At the 2025 LCMS Youth Gathering, Mariachi San Pablo (MSP) traveled throughout the exhibit hall sharing Gospel rich music with those gathered in New Orleans. Near the back of the hall, Orphan Grain Train (OGT) was hosting an in-house service opportunity where youth and adults volunteered to pack Mercy Meals. As MSP made its way through the exhibit hall, the person overseeing the OGT booth asked if the group would stop and play a few songs. They did, and that simple interaction opened another door in a ministry relationship spanning more than 30 years.
A little over a year later, MSP traveled to Norfolk, Nebraska, as invited guests for the 2026 Orphan Grain Train Convention, held at OGT’s International Headquarters. YLM Director of Operations, Karla Gonzalez, was also invited to share the story of the longstanding partnership between YLM and OGT.
Being in Norfolk gave YLM staff and MSP members an opportunity to see another side of the ministry they have partnered with for decades. OGT has more than 18 active branches and eight collection centers throughout the United States where donated resources are received and sorted before being sent to people in need around the world.
During their visit, the YLM group toured OGT’s warehouses and grounds, seeing firsthand the work taking place before donated resources ever arrive at their destination. For an organization that has received and distributed OGT donations for more than three decades, it was an opportunity to see where that process begins.
A couple of YLM staff members also rolled up their sleeves and joined OGT volunteers to assemble Mercy Meals. Together, the group completed 2,160 meals in just one hour. Those meals will join others being sent to impoverished communities in Africa, Eurasia, and Mexico.
Through its relationship with OGT, YLM has annually distributed close to $1 million in donated goods on both sides of the border. Food, clothing, backpacks, toys, blankets, bicycles, medical supplies and other needed resources have made their way through YLM to families and communities. Musical instruments, including organs and pianos, as well as church pews and altar furnishings, have also crossed the border and found homes in partner congregations in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua City.
Behind each shipment are people. There is a family receiving food when resources are limited. A child starting school with a backpack full of supplies. A person receiving a warm blanket. A congregation in Mexico worshiping around an altar or singing alongside an instrument that traveled hundreds of miles before finding a new home.
For more than three decades, YLM and OGT have worked together with a shared desire to bring Christ to people through human care. The convention gave both ministries an opportunity to celebrate what God has made possible through that relationship while looking toward the work still ahead.
MSP added music and worship to the weekend, while Karla shared what happens when resources leaving an OGT warehouse reach the Borderland. This time, YLM staff also experienced the other side of that partnership by helping prepare resources that will serve people far beyond El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
Partnerships like this, however, require more than donated goods. Every shipment arriving at YLM must be received, stored, organized, transported, and placed in the hands of the people who need it. Financial support from YLM donors helps make that work possible.
Your support helps move these resources from the warehouse to the people who need them most. It helps YLM receive and distribute food to families, place school supplies in the hands of children, provide furnishings for partner congregations, and carry needed resources across the border into Mexico.
What began with a few songs at an exhibit in New Orleans led to an invitation to Norfolk, but the relationship behind that invitation has been growing for more than 30 years. It is a partnership built through people willing to give, serve, send, receive, and share.
YLM is grateful for the many Orphan Grain Train volunteers, supporters, congregations, organizations, and YLM donors who have made this ministry possible. Your support helps ensure that when resources are available and needs arise, YLM is ready to connect the two.
Together, we can continue caring for our neighbors, strengthening communities, and changing lives every day through simple acts of kindness.
