The need for food, blankets and warmth clothing is increasing as Juarez’s mission-churches try to meet those needs

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a hard impact the world over; in the little corners of Juarez, Mexico, in suburbs like Anapra, the impact is becoming catastrophic.  Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) has been diligent in providing essential resources to its surrounding community, and with the connections with several mission-churches in Juarez, helping people in poverty-stricken suburbs.  As numbers of positive cases continue to increase, so does the restrictions, and following those restrictions, the needs of people who were barely surviving as it is.

“Families have no income,” Rosy Lira, deaconess at Iglesia Luterana de La Santa Biblia and Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, shared during a staff meeting, “People are in need of food, and with the sudden climate change, blankets and jackets for children.  These people are hurting for basic needs.”

Pastor Benito (San Pablo-El Paso) prays for the needs of those coming for help during distribution mornings

It is not just the need for food, warm clothing, and other necessary items Rosy is referring to, but also the need of continued help in ways showing God’s love for the people of Anapra during these frightening times.  As people in the community get positive diagnosis, and hospitals turning them away due to being at full-capacity, the need for medical assistance in the form of oxygen machines and oxygen tanks has come to the attention of YLM.

“We are relying on people who know and support the ministry being done through YLM,” Rev. Dr. Karl Heimer, CEO of YLM and Senior Pastor at San Pablo Lutheran Church explained during a daily staff update meeting, “Right now, this pandemic is being heavily felt in our community and in Juarez, and it is our mission-churches in Juarez who are struggling to help counteract the fear and hopelessness felt by so many.  We need to help them, and we need help so we can accomplish this.”

Children are especially impacted during these difficult times

When the city shutdowns began in March, YLM continued to provide food on Saturday mornings to the families of surrounding communities.  The first couple of months saw a decrease of people seeking assistance with a sudden sharp increase continuing to this day.  During the summer and early fall months, YLM’s Missions and Ministry Team was able to take food to families in Juarez, but with Mexico implementing stricter traveling restrictions for US Citizens, getting needed supplies across the border has been reduced to one person -Rosy.

“I come two to three times a week, sometimes more, to El Paso,” Rosy explained as the white van she drives is stocked up with blankets, jackets, and food, “I work with different organizations in Juarez to try to get supplies to the people of our churches and the surrounding communities.  My children have started calling me the Red Cross, because I am going from one family to another, helping them where needed, taking them to the doctor, to any hospital that will see them.  God is giving me the strength and energy, and the help we receive through YLM has kept us from losing hope.”

People in the Anapra community receive blankets and jackets for children at La Santa Biblia

In the last month, close to 500 blankets were taken and distributed among four of YLM’s mission-partner churches along with 840 jackets for children.  These mission-churches are dedicated to continuing helping their people, from inside and outside the church, but they are seeing the needs increase along with the fear, hopelessness, and grief brought on by this pandemic.

“We are grateful for the help we’re getting,” Pastor Jose Hernandez, senior pastor at Iglesia Luterana Santisima Trinidad, shared during a virtual staff meeting, “We are blessed by those who help us so we can bless our communities.  Our congregants are hungry for God’s Word, and it was difficult to have to close our doors once again after only two weeks of being opened.  But we continue to reach out to one another, to share, to help, to serve, to love.  This is what we are called to do, and we are faithfully doing what is needed right now.”

As YLM, and the mission-churches in Juarez, continue to be faithful in providing for the immediate needs of people, all the while sharing the love of God through kindness and His Word, we ask you to please keep us in your prayers, and in doing so, seek God’s understanding on how you can make a positive impact amidst this pandemic that’s severely impacting God’s children in El Paso and Juarez.