The beginnings of many of the ministries taking place on the Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) campus have been with the help of many congregations and individuals. Ascension Lutheran Church, located in West El Paso, is a congregation that’s found many ways to partner with YLM and bring the love of God through tangible acts of compassion and care.

Throughout the year, they collect gently used household items and clothing, bringing it across town to donate for the Cornucopia Thrift Shop, which helps the ministry taking place in and through San Pablo Lutheran Church. They collect school supplies and backpacks prior to backpack distributions scheduled to take place in July and August, for the Lower Valley of El Paso and Juarez. For Thanksgiving, they do a collection of basic food items, such as rice, corn, beans, cooking oil, flour, and canned goods, donating up to 200 pounds of food to be distributed through YLM’s Emergency Food Pantry Drive-Thru.

Ascension’s Preschool students has dedicated their chapel offerings to provide bilingual children’s Bibles, along with other children’s books, to help share the Word of God with children at the Mexico mission-churches. This year, they purchased the new Spanish Lutheran Hymnals for the Mexico mission-churches.

On the first Saturday of August, Ascension provided another source of support to help people in need through YLM; twelve of their congregation members came early on Saturday morning to assemble food baskets with a variety of produce, non-perishables, and pastries. They worked together and successfully distributed these boxes to 159 families during the two-hour drive-thru. Their hard work and time were well rewarded with gratitude and smiles from the people who came through to pick up these food baskets.

What a joy it is to see the fruit being harvested through the labor of so many!

If you would like to volunteer for YLM’s Emergency Food Pantry Drive-Thru on Saturday mornings,
call us at (915) 858-2588 for more information!