pressure and diabetes examines, and haircuts. All of these health related services were needed and appreciated by those who received them. The three “handy men” of the group were able to successfully construct and plumb the bathroom of a house in Horizon City; this allowed for the continuation of work on the home in the coming weeks. Friday, University Lutheran hosted an end of the week Fiesta for all of the kids and mothers who had attended VBS during the week. Some of them must have listened and brought friends because over 60 kids attended. There were crafts, games, a piñata, and even water fights. The mothers also had a great time playing some bingo. The smiles on everyone’s faces reflected the huge thank you that University Lutheran deserves!
A giant thank you goes to all three groups for using their multi-fold talents to assist Ysleta Lutheran Mission!
Here are the plans for this summer’s Mariachi San Pablo tour to Arizona and California. Check back for updates:
details last updated July 16, 2009
Vail, Arizona – Saturday, July 25
7 PM – Outdoor Concert with free meal, at Christ Lutheran Vail Church (13605 E. Benson Hwy, Vail, AZ 85641) For more information or to RSVP for meal visit www.christlutheranvail.org or call 520-349-8630
Phoenix, Arizona – Sunday, July 26
12pm Spanish worship service at Cristo Redentor Lutheran Church (8801 N. 43rd Ave., Phoenix, AZ)
Lodi, California – Wednesday, July 29
AM – Chapel service at St. Peters Lutheran School
5:30 PM – “Mariachi Festival,” Outdoor concert at St. Peters Lutheran Church (2400 Oxford Way, Lodi, CA 95242) For more information, call: 209-333-2223
Lodi, California – Thursday, July 30
6 PM – Streetside performance at Lodi Farmers Market, downtown on the Main Stage
Bakersfield, California – Friday, July 31
6 PM – Concert at St. John’s Lutheran Church (4500 Buena Vista Rd., Bakersfield, CA 93311) for more information call: (661) 665-7815
Bakersfield, California – Saturday, August 1
1 PM – Concert at St. John’s Lutheran Church (4500 Buena Vista Rd., Bakersfield, CA 93311) for more information call: (661) 665-7815
PM – Private Performance for wedding reception
Santa Ana & Montebello, California – Sunday, August 2
9am – English worship at Trinity Cristo Rey Lutheran Church, Santa Ana, CA (903 Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701) for more information call (714) 542-0784.
10:30am – Spanish worship at Trinity Cristo Rey Lutheran Church, Santa Ana, CA
2pm – Concert at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Montebello, CA (433 N. 18th St., Montebello, CA 90640)
Phoenix, Arizona – Monday, August 3
7 PM – Concert at St. Paul Lutheran Church (6301 W. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85033) for more information, call: (623) 444-7164.
Our efforts to rally help for the people of Juarez during their crisis is bearing fruit. Food is being taken to Juarez in larger quantities than ever. We are also begining to search for Juarez business from which to solicit donations and/or buy food at charitable rates. Buying food in Juarez will save the effort of passing food through the Customs process, provide an opportunity to engage Mexico mission members in the effort to reach the poor, and assist ailing businesses.
Servant events have returned to Juarez this summer, building and repairing homes and making important repairs to missions.
Mission activities are going full force with the special addition of food and ministry activities for children and their parents at our new mission in Anapra.
As the missions connect with their communities, we pray that many people will come to faith in Christ as well.
We are thankful to have Kristine Neu serving as a summer volunteer at YLM this year. Kristine arrived in May and will be here until August. Serving alongside Erin, Chris, and Genaro, she is providing a tremendous amount of help guiding and assisting servant events in El Paso, Sparks and Mexico.
Kristine is entering her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, majoring in Horticulture and Communications. Her home town is Pelican Rapids, MN, and her first experiences with Ysleta Lutheran Mission were in 2006 and 2008 when she joined St. Paul’s Lutheran Church’s (Vergas, MN) servant event trips to YLM.
This week was dedicated to the memory of the beloved Don Lupe Celaya and the service of his surviving family. It was especially important for the group from Our Father Lutheran Church of Denver, Colorado. Serving the same week last summer, the group had finished a day of working closely with Lupe when he died shortly after the group returned stateside for the day. Working this week helped the last year’s group members to overcome grief by reaching out to Don Lupe’s youngest son, Nelson, and his wife and two young daughters.
Sunday set the stage for the work week with a church service at Santisima Trinidad that was dedicated to the memory of Lupe. Following the service church members and some Colorado guests were all given a chance to enjoy burritos and sodas with all the funds benefiting Don Lupe’s wife, Josefina. This service was a reminder to the group for the real reason for their work: service to those in need.
The build itself could be considered “non-traditional” for YLM as it was a little higher up in the air than normal. Nelson was in desperate need of a second story addition to his home. With two growing girls it was time to get his family out of sleeping in the living room and into two new bedrooms that the Our Father group was able to provide. The project was in good hands under the supervision of four knowledgeable men from the Our Father congregation. With the assistance of two eager teens, a special guest from New Mexico, and YLM board member Carol Hill, the job of framing, roofing, and dry walling was completed to double the living space of the home.
As with every Ysleta Lutheran Mission project, it was a labor of love. This one just included an extra dose of love that was left behind in the form of written dedications to Don Lupe on the 2” by 4” studs. Enclosed with drywall, the messages will forever remain in Nelson’s home, just as his father Don Lupe, will forever remain in the hearts of every single person whose life he touched.
Beyond the news of violence in Juarez, there is a less reported crisis growing. The recession has brought the number of factories operating in Juarez down from 380 last fall to 150, and those 150 are operating at less than half capacity. Families are reeling and YLM is reaching out. We are stepping up efforts to provide emergency food, which we pray may prevent desperate families from rash behavior.
Video of the Hot Meal Program in Anapra called “King’s Table”
The mission’s hectic summer season officially kicked off on Wednesday, June 3, with the arrival of our old friends at Fort Lone Tree. The New Mexico based camp has brought three teams so far this year and has plans to bring another in July; the kids spend a few weeks learning things like leadership and teamwork and then test drive their newfound skills by participating in a servant event. This time, the group was composed primarily of youth from South Dakota and Nebraska who all attend the same Christian boarding high school in South Dakota.
They concentrated their efforts on beginning a 14 x 48 foot build in Horizon City for a family of 5 whose trailer is going to be repossessed in a few weeks because they couldn’t make the payments. It was incredible to witness the bond that was formed between the 3Velasquez kids and the 20 group members in such a short period; aside from lots of reading, Frisbee, and soccer around the jobsite, they went to the oldest daughter’s soccer practice one evening, hosted an impromptu birthday party for one of the other kids, prayed with the family before they left for the last time, and invited the family to church with them on Sunday.
It is going to take several weeks to finish such an extensive undertaking, but the entire structure is framed, sided, roofed, and wired for electric. The group also hosted an afternoon of outreach on Sunday with hot dogs and soccer in Sparks’s tiny park. We had them try out a new, bolder method of publicizing the event—handing out flyers in the doorway of the Del Rey grocery store and canvassing the neighborhood—which appeared to work as they reported a turnout of around 120 people!
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Posted by ylmnews 
