Not many people would be willing to give up the Thanksgiving family traditions -playing a game of touch football in the yard just to come in as the smell of turkey and pumpkin pie fills the house. A football game on in the living room while grandma makes sure the candied yams are being done right.

Gathering around the table, family members share what they are grateful for, followed by the feast. These are a few of the familiar components which come to mind when Thanksgiving traditions are mentioned.

For families at Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO, there is a different tradition that’s taken place for twenty-seven years. Partnering with Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM), families from this church gather in the church parking lot early morning on Wednesday, loading up vehicles with coolers full of turkey donated by members who couldn’t come, boxes of candy donated by children from their Halloween stash, and luggage before making the nine-hour drive down to El Paso.

Before the day is over, the team gathers in the Kitchen, where they would be doing all the prepping, cooking, and packing up of food for trips to Juarez, Mexico on Friday and Saturday.

For the eleven who were joining the Alternative Thanksgiving mission team for the first time, they were given a run-through of what would be taking place the next three mornings at 6am.

With this team of 28, from ages 8 to 79, maintenance projects were planned, allowing the team to serve in different ways. Early Thursday morning, those who signed up to help with cooking, got right to work.

Those who’ve been coming for several years taught the newcomers what to do, from dicing jalapeños to mixing the batter for the cake. The younger kids helped stuff snack bags with candy, wrapping plasticware in napkins, and decorating the tables.

The Thanksgiving service at San Pablo Lutheran Church is another tradition most of the team members are familiar with. After a short message from Vicar Alex Escarciga, people were invited to share what they were grateful for with one another. This always gives the opportunity for brothers and sisters to share God’s goodness in their lives and the lives of their loved ones with one another.

Thanksgiving lunch for San Pablo Lutheran Church is one offered for as long as Our Father Lutheran Church has served through YLM. For Our Father, it is an opportunity to get familiar with the process of cooking and serving meals for 100+ people.

Friday was spent serving at Iglesia Luterana San Lucas, located in Anapra. The worship service took place a little after 1pm, with standing room only in the sanctuary. Afterwards, the team served children, teens, women, and men generous plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, beans, salsa, and a bread roll.

To-go containers were filled afterwards, with people taking two, three, some even six, containers of food for family members and neighbors unable to attend.

Saturday, after setting aside the food and supplies for deaconess Rosy Lira to pick up and take to Cristo Rey in Juarez, all those who wanted to go across the border piled into the vans and headed to KM30, where they served over 100 people.

For everyone there, it was a joy to hear the children sing along with Pastor Hernandez, and even more so when they all closed their eyes and folded their hands to pray in thanksgiving for God’s blessings.

Early Sunday morning, families got into their vehicles, along with their luggage, and headed back to Colorado. It wasn’t even twelve hours before a first-time family of six sent a group text, stating, “Team Rudz did a debrief tonight over dinner and 6/6 Rudzinskis are interested in a return trip.”

What a beautiful tradition allowing to share God’s love in such simple and practical ways!

Call us at (915) 858-2588 or send an email to luz.soto@ylm.org for more information on how you, your family, your friends,
and your congregation can serve on a mission team for 2024!