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!
