A team of six arrived ready to set up and serve the community by giving out backpacks with school supplies and food bags

On the fourth Wednesday of July, a first time Servant Event group from Hope Lutheran Church in Lubbock, Texas made the seven-hour trip to Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) to partner with San Pablo Lutheran Church for a one-day event they titled “The Philip Experience.”

“With COVID-19, many parents were hesitant to send their kids for a week long mission trip,” Pastor Dan Borkenhagen shared the weeks prior to the event, “But we still had kids who wanted to come, to create connections, to help others, so we had to figure out another way to be able to serve people in need.”

Over 120 backpacks with school supplies and 60 food bags were donated and assembled by the congregation members of Hope Lutheran Church in Lubbock, TX

Determined to serve, Pastor Dan worked alongside the Servant Event facilitators and settled on bringing down backpacks filled with school supplies along with food bags containing necessary pantry staples, such as sugar, flour, canned vegetables, pasta, and other non-perishable items.  The congregation worked together to help further support their mission to YLM by donating, collecting, and organizing 120 backpacks with school supplies and 60 food bags.

Parents from the surrounding community and out from San Elizario, about two hours outside of El Paso, came to pick up backpacks and food bags

“This is the first time we’ve had a one-day Servant Event team come from out of the city,” Luz Soto, one of the Servant Event facilitators, gave further information on this Philip Experience, “But they are eager to serve and we’re always grateful to help churches connect with each other to make this happen.  Through this kind of servant event, we can facilitate churches within hours of our city to come and make an impact in the lives of others, all in one day…just like Philip did with the Ethiopian in Acts 8. ”

Lanyards were given to kids and a few stayed to decorate them with help from Pastor Dan

Working long-distance in conjunction with the leadership of Hope Lutheran, the small team from YLM and San Pablo Lutheran Church helped promote this event by designing flyers, distributing as far as San Elizario outside of the El Paso City Limits, and taking down names for the team to have a list of reserved backpacks.  By the time the team arrived Wednesday afternoon, sixty backpacks had been reserved by families from San Elizario and the project housing near San Pablo Lutheran Church.

All precautions were taken, ensuring everyone wore face masks and practiced social distance, yet allowing for people to interact and share God’s love through smiling eyes and simple acts of kindness.  Several people did the almost two-hour drive from San Elizario to pick up backpacks and food bags, and there were even people who came at the last minute and received the backpacks they needed and a food bag to help supplement their family’s meals.

“We’re blessed by these people,” one mother shared as she watched her daughters pick their backpacks, “And we’re grateful they came down here to show us people still care because God cares.”

What an absolute blessed joy it was to help these wonderful servants
give of their love, care, and kindness to our surrounding communities!