Team working together to frame the walls of the little house

International mission trips are not a new thing for the members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. For several years, they have been traveling to Guatemala, where they share the love of Jesus through His Word to children, using crafts, music, games, and Bible storytelling to help them experience what God has done for them. 2020, however, disrupted their missions’ rhythm, and last year, they reached out to Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) to help provide God’s Word to the children of El Paso and Anapra.

Teenage girls learned how to work the saws, nail guns, and other tools

This year, Holy Trinity decided to take on a new challenge –building a house for a family in Anapra along with doing a five-day Vacation Bible School (VBS) at one of the Mexico mission-churches. This team was new to construction, but they were eager to achieve the goal of building a two-room 12’x24’ house for Salvador and Elizabeth, members of Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Anapra, who needed more space due to their daughters’ growing families living with them.

The team of seventeen were made up of several generations, with a span of 60 years between the oldest member and the youngest, and though Pastor Justin Bangert expressed concern over that huge age gap, the team was amazed at how God worked in and through them, not only to minister to the people in Mexico, but to each other.

Over thirty kids, including those currently receiving refugee care at San Lucas, received love, care, and attention from the team during VBS

“There’s always a worry about the culture and language barrier,” Shannon, one of the team members who came last year and returned again, explained at the end of the week, “And we wondered about the possibility of there being age and gender barriers within our own team, but God demonstrated when His children work and live in the center of His will, there are no barriers at all.”

Saying good-bye was hard for everyone, but expressed gratitude at the opportunity to love others

Louis, the oldest of the team, served as their foreman, using his experience in construction to work alongside YLM’s Project Facilitator and fellow team members, guiding them on what needed to be done, when and how. All the men in the team were instrumental in teaching and guiding the women, who had very little knowledge on how to build a house, on accomplishing tasks necessary to achieve their goal.

Before long, these women and young girls, who were hesitant on the first day due to not knowing what exactly to do or how to use the power tools on site, were threading electrical wiring, putting up insulation, measuring and cutting boards for the inside dividing wall, trimming windows, screwing down metal roof sheeting, measuring and cutting sheetrock, and so much more.

“I am so grateful for what I’ve learned on this trip,” Abby, one of the three teenage girls, shared during the team’s devotion, “I learned I am capable of so many things –among them, of loving someone so much it hurt to have to say good-bye.”

Abby was referring to the multiple children the team encountered each day during their VBS. With the help of several key members of the church, among them deaconesses Rosy and Yessika Lira, the daily VBS team sang with several dozen kids, shared the grace and mercy of God shown through the story of Joseph, and joyfully worked on crafts alongside the children.

Abby and Abbie, another one of the teenage girls on the team, especially connected with Mia, Elizabeth’s granddaughter, spending time every day to play with her. Five-year-old Mia enjoyed making friends with “Abby Uno” and “Abby Dos”, as she dubbed them, and on the last day, all three had a hard time having to say good-bye.

At the end of their week serving through YLM, this wonderful team experienced what God’s kingdom on earth looked like, despite differences in age, gender, skill level, language, and culture. When it comes to sharing God’s love without agenda or expectations, but simply out of compassion and kindness, no barrier defined by man can stand against God’s children.