It’s been a couple of years since St. Paul Lutheran Church from Mt. Prospect, IL has been able to serve through Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM). With COVID shutting down everything in 2020, and residual difficulties still being dealt with in 2021, this team of returning missionaries was ready to serve, to bless, and to grow through mission work.

Soon as they arrived, the girls put together a bilingual sign to hand on Elsa’s fence for the kids’ afterschool camp

“YLM is near and dear to our hearts,” Dari Hartman, the team’s leader, shared soon after arriving, “We all are so overjoyed to be back and so ready to share God’s love through service.”

Deciding to stay on the US side of the border, the team of fourteen worked together to help repair and renovate a car port for one of San Pablo Lutheran Church’s long-time volunteers. Saturday, a couple of hours after arriving, they visited with Elsa Smith. The team split up in half to assess their upcoming projects, discussing the plans and steps to fulfill their goals –the carport and a two day kids’ afterschool camp.

Rain damaged roofing was replaced by corrugated tin roof from end to end

On Monday and Tuesday, the entire team worked together to start the major reparations of the carport, keeping the original structure yet lifting it up a whole foot to make it level. They reinforced posts, straightened 20-foot-long 2×4 boards, and were able to salvage majority of the roof with the exception of a few plywood boards that were rotted due to rain. The damaged roof material was replaced with corrugated sheets of medal, and to help maintain privacy and provide some shade, the team added siding to parts of the carport, adding on trim and paint to make it look like new.

Elsa has been having plumbing problems for a while and Vicar Andres spent several hours helping with this

Vicar Andres spent time inside Elsa’s mobile home, working on the kitchen plumbing, while the young women of the team, a mix of high school and college students, worked on several extra projects. They repurposed the rickety porch steps, replacing them with new boards, which they stained then applied non-skid adhesive strips to them. The wobbly porch railing was reinforced with a piece of plywood and leftover siding, while Mark and his daughter build a long rectangular box to go over some gas/water piping.

Kids who came to the fun activities got snacks, crafts, t-shirts, and soccer balls to take home with them

By Wednesday afternoon, the team was done with their proposed project. While half of the team, mostly the men with a couple of the women, returned to the YLM campus, the girls along with Dari, Vicar Andres, and Anna –mother to three of the girls –stayed behind for the kids’ afterschool camp. For two days, this small group presented skits, played soccer, helped put together crafts, and shared God’s love to the children in the surrounding neighborhood.

Though there weren’t many, they were blessed with just the right kids. Snacks were given to them, along with Thrivent t-shirts and soccer balls. All in all, everyone involved has a great time.

Back at the YLM campus, thanks to the generous donation of a member form St. Paul Lutheran Church, thirteen brand new doors were being replaced with brand new door hinges and knobs. Paint was purchased and two of the unoccupied rooms got fresh coats of paint for the ceiling and walls.

This beautiful team of missionaries were such a wonderful blessing to so many beyond what was expected!