Tom and Joan accepted the invitation to celebrate a birthday soon after arriving at YLM

After emailing three different locations offering opportunities for people to serve, Tom and Joan Walker made arrangements to bring their RV, along with quilts and funds for Christmas toys, to Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) for the last two weeks of October, volunteering as needed.

Joan spent hours helping sort, fold, bag, and label baby clothes for the San Pablo Thrift Shop

“YLM was the one who answered our request to volunteer,” Joan explained over dinner the night before they were scheduled to leave, “And we are so glad God brought us here.”

Tom and Joan retired last year and have spent the last several months on the road, serving in multiple states through different organizations.  After getting a response from YLM back in July, they made arrangements to come for two weeks in the fall, but also gave YLM’s information to their daughter, who was looking into serving during her vacation week in August.

“Sarah was a blessing to us here,” one of the staff members shared with her parents, “She was willing to help where needed, from sorting through clothing at the thrift shop, putting together hygiene kits, helping with data entry, and even helped paint the Sunday school room for San Pablo Lutheran Church.”

Tom replaced rotten boards on two of the outside wooden benches before painting them

Two months later, Tom and Joan arrived at YLM on a Saturday afternoon, both ready to start working within the hour of their arrival.

“We were treated like family from the moment we arrived,” Joan shared during one of many conversations, “We ended up going to a birthday party for Miguel and Maritza’s son just hours after arriving.  We made new friends over food and wonderful conversation.”

Sunday morning, the couple headed to Zion Lutheran Church to hear Mariachi San Pablo, then in the afternoon, Joan joined Maritza in the Thrift Shop to help sort, bag, and label baby clothes while Tom took apart two of the four wooden outside benches and replaced the rotten slats with new wood. Throughout their two weeks here, they jumped into helping with projects on what several YLM staff members call the “Get It Done” list.

The stone benches around the tree in the middle of the campus were pressure washed and painted white the day before Tom and Joan left

“It made my heart smile when I arrived to the mission from work on their last Friday to see the stone benches around the big tree painted white,” Luz, a staff member at YLM, explained.

“God met me there twenty years ago so this spot is special to me, and it has become special for so many others.  The paint on the benches was peeling from years of weather damage, so I added them to the wish list of projects to get done.  I felt blessed by their generosity in getting those benches redone.”

Tom and Joan shared their visit to La Santa Biblia was the best day they’ve ever had

From tearing down the back wall of the White Warehouse, another “Get It Done” project, to increase space for donations of school supplies, toys, and blankets, to spending a day at Anapra, helping the YLM Projects Facilitator replace sheetrock in the San Lucas dormitory section and tarring the roof to prevent further rain damage, this couple worked hours on end to help in small and big ways.

“Our favorite days was the Wednesday of our first week here,” Joan explained over lunch with one of the YLM staff members after shopping for Christmas toys with funds raised and donated by her parents’ church, “We had the blessing to visit La Santa Biblia and meet all the beautiful people there.”

Not even a week after leaving, Joan reached out to the Servant Event Coordinators with a text, stating they planned to return in March for another two weeks and are interested in building a house in Anapra. “Perhaps you can reach out to churches for people who would like to join us.  This would be a great way to bless a family in Mexico, while being blessed with an amazing experience and new friendships.”

If you are interested in joining Tom and Joan Walker the week of March 26th, 2022 to April 2nd, 2022 to help provide a home for a family in Juarez, Mexico, give the Servant Event Logistics Facilitator, Luz Soto, a call at (915) 315-6704 or email her at luz.soto@ylm.org.