Cesar and Pastor Joel working together to frame the walls of the house

Faith Lutheran Church of Branson, MO sent a team of 9 missionaries to build a house through Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) for a young family in KM30. Marisol, Cesar, and their one-year-old son Ian, were beyond grateful for the blessing this team gave them.

Marisol, born with a heart defect that involved open-heart surgery when eleven, recently had a second open heart surgery back in February of this year.

Marisol helping the ladies of the team paint the siding a bright blue

She did her best to care for Ian and help with the housebuilding, spending time with the ladies of the team painting siding and trim, with her younger sister stepping in to give Marisol time to rest throughout the day. Cesar, a serious young man dedicated to providing for his family, spent the days working with the men, quickly picking up on new skills despite not speaking the same language.

For this team of mostly retirees, there was a slight worry they may not be able to handle the labor of building a house with their small team. They were greatly amazed when, on the first day, not only was Cesar there to help, but three other men, Luis, Alex, and Juan, pitched in to complete the daily tasks.

Luis and Juan, both having received houses through YLM’s Servant Event, help frame the walls for Cesar’s house

Juan, along with his wife Alicia, was blessed with a house this past June by a YLM Servant Event mission team from Centralia, IL. Alex, a young man of eighteen, received a house from Trinity-Lincoln, NE two years ago. Back when Luis was a teenager, his single mother and 4 siblings were blessed with a house of their own back in 2017 from  the Trinity-Lincoln Servant Event mission team.

“It was amazing to see these men willing to help build a house for a family they did not know,” Paige Rohlf, the one to coordinate Faith’s SE trips to YLM, shared afterwards, “This was amazing evidence of the impact YLM has on the families receiving these homes, of this ministry going beyond providing shelter.”

Angel, who received a house along with his mother last year from this same team, joined them during the week and helped with sheetrock and mudding

Several things were done differently from last year, which Faith’s team shared made the week go smoother for them. Assignments for projects to get the day started were done Sunday night, making it possible for everyone to know what to do and where to go soon as they arrived.

Having all the materials at the building site was a great help for this small team of experienced years, and this year, they served in KM30, which made for easier to maneuver as the area isn’t as sandy or hilly as Anapra, where they’ve built for the last couple of years.

All in all, the team expressed daily how wonderful the entire experience was, and their joy at being able to work side by side with Marisol and Cesar, interacting with them and their family throughout the week, was the high note this year’s Servant Event mission trip ended in. Before the week was over, they were already looking into possible dates for 2025, excited at the opportunity to, once again, impact lives beyond a moment in time, but into eternity.

Interested in learning more about YLM’s Servant Event ministry?
Call (915) 858-2588 or email luz.soto@ylm.org to find out what you, your family, friends,
and congregation can do to make an eternal impact in the border of El Paso and Cd. Juarez!