Minot team go to sites on Sunday to mark out the foundations and meet the families

For sixteen years, the adult mission team of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota, has been working through Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) to help provide houses for families in Anapra or Kilometer 30. They have many memories of time spent together and with the community locals where they were serving, and this year, they came to celebrate the memory of two of their long-time members who entered glory last year, Richard Whorley and Wayne Johnson.

Joyce, Wayne’s wife, has been the leader of the team for several years, serving alongside him from sharing how she and Wayne had planned to both come down in 2022 before Wayne took a turn for the worse. Richard Whorley’s daughter, Cassandra, joined the team for the first time this year, bringing along with her stories shared by her father of his many years serving in Anapra. Along with those memories, she brought some of his ashes to leave behind at Anapra at his request.

First house was raised on day one, with plans to raise the second one the next day

Being part of the eight-member team and the only first timer, Cassandra was ready to step in where needed. Like her father, she took care of the wood cutting, quickly learning how to man the circular saw and, with the help of the other women in the team and one of the Haitian refugees, she did the cutting for the framing of the houses.

Committed to completing these two houses, this eight-person team was more than grateful for the help provided by several of the Haitian refugees currently being hosted at Iglesia Luterana San Lucas. Their plan was to divide and conquer –that is, divide the tasks necessary to complete, not the team. The first day had the first house completely framed, including the siding and drilling for the electrical wiring. On day two, they moved to the second building site and did it all over again, with the additional job of putting in insulation.

The team of eight were joined by several Haitian refugees to complete the two houses in five days

Day three had the team splitting up, and along with the Haitian refugees, worked up on putting up sheetrock. By this point, both houses had their windows installed, and the second house just needed its door. For the small size of the team, it was impressive to see how much was achieved at both building sites in three days.

Friday, after completing both houses, to include painting the exterior, the Minot team took the time to remember Richard and Wayne, with Cassandra placing her father’s ashes at the base of the mesa where the second house was located, all of Anapra spread out before them. It was still humbling for this team and the YLM facilitators to see how God uses His children for the good of others even when it seems impossible.

The team left early Saturday morning, everyone tired but pleased with having been able to complete what they set out to do. For Cassandra, this was a wonderful experience she now shares with her father, and she is looking forward to returning, hoping to bring her husband and daughter with her next time.